Pink Rocker

A few years ago, my sister-in-law, Mindee, found a little rocking chair at a garage sale, and passed it along to me.  It was covered in pale blue flannel (not the most practical of cloths for a child's rocking chair), and she figured I could re-upholster it.

No problem, I said.  Should be easy.

Today, I finally tackled the re-upholstering.  It wasn't quite as easy as I thought, but Emily and I got it done.  I bought some pink upholstery fabric about a week ago, at a local Jo-Ann fabrics that is moving to a new location.  They've discounted just about all their fabric, and I got a bunch.  Including some quilting fabric that I just liked, and hey, it was on sale.

The fabric had to be pink, which is Emily's favorite color.  If given an option, Emily chooses pink.  A couple days ago, we were all at the store, and Dan was getting some cleaner, and I offered some input.  Emily loudly declared that we should get pink (which, for some reason, is not an option). 

I had originally thought that the posts to the top of the rocker would come off; today I realized they probably wouldn't actually come off.  So, I looked closer at how the last person had upholstered the chair, and tried to copy what they did.  I only had to fix a couple places in the back after the fabric was stapled down.  The pillow was just a standard pillow cover, with some ties sewn into the top seam.

And, of course, Emily loves it.  She also likes taking pictures, and insisted of taking lots of pictures of the chair herself.  In fact, she took the picture of the finished chair.

Covered

When we got married, Dan brought a pink arm chair with him.  It was a lovely salmon color.  Salmon is one of my least favorite colors.

Owen in the pink chair 

I have been planning on recovering the chair since just after it was carried through the door to our apartment.  Well, I was busy getting married, but I'm sure it didn't take long for me to decide the pink should go.  I actually bought fabric for the chair back when Emily was very small, and then decided I wasn't sure about the fabric. So, after agonizing about the fabric for a couple years, and deciding that if I wasn't sure about it, I wouldn't like it on the chair, I bought new fabric.

The chair had a slip cover previously, which had been pink, like the chair.  Dan's mom got the chair, and the slip cover, from her husband's grandmother.  She had dyed the slip cover blue, and it had go through years of little children in a busy house, and had (partially) fadded to a gray color, and had some holes worn into the arm rests as well.  Since using a pattern is WAY easier, I ripped out seams on the old slip cover, and used the pieces as a template for the new slip cover.

I picked the fabric because whenever I look at furniture, I always love the chairs with bold flower prints.  I had some leftover fabric from the dress I made for Emily last fall, and I used it to make a little throw pillow for the chair.  Emily helped me stuff it.

I also replaced the seat cushion, which had gotten misshapen after decades of use, and was no longer very comfy.  Now the chair is great for sitting on.  Just ask Emily and Tabitha.

Money, Money, Money . . .

. . . by the pound.*

So, I've been typing my Grandmother's missions journal. My Dad is paying me, and after completing the first section, I got paid! Woo hoo! Dan says I can spend money I make on what I want, because the guy is supposed to provide for the family and the wife can spend her money on herself.

I think I'm going to buy fabric to recover the pink chair.

About the pink chair. It is pink, almost a salmon color. I like pink, on clothes, and I HATE salmon. It is a fishy color. Neither pink, nor orange, and much worse than either. Plus, it is a big, pink chair. Who really wants a pink chair? I guess someone did, once. The best part was that we also had a salmon colored lamp, and we have pink pillows (which are a nice pale pink) and a pink throw, and we used to have a couch with pink in it. So, with all of them together, it looked pulled together. Except, it was the living room, and I hate salmon.

A long time ago, someone made the chair a slip cover. Dan's mom at some point dyed it blue. And then 10 years and 4 kids plus pets happened, and the dye faded in parts, and the slip cover looks worse than the chair, which has seen some use.

I've been dreaming of covering it in green toile**. Unfortunately, I can't find green toile. Fortunately, there is blue toile, which will (hopefully) go rather nicely with the turquoise pillows I made from fabric I bought when Dan and I were still dating. I also found some plush gold fabric, which was on sale, it being a remnant (almost 3 yards, though, and 54 inches wide). Since the walls are supposed to be a pale gold, the gold fabric should work nicely to cover an ottoman Dan said he would build me. Maybe now my living room won't look like an old lady living room (from all the pink). We are also going to spread the bookcases around the house, instead of having them all in one room. Like they are now. And they are all different.

*Lyrics from "Pete's Dragon," a great Disney movie. You should go watch it.
** That fabric with scenes from the french country side, with ladies is poofy skirts feeding guys grapes, and stuff like that. All printed in a color, usually on a white background, only sometimes on a colored background, but the kind I want is on a white/cream background. Pronounced "twall."