Sunday 27 July 2014

DIY chair

So recently I reupholstered a chair, and I thought it would be fun to blog about it!  I don't normally do this sort of thing, but I do do a lot of DIY crafty stuff.  I am hoping to post more DIY projects in the future.

This is my chair...



It was from Argos about seven years ago and was very cheap.  The framework is completely fine, but the plastic covering had begun to peel off.  It seems a shame to throw an otherwise good chair away, so I thought why not give upholstery a bash?  There was very little to loose as it was looking pretty sorry for itself and very cheap in the first place!

The first thing I did was to look through my Mum's fabric stash.  As I am a student and generally moving from house to house each year, I wasn't bothered about finding fabric to fit with any colour scheme or room in particular.  My main concern was to find a durable fabric that I vaguely liked and went with the chair. Over the years of doing DIY projects I have learnt to be open minded about pattern, what looks good on it's own often doesn't look good in the finished project, and something that seems horrendous may go really well.

There were two corduroy options that I liked, but thought they might be uncomfortable to sit on, and perhaps cling to jeans.  There was also some left over curtain fabric that I liked, but I eventually settled on some upholstery fabric that Mum had been given for free in the past.  It was only slightly bigger than what I needed, and goes well with the silver of the chair so I thought why not!


Tools required:

-Screwdriver
-Scissors
-Staple gun
-Pliers to pull out staples that do not lie flat
-Some sort of tool for making holes in fabric (I used a seam ripper)


Materials used
-Fabric


Basic steps:
  1. Unscrewed the seat and back rest of chair to check that everything that needs to come off will do, and can be put back.  
  2. Remove plastic covering, smooth excess foam round to the back secure with staples.
  3. Cut fabric to size (I made a minor error here by cutting the fabric the wrong way round with the pattern going horizontal rather than vertical, but it worked out ok as I had enough excess to switch it!) 
  4. Staple fabric to chair pulling out any staples that do not lie flat, this was tricky with the back rest as it is completely curved, so it was difficult to get it lying flat in order to staple.
  5. Ensure foam and fabric are lying flat on underside of chair and attach panel, make holes for screws.
  6. Clean framework of chair and assemble pieces.




The fabric is definitely not my usual style but as I say, something I would have usually liked may not have worked.  I like how the fabric goes with the colour of the chair.  I could have repainted the framework, but that would have taken a lot of time and extra energy that I really don't have.

Saturday 12 July 2014

Where have I been?

So in late May I had the last exams of my first year at university. I often find that I am unwell during the exam period. For years I managed to convince myself that I was exam phobic. But recently it hit me, it really hit me! Now I am able to give myself a break! Exams are at the end of term, or after a short short break and at the start of a new term. This is when I am at my worst and least able to function. I have released that I am bound to be ill at this time. There is nothing more tiring to me than stress as I suffer much more cognitively than I do physically. A pre-illness coping mechanism for this would have been to get out and about, but this is very difficult when short on energy, often impossible.

Anyway as I'm sure you can guess by now, I was unwell for yet another exam season. I have spent most of June recovering, resting and working on summer uni work. My exams went like this: The first was fine, and despite being under the weather I manned to get a good grade. However I had underestimated how tiring this would be for me, and just a few hours out of the flat left me in bed for days.  I was not able to revise for my second exam and scraped a pass!  I missed the last exam as I was so unwell. We have a re-sit period in August and I will be sitting my third exam (cells) then.  I was very prepared for cells, so it shouldn't be to difficult for me to revise it again!

I will also be sitting two more exams in August, both for microbiology.  During my second term I was't able to keep up with all of the work and lab sessions, so decided to drop a module. I chose to drop microbiology because all the lectures were recorded and it was easy to drop from a coursework point of view. I have worked my way through half of the lectures, and it is going well. I will be taking both the midterm and the end of term exams in the same week.

Since coming home I have started a few craft projects.  Originally I set up the "Jenny Helen Makes..." blog to write about the crafts I make and to provide a space where I don't have to focus on my M.E.  But I have realised that this is too much to keep up with and doesn't really make any sense anyway. After all my spoonie life involves everything I do including the hobbies I have to suit my health.  I have decided to delete "Jenny Helen Makes..." and my first (and only post)!

My microbiology notes