French Chair Redo: How to reupholster chair seats

I found this chair hiding in the corner of my local goodwill!

Awesome fake needlepoint. Be jealous.

She's a little banged up, but I loved the lines and the size.

First I unscrewed the seat and took her outside for a good sanding!

My trusty sanding block!

A few coats of primer, and she's looking better already!

I chose Krylon Black in a gloss finish.

After my 2nd coat, I saw this happening:

If your paint starts crackling, it could mean either the coat was too thick, the surface wasn't cleaned enough, or the weather conditions are not optimal. It was EXTREMELY humid on the day I was painting, and I'm sure that contributed. However, it's an easy fix, simply sand down, and start again with careful, thin coats.

Much better!

All done with painting! On to the next step, which is reupholstering the seat cushion. Instead of staples, the fabric was held on by tiny nails:

So I broke out my scary ancient hammer and used it to basically rip the fabric off.

I was please to find out that the lining underneath was in very good condition, so it was allowed to stay!

Next I started recovering with my new fabric. I chose this lovely printed burlap from Hobby Lobby:

I had to do quite a bit of ironing to get all the creases out, but it IS possible! I didn't want to wash the burlap because it's very messy and I was afraid the wrinkles would get worse.

Next I began stapling. I started with the top and bottom, making sure to pull tight. Then I stapled down in the middle of the sides.

I used 1/2 a yard of fabric, and folded it in half for extra coverage

The easiest and least bulky way I've found to do the corners is to treat it just like wrapping a present. pull the corner straight in tightly and staple:

The overlap the sides in and staple.

Voila! A neat corner!

And here she is!

Ooo La La!