Never Let Your Cat Do Upholstery with You

Have any of you heard of this book before? It was a favorite of mine growing up and tells the story of girl who lets her cat make lunch for her, and finds some pretty interesting sandwiches (mouse sandwich anyone?)

Well, my most recent upholstery project is the first one I've done since Ivy came to our house. She found it very interesting, and while I doubt she was trying to help, she certainly attempted to get involved.

We found this quirky little midcentury modern chair at a thrift store, and picked it up for a pretty good price.  The original fabric was cute, but worn out. 

When I started taking the chair apart, Ivy discovered she could crawl up inside the bottom.

"Hello!"

The chair came apart in two pieces, which made it easier to upholster.

Instead of stapled, the fabric was tacked in place. Tacks are not my favorite to pull out, but Ivy made the job entertaining. 

"Got your finger!"

It was fun seeing the original color of the old fabric, much more bright and springy looking. 

The seat needed a new layer of padding, so I used some quilt batting. Ivy had a lot of fun shredding the scraps, and more. Mom and Becca warned me she was tearing up the seat, but it wasn't until I went to put it away that I saw the whole corner torn in little pieces. Bad cat!

She also enjoyed playing in the new fabric.

"What? Me getting into trouble? Why would you ever think that?"

This project also saw the death of my sewing machine, who's been quite the trooper through the rigors I've put it through with upholstery. But it was a good excuse to get a new, heavy duty sewing machine that's meant to go through thick fabrics. 

"Ivy, stop changing the song on Pandora!"

Once I got to putting the chair together, Ivy was becoming more of a hindrance then a help, so she got locked away in a room. When I was finished, she was free again. 

Before.

After

Ivy approves.