Re-Upholstery Lessons Learned

The chair is done.  It looks great and works perfectly.  But I still give myself only a B- on the project.  Why?  I made a lot of mistakes – many of which could have been avoided if I had planned better and/or executed more carefully. 

So in the interest of helping someone else avoid the mistakes I made, here are my lessons learned:

1.  Take pictures.  Take lots of pictures.  Take more pictures than you think you’ll ever need.  Take a picture at each step of disassembly – both of the overall unit and of each piece. The more time it takes to complete your project, the more the pictures will help you put things back together.  The pictures were very helpful in putting together pieces that needed to be sewed.  The old fabric you’ll use as a pattern won’t have nice markings and notches, nor will it have a sheet of instructions on which was two straight-looking pieces go together to make a curve.  Take pictures.

2.  The air compressor is your friend.  If you can, use compressor-driven staples.  With the number of staples we used to attach the fabric to the wood, we would have been exhausted trying to manually drive them. 

3.  Fit multiple times, staple once.  Those great compressor-driven staples are almost impossible to remove once they’re in, so be certain that the piece is exactly where you want it before you install a staple.

4.  Allow extra fabric for pieces that will need to wrap along an edge and be stapled.  How will you know?  If you've taken pictures in the disassembly, you’ll see where they wrap and attach.  If, like us, you didn't take quite enough pictures, any piece that isn't sewn and doesn't have a finished edge is a likely candidate for stapling.  Cut it long.  You can always cut off excess fabric. 

5.  Tack strip is your friend.  As I was taking some of the pieces apart I noticed that there was half-inch wide cardboard strip along some of the edges.  I didn't know what it was called at the time, but I knew I needed to get some.  It comes in rolls and you can get it at fabric and craft stores.  I thought it was kind of pricey, but it’s really great for the nice finished edges.  And, if like us, you cut a piece that should have wrapped around too short, you can use the tack strip and another piece of fabric to finish the edge. 

6.  A needle and thread is your friend.  I made patches for a couple of areas where I messed up either cutting or stapling.  I used a straight needle, and while it was awkward I could still manage to get it to work.  I was told later that this is why curved needles were invented.  Oh, well.  The fabric I chose was very forgiving; you can’t even see the stitches. 

Here’s hoping that these lessons will help someone out there somewhere.  Happy re-upholstering!

Speed Cleaning – the First Time is for Practice

I cleaned my house using the Speed Cleaning method on Monday.  I chose Monday as my housework day because, quoting one of my favorite movies, “everybody should go to work on a Monday.”  I put on my apron, put the supplies in their respective pockets and loops, and started in front of the kitchen sink.  Here’s what I learned this first time through the method.

1.  I had to remind myself several times to start at the top and work down, after something midway, or to the right caught my eye and my cleaning cloth.  Even with my self-corrections, I missed the front of the microwave and the top of the refrigerator.

2.  I’m just too short to reach the top of the fridge – and higher places in general.   Too bad my cleaning apron doesn't have a pocket for a step-stool.  I’m going to have to put the step-stool in front of the fridge before I start next time, and then put it away when it’s time to do the floors.

3.  I was totally flabbergasted by the dust that came down from the upper recesses and the crumbs that came from the appliances.  It was by sheer force of will that I allowed them to stay on the floor, patiently waiting to be picked up by the vacuum.  When I see dust and crumbs I want to get them.  The visible surfaces of the house are always pretty clean.  This method helped me find dirt in the invisible places which I’m sure hadn't been cleaned in months (years?).  Next Monday it should be a little easier.

4.  I didn't have my caddy of cleaning supplies with me in the kitchen.  I keep it in the bathroom, and when I loaded up my apron I forgot I was supposed to take the caddy with me.  So when I ran out of cleaning cloths, I had to stop what I was doing, go to the bathroom and get the tray.  This is exactly what Speed Cleaning tries to prevent – wasted time.

5.  I also didn't refill my spray bottles with cleaning solution before I started, and of course, I ran out midway through cleaning.  Again, wasted time.

6.  I could have done a better job making life easier for the vacuumer (also me) while I was dusting.  There were a number of items that could have been picked up or moved aside so I didn't have to stop vacuuming to move them.

7.  I took my apron off before I started doing the vacuuming and then the mopping.  Big mistake.  While I still had my whisk broom in my back pocket to get the stray crumbs I should have gotten while I was dusting, I sure could have used my white or green pads to get the stubborn stuff off the floor while I was mopping.

So, lots of lessons learned on using the technique, which I will employ next Monday when I clean.  That said, the house is clean – cleaner than it’s been in a long time.  [Smile]

Chi Running - What did I Learn?

I am certain that everyone who does the ten lessons of Chi Running finds that some of them come easily, others with a little more difficulty, and still others that require continuous practice in the hope of someday getting it right.

Cadence (lesson 9) came easily to me.  It seems I've always run with a pretty consistent cadence.  Leaning (lesson 2) also came pretty easily, although I strongly suspect I’m still using leg muscles to sustain the lean.  The upper body position and swinging the arms to the rear (lesson 7) are pretty easy to sustain, as long as I remind myself to do so.

Pelvic rotation (lesson 5) and swinging the legs to the rear (lesson 6) were both exercises of discovery, as both exercises built on previous exercises and asked you only to focus on it happening, not forcing it to happen.  When I focus on the pelvic rotation I can feel it happening.  Does that mean if I’m not focusing on it, it’s not happening?  (If a tree falls in the forest…)  I know my legs are flying out the back, both from viewing my footprints in the sand and because I no longer see them prancing out in front.

The “aha” exercises, for me, were lesson 3 (passive lower leg), lesson 4 (sand pit exercise), lesson 8 (knee bending), although I’m still not good at the y’chi part of lesson 8, and lesson 10 (cadence and gears.)  The “aha” notwithstanding, I still have to remind myself, minute by minute, to release the tension in my lower legs and let the “wheel in the back keep on turning.” 

I am still struggling with engaging my lower abs and not tightening my glutes (lesson 1).  The authors recommend learning to release the glutes while keeping the lower abs tight.  Seems I always get it backwards – the lower abs release but the glutes stay tight.  The authors also say that people who hold tension in their glutes have control issues.  Hmmmmm.

The authors also recommend continuing to practice the Chi Running focuses.  After all, Chi Running is a practice, to be approached with the mindset of continually improving yourself and/or your skill.

The lessons are done, but the learning is just beginning.