How cute is this toy box and chair that I made for my great niece? I found this old pink chair of free on my local buy, swap and sell site. It was in such a mess, but what can you expect for free, and because it is free you are not going to lose anything if you don’t succeed in fixing it up. This is how I have taught myself to do these projects and thanks to google I learn new skills all the time
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One thing I have learnt from taking all these chairs apart is that it is very easy to do. Once the fabric on the back is removed all the screws and bolts you need to loosen to take it apart are easy to get to. The base and back is nearly always a square or rectangle shape and the sides always screw into the base and the top.
Because I was using a stretch fabric I did not have to sew anything. To tighten the fabric around the curves I did a few small folds in the fabric and stapled it in place. If you want to make the piping just cut some fabric 2cm wide and the length you require for the job you are doing. I use thick string to make mine because it is always available when I need it. Once it is all taken apart in most case you don’t even have to sew any material. It is just stretched around and stapled to the wood.
I used diamonte button which I attached by adding a strong string through the button hole and pushing the thread through using a long doll needle.To keep the button firmly in place, I use nails and the string is tied around the nail to stop it from pulling out. The only trick to covering the back is to staple the fabric to the top first then cut a strip of cardboard and staple it to the underneath of the fabric. This will stop the fabric from pulling on the staples when you staple the bottom in place and gives you a nice clean seam. The sides are tucked in and stapled to the base of the chair.
Finally, the staples are hidden using braided gimp or matching fabric whatever you like really which is glued into place using a hot glue gun. I always seal the bottom on my chairs using weed mat to finish it off, and the legs are screwed back into place. This chair was done years ago before I was doing step but step tutorials so keep checking back I will try and find a chair to do one.
To make the toy box I used all recycled materials which were offcuts from old Tv unit that I stripped down. I cut my 4 long pieces of wood for the 4 sides and 2 smaller ones for the short sides, and just glued it all together and added screws for added support. I sanded down all the wood, I did not bother to sand the lid because I was going to be covering it. All the holes in the wood were filled with wood filler and once stained they were not very visible.
I added hinges to the lid and fitting a slow closing lifter. This is to stop the box lid from closing on your toddler and hurting them. This lifter makes the lid come down very slow. I thought the box looked boring so I used a wood router with a groove bit to put grooves into the box. I cut a piece of foam from an old camping mattress and used leftover fabric from the chair and covered the top. To hide the staples I used a hot glue gun and glued some black velvet ribbon over the staples. I ordered some letters of the alphabet and her name in large letters and attached them to the toy box using epoxy resin glue. And here is the little cutey modelling with her new chair. And now she has a trendy new chair and matching toy box.
To see more great projects that this little missy has inspired check out her sandpit desk and zebra bench.
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