Rocker Redo

This is one of those projects that has been sitting around waiting for me. A family member in his 80s moved into senior living about 7 years ago and gave us this rocker. He said it had been around as long as he could remember. It belonged to his parents.

As you can see, it wasn't in the best shape, but it was a good sturdy rocker and I hate to give up on family heirlooms.

I just hate to give up on antiques. Below is another project waiting for me. A garage sale find for $5.00!

Back to the family heirloom... When I removed the upholstery on the back, these slats were revealed!

The rocker had obviously been reupholstered at some time. This old potato sack was revealed under the upholstery fabric.

As was this straw or some sort of stuffing and cotton batting.

All the tacks used had pierced the otherwise perfect wood.

This was my first attempt at recovering anything except maybe a simple footstool. I had read that you are to use the old cover as a pattern if possible.

I chose my fabric and bought cording, thread etc.

The burlap I used to wrap the springs was some I had on hand.

I added a couple layers of padding over that and stitched in place.

I covered all that with a 2" foam pad on top and three layers of upholstery batting, securing that in place with fabric from an old sheet. This baby was going to be soft! I hadn't taken into account that this might make the pattern from the old cover a bit snug ~ oops. I pulled and stretched and made it work. I am so happy with the results!

I ended up not adding the band. I didn't think it looked natural or authentic.

After sanding and polishing the wood, the tack holes are barely visible.

I can already tell this is going to be a great rocker to curl up in this winter while I work on my other projects! I just love antiques!