My sewing rocker

Several years ago, I bought a little rocker with no seat. Formerly there had been a caned seat that someone had removed. 

This is not my chair but mine is very similar.

This antique rocking chair identifies as a ladies sewing rocker and is also known as a nursing rocker.  Common in the late 1800s and early1900s these chairs had two main characteristics:

• Built lower to the ground to fit a women’s stature
• Contained no armrests. 

This allowed the space for a woman to rock and nurse babies, or to sew, knit, etc…

But I digress - - At the time of purchase, my plan was to put it outside with a potted plant in the seat. By the time I got it home however, I decided it was too nice to put outside.  

SO it became a shop prop for many years with quilts hanging over it.  When needed, we put a 15" square ruler over the seat hole.

Now that I'm retired, I decided to look into a seat for this little chair. A link from Pinterest led me to step by step instructions for making a replacement seat from tooled faux leather (fiber board).

It comes unfinished in a 14" square. I stained it, made a template and trimmed it and then I applied a coat of  polyurethane.  

Again, these first few pictures are from Pinterest as I did not think to take pictures as I was working on this project.

This step was not easy but, as the instruction say, take it slow.

The last step is to use an awl to punch nail holes in the seat and then apply it to the chair with upholstery tacks. I completed this task with just one Band Aid and one bruise when I missed the tack with my rubber mallet.

This last picture is actually my finished project. Just as in quilting, I took my time, doing it one step at a time, and it worked out great - well, great if I am the judge.