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https://stuckystudio.org/how-to-make-a-wine-barrel-chair-pt-1
SHAPING THE BARREL INTO A CHAIR
step 7
Depending on how big of a chair you wanna make, will decide how much of the barrel will be cut off. My barrel is a good fit for my husband and I, but if you need more room, you can cut more off the side especially around the armrest area.
I used a sharpie to mark the cut. I slanted the wing back area to match how the foam will be positioned.
I also measured it perfectly so the deer is centered in the back.
step 8
And then I started sawing away, I had to borrow a metal grinder to cut the rings in the location I marked, it’s important NOT to take the rings completely off because the rings are what keep the barrel tight together, the front barrel pieces will not have the support of the rings, but they will still be tight together and when I started the upholstery it tightened up even more. Also, very important don’t throw away the top circle piece, you will need it later!!! Now I used a sawzall to cut the rest following the sharpie line.
Believe it or not we haven’t even gotten to the messy part! FOAM!!… I ordered 3 different thickness of foam and they can get spendy… 18×18 5in thick foam is $20 for the seat. 4in 32×32 $50. polyurethane foam 1/2 24×72 $21. During this time I also taped and painted the metal rings black.
Step 9 & 10
Cutting, sanding, shaving and glueing the foam was a bit scary and thrilling because at this point it was a tossup on whether this was going in the right direction or not. But the idea is to stack the foam on top of each other until you get the thickness in all the areas you want, keep in mind how firm you want it when you sit on it and also pulling the fabric tight over it. I used gorilla spray glue; I found it to be the cheaper version and very strong. I did all this on a nice sunny day out, so the glue heated nicely, and all the mess was easy to blow away. Now after you have gotten the foam to your liking, you will need to start sanding/shaving the foam a bit. Think cheese grater not sanding block. Your orbital sander will not work on this unfortunately. Luckily, I had a potato shaver to do the job lol. Again, the foam doesn’t need a whole lot, but it will help to get the right molding for the chair, after this you will staple batting over the foam tightly and finally you will start to see your shape!
Step 11
Now I will say you don’t have to you use cotton batting, but I think there is a big difference the batting hides any of the imperfections in the foam and it also adds to the look of the leather. It’s very simple wrap the foam with the batting and pull tight (it stretches with heat). Then staple the batting along the barrel, on the inside, the outside and back on the edges. Staple about a 1/2 in apart. Don’t go to crazy because the fabric is gonna need to staple in the exact same spot.
Now to the best and basically the last part, the leather! Who doesn’t like a nice brown leather!? Now in my opinion this is very minimal upholstery work because the staple gun will do most of the work and honestly you could just wrap, fold rounded corners and staple. Again, Leather is stretchy you just need some heat and pull if that’s the way you wanna go, it would still turn out nice. I decided to test my upholstery skill though. Theres only two parts that I took my sewing machine out for that’s the bottom seat part (I hope yall kept that barrel circle lid) and the back, where I actually hand stitched black pin strips.
Step 12, 13, 14 & maybe 15 🙂
I first measured the center of the back and measured about 8 in to both sides and with the back of the leather I traced out the curve of the center of the back because everything should be symmetrical it does not matter that you’re using the back of the leather. I cut it out and still having the leather backwards on the foam, I used the pieces that I cut and pinned the fabrics together while continuing to follow the curve down. Once it was pinned, I took my time sewing and followed the curve. I loved the idea of working with leather, so I was excited for my first leather tool purchase. A stainless steel leather hole punch set, it’s kind of like forks you punch into the leather to make precise hole measurements. This helped me to make the black hand stitched strips perfect and super easy.
Then finally the seat, which was a little bit easier than the back. This is why you need to keep the barrel lid. So I took my 18×18 5in thick foam and took the top of the barrel set it on the foam, traced and cut the foam into a circle to fit the lid of the barrel. Then I took the leather, laid it on the foam and lid and cut the leather into the same size of circle along with the side of the foam seat. Again I made sure the leather was backwards, pinned and sewed the circle. I then glued on the fabric and stretched the leather to staple it to the bottom which is the barrel lid.
The finally little pieces were taking parts of the leather for the edging, also using bubble iron nails to make it nicer. Next using 2×4 and crewing them into the inside of the barrel at the right height, in four opposite areas so the seat sits right on top of them.
Finally, Finally
I used wheels on a circle metal bracket that are meant for moving a garbage can, it fit perfectly, sand, and paint. I didn’t bolt the barrel on because I think later on, I will change the feet to it but for now it’s perfect and the barrel does not tilt or shake, its exactly right!
I know this was a lengthy project, but it was so worth it. I’d say it took about 3 weeks and not 2k!!!! …. but I think it could be done for even less, depending on how determined you are. Thanks for checking it out! Let me know what you thought or if you have questions!
