Original furniture restoration using Corkwood yarns
I’ve been thinking about how many unusual ways we can use the tubular tapes that come from our machines and in particular id been mulling the idea of knitted upholstery. Not having done this before I started with a worn out simple square stool that had sat unloved in the loft for a number of years. I took all the old padding off, or rather it chose to crumble and I gave the wood a bit of sand and a restorative coat of Danish oil. After a further search of my workshop I found enough foam for the padded seat and used an electric carver to get the shape I wanted. The electric carving knife is the only way to shape foam. I got mine from Tesco’s last year for £12.00. Using a staple gun to attach the cloth to the wood frame, I covered the foam with a layer of old cotton sheeting. This I thought would give a great base to attach the padded knitted tubes. This is not a detailed description of how to do this as everybody’s furniture is different but at least I can give you an idea how to treat the yarn so you will be able to worki t out for yourself.
Items you need to restore a chair with corkwood tubular tape yarns

How to pad the knitted tubes
Firstly measure out the knitted tube you need for your project. At one end pull back the threads until the tube can unravel without snagging

Secure the stitches by passing a needle and thread through each one. This prevents unravelling whilst threading the padding

Turn over the end. Attach the yarn for the padding to a bodkin and pull the padding through the knitted tube

The best padding was the cheap and chunky acrylic and I used a number of plies to get a nice squishy feel

My original idea was to sew the tubes on to the fabric cover. In the end, the copydex did an amazing job and after the tubes had been attached with the glue and stapled to the underneath of the frame it was all nicely solid.
This was the first chair. I’m definitely going to do more.
