Introduction

Years ago we bought some Pine Furniture. It's sort of shaker style. Since then the company we bought it from went out of business. As the years went by we wanted a couple more pieces of furniture so I made them to match the style we have.

Now we wanted a couple of foot stools or leg rests to place anywhere along the front of the couches.

So now I started the process of making them. After researching foot stools/leg rests across the net, I decided to incorporate some interesting design elements. In addition, I will be doing my own upholstery which I have not done before but have a good understanding of it and up to the challenge.

Join me on this journey and follow along and feel free to comment along the way.

The Beginning .... Making the Legs

I started by laminating some 1 x Pine stock and milling it to make these four legs.

Then I used my #4 Round Moulding plane to radius the four edges on each leg. Next, I mortised all 4 openings on each leg for the rails.

This was done with my mortise chisels. It was a lot of work but turned out beautiful. They are 1 “ deep.

Then I cut and milled up all the rails as shown. I squared up each one by hand planing. I made the tenons at both ends for each rail.

I did a test fit for each leg with its rails. Looking good so far!

Making the Pillowed Stiles

On two sides of the stool there will be small “pillowed” stiles connecting to top and bottom rails. Here I show these stiles cut, squared, and center lines marked for doweling.

Using my centering doweling jig, I then place each stile in and drill on center on the top and bottom of each one for 1/4” dowels.

Pillowing

Next, I begin “pillowing” each stile on both sides. I start by using an ellipse template and mark each end with the arcs I want for pillowing. Then I pencil hatch the faces that will be hand planed to the arcs on both ends. As the hatch marks disappear I can tell what has been planed.

Below in the left photo you see the planing begin. In the mid photo you see the finished pillowing. The last photo shows before and after pillowing.

Now, the side rails are drilled for assembly of the stiles. The stiles are then glued into place. Here are the finished sides.

Dry Fit (Temporary Assembly)

Now I do a dry fit to test how everything fits before glue up. A piece of ¾” prefinished Baltic Birch plywood is cut for the bottom and the cushion is cut to match the plywood perimeter.

So far everything is looking good!

Seat Upholstery

Next, I layout and cut the Faux Leather dark brown material (face down) leaving an extra 3-1/2” all around. The holes on the the bottom are vent holes for when the foam is compressed. The foam is 3” thick.

Then I place my compressing jig that I made special for this on the bottom as shown, centered both ways. F-Clamps are slowing squeezed until the foam compresses in half at 1-1/2” thick. Next, I start stapling. The corners are “Sow Ear” cut, folded up and over and stapled as shown.

To tidy it up, I place double side tape under the edges after stapling. This is another view of the compressing jig and clamping system for compressing the foam.

Here's a dry fit with and without clamps. The finished upholstered cushion was a little tight assembling into the frame but luckily there was enough clearance. I learned a lot doing this upholstery. It's looking good.

Applying the Finish

Now its time to apply the finish. I used Behr water based wood stain “Golden Pecan”. It's quiet close to matching General Finishes “Light Brown” water based dye stain that I bought from Lee Valley for other furniture that I've made. They were out of it so Im trying the Behr. I gave two coats of the Behr stain to all pieces.

Then I applied two coats of Light Yellow (Blonde) Shellac over all stained parts.

The Finale

Again I did another dry fit. Here, I assembled all the finished parts again, lightly clamped up, and checked for any improvements that may be needed.

Some very minor cosmetic issues were addressed. Next I disassembled all parts. I then applied glue to all mortise and tenon joints, re-assembled, and clamped. I cleaned up any glue squeeze out which was pretty much none. I left it overnight.

This is the end result.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

MrRick

Edited April 17Apr 17 by MrRick

Wonderful chair and awesome tutorial Rick! Can't believe no taggers on here for discussion 😂Everyone must be outside enjoying the wonderful weather.

We don't see much upholstery work here on The Patriot Woodworker, thanks for the walk through Steve!

You're welcome John. What walk thru from Steve?

I thought it odd that there were no comments until you made one. Seems the harder I try to make an in depth post the less to nil comments I receive. I don't get it.

Edited April 19Apr 19 by MrRick

I'll confess that seeing a fresh post that isn't featured takes more effort now than before the latest software update. Even my own posts seem to take a few days now to get noticed by most.

As for this project, I'm delighted my attention was brought to it. I'm delighted the photos were quick to load. I'm delighted with the process displayed and obvious care you took to create the story. A thrill for today that I doubt will be exceeded soon.

Brilliant strategy for compressing the foam to ease pulling the fabric tight to staple down. The last time I had such work I used my drill press for the leverage and it's table that could be loosened to spin as I worked around the edges. Obviously limited by the size of the drill press table, but a useful trick.

4D

I'm glad you like it @4DThinker . Thanks for making a comment. I appreciate it. Cheers! MrRick

Sorry Rick. I'm way, way behind on my reading here. After being held hostage all winter, I'm spending as much time outside as possible now. Most of it mowing especially with 4 acres.

Anyways not about me. An incredibly awesome and detailed write up. Thank-you. I love everything about the footstool. Impeccable work and a simple but pleasing design compatible with numerous furniture designs.

Thanks @Grandpadave52 ! Glad you like it and the writeup.