Sometimes my projects are in my head and sound good to me, but I never quite know how they’re going to turn out. It’s sort of fun that way, especially when it all gels together. Here’s is one of those types of projects. Meet my feed sack chair.
Want the full story? Let’s go back to the beginning.
A couple of weeks ago, I had my four girls with me and we were headed to pick up our weekly milk supply from a local farmer and then headed on to a flea market. We were all excited to find treasures that day.
FUN TIMES
Down the back country road, we headed to get our milk, and then I spotted a “Garage Sale” sign. Uh oh. I don’t stop at every one of these (though I would if I could), but I knew since this was off the beaten path there could possibly be a steal. When driving with a 6-mo. old baby, you have only a limited amount of non-fuss time and I really didn’t know if I should stop. It could mean diaper changes, nursing time…you know the routine. Plus, my girls didn’t want to miss out on the flea market. What to do, what to do?!
I continued on past a couple more houses to get to the farm where we get our milk. It wasn’t until on our way back that I decided to stop. Boy, am I glad I did. SCORE!
This place was the best garage sale I ever set foot in, at least for a picker like me. Furniture, rusty antique tools, bits & bobbles to feast your eye on! (I’ve been kicking myself for not taking pictures, just so you know.) Not only were there crazy good finds, but they were asking practically nothing for their items.
Check out this box of antique table legs. This is one of 3 boxes of legs that were in a barrel for $10. wow.
Among my other finds, including a table, chair, chicken feeders, a steamer trunk, etc. (too much to list), were a couple of identical feed sacks that had been hand stitched together….for $1. YES!!
SCORE
Needless to say, my suburban was full to the brim with children and goodies. I had maxed out my flea budget so it was home we went. I was giddy to say the least, but my girls were somewhat disappointed. They knew it was all good and were excited for me, but had really wanted to go to the flea. No worries. We went the next weekend to make up for it.
Those feed sacks sat for a couple of weeks while I worked on other projects, and I wasn’t quite inspired yet on what to do with them.
I considered mounting them on frames for wall hangings or creating a bag. Nothing really jumped out at me until I joined up with a fantastic group of ladies who do a monthly themed furniture makeover. This month’s theme is words and/or letters. bingo.
DIY TIME
I have had this pair of chairs since baby was born six months ago, and they had been taking up space for quite some time. Upholstering is fun, but also can be daunting at times because you just never know what lies beneath that fabric.
Isn’t that upholstery horrid?
No one liked to sit on these because that fabric had the texture of indoor/outdoor carpet. They scratched the back of your legs, but everyone agreed they were comfy otherwise and pretty to look at.
It was my pleasure to relieve the chair of its awful skin.
Although the frame of the chair was in pretty good condition, it wouldn’t fit the picture in my head of the finished product. So, I grab my paint brush and give it a whitewash then heavily distress. We’re going for rustic farmhouse, right?
CUTTING
Now for the dressing up. Can I just say that it took me a minute to bite the bullet and cut those sacks. I almost had to close my eyes to do it.
See the hand stitching where they were joined end to end?
It was pretty tricky figuring out the layout of how these two sacks were going to cover the chair. Like most times, when I remove the old fabric, I keep it to use as a guide to know rough cut lines. Since these sacks were not that wide, I had to offset them on the cushions to make them cover. I kind of like it in that makeshift way – like they would have “made do” ages ago.
THE REVEAL
So, what do you think? Pretty fun makeover I’d say.
The distressing came out just like I had envisioned.
The chair has so much more character with it’s time worn touches…even the smudges and wear.
Like I said, it’s fun when pieces come together and the way the story unfolds is half of joy I get of doing what I do.
Once I put this feed sack chair inmy online shop, it didn’t last long. It was a bit hard to let go of this one, but I do know that there will be others, Lord willing.
SHARE
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Also, more and see other projects like my feed sack chair:
I think this is my favorite! Just FABULOUS!! I can’t believe the difference!
Hugs,
Karin
Oh my goodness this is so much better!!!! I love the entire chair from top to bottom. Beautiful job!
Oh my gosh Larissa your chair is stunning! Worth every cut you made into that vintage grain sack. Now instead of having a beautiful vintage grain sack hidden in a drawer somewhere it can be on display for everyone to enjoy.
Marie@The Interior Frugalista
That is so cool Larissa!!! You did a wonderful job on it! 🙂
Nancy
Larissa, way to knock your first Themed Makeover project out of the park! 🙂 I just love this chair – it’s cool, unique, vintage, and definitely one of a kind. I cannot wait to see what you end up doing with the other chair!!
INCREDIBLE transformation! Those chairs were just plain woof before haha. And what an amazing find with those grain sacks! Sounds like you hit the thrifting jackpot! Welcome to the group, can’t wait to see what you do next month!
You already know how I feel about this chair 😉 Can’t wait to see the next one!
First, I love it that you are able to go to the farm to get milk! You already know from Facebook that I love your chair and can’t wait to use some of my mom’s feed sacks to do something similar.
Great finds and awesome chair!
Really well done Larissa!
Love that chair!
Awesome job and wow, great finds!
Can’t tell you how much I love this! Fabulous job!
Amazing makeover, Larissa! Your upholstery looks flawless. I know you are so glad you stopped at that yard sale. Those legs were the deal of the century! XO
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in love with this chair….so, I went to etsy and added you to my fav’s…love your work !!!!!
Man, I would have scooped up those legs and feedsacks in a heartbeat! Your chair is beautiful!
~Tami
This turned out so super cute! I LOVE those grain sacks! Life to the full! Melissa
Just gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing it at the Vintage Inspiration Party! I’m sharing your before photo on FB Wednesday afternoon, as a teaser here – https://www.facebook.com/KnickofTime
Thanks for sharing this great post at Vintage inspirational Party! This was very fun reading! I love the old grain sack. It makes a super cool look! Need to try this sometime:)
Would love for you to stop by my blog sometime and say hi:)
You did such a beautiful job on this! I love it, thanks for sharing Larissa.
Giving you a shout-out on FB tomorrow AGAIN, because I love this so much! Thanks for sharing it at the Best of 2014 party at Knick of Time!
This chair turned out really great!
Thank you!
Where can I find the feed sacks would love to do some chairs like this?
Just check on Etsy or eBay, and your local Craigslist. I know you can get your hand on some. 🙂
So beautiful….sigh…..I just want to stay home and work on furniture! I do some, but with a full time job, I don’t have enough time….thanks for showing us this lovely chair!
I know what you mean as I homeschool and run my business, time is a rarity. Thanks for the love!
I have a chair very similar to the first one that I would love to makeover like this!
You go girl! I’d love to see it when you do.