Chippendale sofa

This piece turned out more complicated than I had expected because there were many steps that had to be taken in correct order, and no shortcuts. In this case, I am not sure whether full-scale furniture is upholstered this way; I need to explore it. The fabric that followed with the kit was this dull blue. I have searched images of Chippendale sofas, and none were this colour, but many were flowery. I bought these bits of fabric in a charity shop. They are apparently meant for quilting.

 As usual, the first step was to sort out the pieces and read instructions carefully.

I am now good at aligning, but this was tricky since the back legs are curved.  It took quite a long time to assemble the base. When I made the chest of drawers, I used new stain that I thought was too pink. I didn't think that this stain will go well with the sofa, so I simply painted it dark brown and varnished.

The sides took a long time as well. First glue bits together. Trim the template.

Cut the fabric, glue onto template and then glue to the sides. 

Cut the fabric after templates and glue. Cut and glue. Because of the shape it demanded some dexterity. And patience. After every step, the glue had to set.

Then I glued the fabric over the base and seat. It was relatively easy, no curves. The back cushion was more challenging.

As was the back. I made an improvement at this stage. My mother always said that you shouldn't try to improve French recipes and knitting patterns, but I thought it was untidy to leave the back of the sofa itself and the back of the cushion as they were. I didn't want to use the flowery fabric because I need it for another piece of furniture, so I used a plain bit. It used to be the lining of a curtain and looks just appropriately old.

Now I glued the sides to the base. It was nervous, so I hurried to glue on the back which made the whole construction more stable. You can see how right I was to use plain fabric for the back. It would have looked sloppy. I am surprised that the otherwise so particular instructions missed this detail.

According to instructions, the bottom had to be in the same fabric, but I saved it again and used the plain one. I glued on the bottom, and then it was just wait overnight to let it dry.

Next step was to glue on the legs.

And put in the seat and the back cushion. 

Here is the sofa in its room. I am not absolutely sure yet that it is the right place, but I think it is. The fabric goes well with the wallpaper, and the sofa hides the ugly floor skirt. The cabinet will most probably move into another room.