Easy Piping...For a Pro Upholstered Look

My latested upcycle project is a trunk with an upholstered seat on top. I put a lot of work into it, but it still looked like a trunk with a pillow on it. It need a little something to make it look real. Piping was the detail that was missing, and I discovered that it was really easy to do.

 Staple the strip of fabric, wrong side up, to the underside of your seat. Half of the strip should hang over the edge.

Lay a piece of rope down the middle of the strip along the edge of the seat.

 Fold the strip over the rope and work it with your fingers until it rests at the very edge of the plywood bottom of your seat. Staple it as close to the edge as you can.

When you get to a corner, keep the rope folded tightly in the strip and fold it around the corner. Be sure that rope ends up right at the edge of the plywood again and staple it down. You can trim away excess fabric later.









When you get to the end, or if your strip is not long enough to go around your whole piece, just fold over the edge where it will overlap. Leave the rope about 3" inches longer on the end and cut it 3" shorter on the other end so that the fabric and rope don't end in exactly the same place.






Trim away any excess being careful not to cut into the fabric of your cushion. I made my beginning and ending point at the corners thinkng it would be less noticable, but I would not do this in the future as there is too much folded fabric on the corners already.

The finished trunk with upholstered top.

A Duh! Moment...Templates

TEMPLATES...Why didn't I think of this sooner?...Duh!

Most of the stuff I upcycle is made from scavenged bits and pieces that were never really ment to go together. I got these great furniture feet of an old ottoman and wanted to put them on a trunk, but there  was no easy way for me to transfer location of the existing bolt holes of the legs to the bottom of the trunk.

After trying a few different methods I wondered how real furniture guys do this, and then it hit me. They have a factory, special tools, plans, and TEMPLATES!!!
I traced the top of the legs onto cardboard, poked a pencil through the bolt holes and used my template to locate the holes on the trunk!

  

Faux Leather From Craft Paper

Trunk lined with faux leather.

Left: craft paper
.Middle: crumpled and uncrumpled.
Right: after ironing.

Tutorial for making paper that looks like leather.

1. Take plain brown craft paper and crumple it up, and gently, without ripping it, uncrumple it. Do this about 8 or 10 times.

2. Iron the paper flat. This will soften the look of the wrinkles.

3.  Using mod podge glue the paper to the surface that you want to leatherize (yeah, it's a real word). Work in manageable sections. Use enough mod podge to securely glue down the paper. Work it for a while to get all the air bubbles out!

4. Paint the entire paper with a very dark brown color. Mix a minuscule amount of another color to your very dark brown to slightly change its shade and apply it to your paper in places to add some variation. Let dry.

5. Put a bit of light brown paint on your brush, and brush it on a piece of scrap to get the bristles almost dry, and lightly brush the color over the entire piece. (this is called drybrushing). Paint on the light color with the long side of the bristles not the tips, almost like you're laying the brush flat. If done right the light brown should only come off on the wrinkles of the paper. Let dry.

Finished Army Trunk Table

6. Seal with clear finish. (I use polycrilic with satin finish, but mod podge would also work well)

How Fat Is Your Hair?

So you made your cut and the piece is still just a hair too long. All you need is the tiniest trim off this piece and it will fit perfectly, but sometimes taking off just a little is difficult to set up.

To just shave the piece set it up against the blade (with the saw off!), then press a little harder against the blade until you see the blade bend just little, hold the piece tightly against the miter gauge and slide it back well clear of the blade. Turn the saw on, and make your cut. You will take off just a hair.

The Dirtiest Trick I Know

I am not proud of this.
While driving one fine day I spied an awesome vintage dresser on the side of the road, FREE. It was in pretty good shape, sure some scratches and dings, a little peeling veneer, but totally workable. This baby was fresh from someone's basement, and had probably only seen sunlight for the past 30 minutes in the last 60 years. A super find.

One problem. No way was this thing going to fit in my car, and I had to be somewhere soon. No time to go home and get the van. If I left it there it would have been long gone by the time I got back. I looked around...No one watching...I grabbed a couple of the drawers and put them in the trunk, and got out of there.

 I was going crazy the rest of the day. Would the dresser still be there? Would the the kind homeowner who was giving away a dresser for free be watching, all the while cursing the lowlife that came and took just the drawers?

As soon as I got home I jumped in the van, returned to the scene of the crime, and there it was, the dresser, waiting for me. I loaded it in as casually as I could and got out of there, beaming with triumph all the way home.

Yeah, it's a dirty trick. Very few people want a dresser that's missing some drawers. It's like a big smile with a few missing teeth. If you do this don't be a jerk. Go back and get whatever it was you took a piece of.

Wrap It Up, I'll Take it!

In the middle of a painting project when the pizza guy shows up with your food? Wrap up your wet paint brush in a plastic shopping bag so that you can get a slice of pepperoni while it's still warm. This trick will work for overnight and can save you some clean up time, along as you'll be painting the same color tomorrow.
   And if your not going to use that color again till next weekend?...Wash your brush.

Upcycle An Old Door

Door panels can be assembled into many different things.

This is a door from my old house. Old doors are building blocks for upcyclers like you and me. If you have a table saw and maybe a friend who who can help you manage some awkward cutting, you can get a few nice panels that can be assembled into different things. Just make sure your door is solid wood (older ones usually are), and try to leave as much "frame" around your panel as you can. Most of them are put together with mortise and tenon joints which may loosen up or start to come apart. If so, some glue at small nails can get you right back.