this is NOT a 'how to upholster a chair/bench' post

I'd been looking at that "before" bench for a loong time not loving the dark, fishing motif fabric. Fabric that I had agreed to in another lifetime when my new hubbie had far more say in the decor of things. ; ) Almost immediately after the pillow revelation and the trim find, it finally clicked that I had nothing to lose. I would and could upholster the pieces myself rather than take them to a place after I found an extra couple hundred bucks lying around. It should be noted that I have switched out fabric on simple things like dining room chairs and headboards so I get basic fabric covering and stapling. Pieces with sides and a trim factor was the step above what I had done in the past.

Along with trim purchased for no more than $1 when you divide up my amazing lot, I also bought this heavyweight, cheery fabric at a garage sale for less than $5 total (enough for the bench, two pillows, the sides of two chairs plus ample leftovers.)

Now here's what this post is really all about. I mentioned with the pillows that taking things apart leads to bells going off. It all clicked once I could see how the pieces were cut and sewn together. I finally see the purpose of dissection in biology class. You can read about it and look at pictures, but once you see the actual insides of something...ahhhhhh that's were learning occurs. And with that I went and got a little crazy with the chairs...

I did a two-tone kind-of-thing with the same trim I used for the bench. All of that upholstering for a grand total of $6 plus a little sweet time. The moral of my story (besides 'garages sales are your friends') is If you see something you wanna make (sewing or otherwise) a little dissection goes a long way in figuring just how to do it.