3rd May The Chaise Lounge

On the 3rd of May Nicky and I came in to make a start on our allocated piece of furniture the chaise lounge. Nicky's Grandfather provided us with an old frame of a dark wood Chaise. Our first job was to create a plywood base that fits across the wooden frame, this would give us a secure surface to apply the foam and fabric to. We started by using paper to make a pattern to translate to a template on the plywood.

Once we had the appropriate pattern on paper indicating the various notches for the legs and other pillars that the base layer had to sit around. We translated this pattern to the plywood then proceeded to cut the shape with a jigsaw (wearing goggles and tying back hair). This first atempt failed as the ply was the wrong shape, some how the paper pattern had twisted so the overall base panel was also twisted on the chaise. The net time we drew the shape out onto the ply we didnt use the paper, instead we measured the various leg posts and translated that straight onto the wood. After cutting with the jigsaw this piece fit perfectly, with some minor adjustments to the posts of the end legs, this allowed the board to sit flat and level ready to be attached using a stapel gun. Stapels that did not fully sit in the wood were hit into it with a small hammer.

The next stage was to consider the foam cushion. The foam on the chaise was to be seperated into two parts the main seat rectangle and the folded head rest that would tuck under the main cushion. By laying out a thicker piece of foam across the chaise, using a marker the basic shape was marked and then cut using a sharp scapel. The foam itself was not attached to the chaise, only in one place it was stapled at the end of the arm rest where the fabric would eventually have to fit around.The fabric (an axample of a green William Morris print I provided) was also cut roughly to shape but with plenty of excess to stretch the fabric over the foam this meant that the edges of the foam would not be square but nicely rounded. We discussed the state of the piece at the time of Ivan's death. It was the chair that he died in and had spent hours and days lying in before hand. It would be worn, the fabric faided where he was lying, slightly loose and creased from movement pulling the fabric from the fastenings. To create these creases we held the crease in and held it taught while the other person stapelled down the fabric. It was important to make sure the fabric was stappeled down with a flat neat finish. Areas such as corners caused some trouble where fabric naturally wanted to pleate but these had to be pulled taught. In intricate areas up under a leg pillar or other section of wooden frame hammered in pins were used in place of stapels ( the stapeler could not fit in these areas) Sometimes the fabric would have to be snipped slightly so it could fit tightly around these tricky areas. By the end of the day of the 3rd this cushion was finished excess fabric not cut yet until the braid was attached later.