As you’ve seen before, I bought the beautiful conversation piece known as The Chair made by Kris of 1 Inch Minis. She was kind enough to send me the extra fabric she had and let me know where she bought it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough for more than pillows and curtains or maybe an ottoman, and I really wanted to make a sofa to match. The Heritage just would not stand for mismatched furniture in the parlor. What would people say?! ;D
Sarah, a fellow member of the Greenleaf forum, mentioned that she saw the fabric at her local Joann store. I was unable to find any in my area, and she was kind enough to buy some for me during her next visit and sent it to me. Hooray!
I went back through my idea file to see what would be able to hold its own with The Chair and still have a similar style to it. I found this beautiful high back sofa from AT Design Group.
As an aside, check out their skeleton chair! :D I foresee a plastic Halloween decoration becoming a 1:12 scale chair in the future. Ha ha! Creeptastic!
I used my knowledge from the Millie August sofa kit I put together and my initial attempt at an upholstered couch made with dried out (new) kitchen sponges.
I built a quick mockup in 1/2″ foam core board, 1/8″ foam core board and kitchen sponges (new and dried before using), leaving a bit of wiggle room for batting and fabric upholstery. I used 1/2″ wood cubes for the feet, though I planned to make legs like the original later in the build. I had to piece the sponges since the ones I bought were not long enough, though they were the perfect thickness.
I put the mockup in the parlor to see if the size was good in relation to the chair and for the room itself. I made it shorter than The Chair since it looked off being the same height. As the models show, it works well have a tall chair and a slightly shorter sofa.
I then began putting the sofa together, first by covering most of the pieces with a layer of black felt under the printed fabric. I usually use millinery batting, but since this is a darker fabric I went with a darker under layer. It’s also thin enough cotton that I worried the lighter batting would show through. I didn’t take step by step photos here mainly because I had to work fast with the quick dry glue and parts of the assembly process were rather fiddly. :D
I added three rows of buttons to recreate the tufted appearance of the original by looping thread through the fabric and tying in the back. Shown here is the layout marked with a chalk pencil. Looks like my secret is out, too…I have a mouse tailor for guidance. ;]
The tufting was a lot of work, but it was worth the effort. I just love the effect. I foresee other tufted minis in my future.
Using a glittery bead smiley face I bought for a dollar, I made buttons to cover the threads creating the tufts by gluing the crystals in place.
I made the tufted cushions using sewn pillows stuffed with flat pieces of felt and tufted with the same thread and buttons I had used for the tall back and sides. I like that they ended up a bit misshapen as though they’ve been used and moved about over the years.
I think the crystal buttons work rather well, though I’ll need to buy another sticker not only because there were not enough to complete all the tufts (the missing ones are hidden behind the pillows) but also in case these pop off as time goes by. I’d never be able to match them otherwise.
The original appears to have a wood base, and I liked this detail. I built a frame and legs from bass wood and painted the assembly black followed by a satin varnish.
For the main cushion made from the kitchen sponges, I used the method of making cording that I learned from the Millie August kits to add a bit of realism. I opted for self fabric cording instead of red as on The Chair. Not only would it be unlikely to match, but there is so much going on with The Sofa that I worried contrast cording would detract from it. I may add a small red throw pillow or blanket over the back when I get further into the decorating phase to tie it in more with The Chair.
And, here is The Sofa!!! It is my second “from scratch” upholstered piece. :D Love!
And, here it is with The Chair.
The lack of red in The Sofa is a little glaring with them side by side, but it’s less intrusive when in place in the parlor. Plus, there will be a lot of other things going on in the room as well.
