I immediately set to work as I wanted to practice the art of 8-way spring tying. I've been studying this task for days via YouTube and frankly, it just seems that anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. When it comes to tying springs, I'm just like this guy except, well, about a 100 times slower! Needless to say, I had to tie, then untie, and retie the springs a few times (several times) to get them to come out looking like they're supposed to and even at that, I still need some practice - well, lots of practice. Alan calls it, "lost time" but isn't that a big part of what a hobby is supposed to be about?
So, in order of reconstruction, I covered the 8-way hand-tied coil springs with burlap, added an edge roll, used a bit of scrap foam, covered with a few layers of cotton, and capped with some 1" poly. The next step is a muslin cover then the outer fabric. In the end, the seat was domed, well padded, and very comfortable to sit on. To create the back support, I used two-inch high-stretch elastic webbing woven together, covered with burlap, foam, cotton, and poly and will wrap in muslin before covering. (That's scraps of cotton batting on the table below the chair.)
All in all, this has been a rewarding project. Alan's work is simply incredible and I'm impressed with how my end of the job as turned out so far. We've enjoyed several discussions with others and I'm sure one of these days we'll actually get this process figured out. It's been a pleasure working on this project even though it was complicated by budgeting challenges but, for the relatively low cost investment we've had several learning opportunities and are optimistic about the future. This may be a bit premature to say at this point but if this chair turns out as well as I'm imagining it might, the upholstery gig as a hobby could be a lot of fun! Check back again, I'm expecting an order of muslin to arrive in the next few days.