Props Gothic Victorian Armchair

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to attempt to create an upholstered Victorian-inspired armchair for my 1/4 scale doll. For this project, I'm not aiming for historical accuracy, and I'm using materials that I already have on hand. I plan to make more furniture after this, so I'm partly using this as a test case to experiment and figure out what techniques will work. I apologize in advance for the limited photos (and for the poor image quality); when I began this project I did not plan to share the process so I did not document the steps very thoroughly!

Before starting construction, I took a ton of measurements of my doll in a seated position to get a rough idea of what the measurements of the chair should be. I used those measurements to determine the width and depth of the seat of the chair, the height and width of the back of the chair, and the height of the arms of the chair.

For the initial structure/base of the chair, I used cardboard and hot glue to create the shapes of the seat, back, and arms. It ended up being surprisingly sturdy with several layers! It know that cardboard is not the most durable option, but I'm okay with that, as this will not be of heirloom quality. I referenced photos of antique armchairs from the period to determine the shapes and proportions. As I went, I regularly tested it out with my doll, and made any adjustments that were needed.

After I couple of tries, I had something that I was happy with. I moved on to creating layers of "batting" with leftover cheap fleece fabric, attaching it with hot glue. I created the bottom seat cushion with a piece of foam, and some stuffing to round out the edges. At this point, I finally began taking photos, even though it was hideous!



Next, I covered the chair in fabric using an inexpensive black faux velvet that was in my fabric stash. I determined the shapes to cut out by roughly tracing the chair. I attached the fabric to the chair with hot glue, being careful to use a minimum of glue and to keep it only on hidden (underneath/interior) surfaces of the chair, since hot glue has a tendency to seep through the fabric and I didn't want it to be visible anywhere. I clipped the edges of the fabric and pulled it taut as I went, to get a smooth finish around all the curved surfaces. I did some hand-sewing to finish the fabric along the front of the armrests.

Then I moved on to a really fun part of the project: creating the tufted back cushion! I measured the chair to create a pattern for the back cushion, then sewed it together, leaving the bottom edge open. Starting at the top of the cushion, I used 4 mm buttons and sewed them through both layers of the un-stuffed cushion. Every couple of rows, I added stuffing, using a crochet hook to push it to the top and between the buttons. Once complete, I closed the bottom edge with a ladder stitch and attached the pillow to the back of the chair with hot glue.



Next, I created a "frame" along the bottom edge of the chair using cardboard and hot glue, and also created and attached the legs with the same materials. I put my doll in the chair and took measurents to determine exactly how long the legs of the chair should be, to make sure that my doll's feet would reach the floor when seated.

Once that was complete, I used air-dry clay to build up the "wooden" frame around the bottom edge of the chair, the legs, around the top edge of the chair, and along the armrests. I also began adding decorative "carving" to the chair in a whimsical over-the-top fruit motif, loosely inspired by an actual 1860s chair. When the clay was dry, I used an Emery board to easily sand it down and smooth it out whererever needed. Images below are from an intermediate stage, so it's still looking pretty rough:





As of yesterday, I'm almost finished adding the details, haven't taken photos of that yet. After that, all that's left is painting and varnishing the faux-woodwork! I plan to paint it a charcoal color and then add a black wash to bring out the details. Hopefully it will have a sort of gothic, moody, stylized aesthetic. (Historical Victorian chairs definitely would have had natural woodwork, but I don't feel confident in my ability to paint a faux-wood effect on clay...)

For future updates, and for the final results, I will make sure to get some better quality images to share here. Please let me know what you think of the project so far, and thank you for sticking with me through this long-winded post!

 

Thank you, that is so sweet!

Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement!! I'll be working on it this weekend, so I hope to have some updates posted soon.

Thank you!!

Thank you so much!! This is super cheap craft-grade air dry clay, it probably wasn't the best choice for this project as it doesn't hold details very well! I have some epoxy clay which I considered using, but I ultimately decided to save it for future projects, once I have more practice.

 

So over the weekend, I got sidetracked working on a different project - I've recently become a little obsessed with attempting eye-making. However, I did find time to make progress on the chair as well! I finished adding a few last-minute details, completed the sanding, disassembled the pieces, and got it all painted and glossed. I also patched the areas near the crook of the armrests where the brown fleece is showing (it's still visible in the photos below; I patched the fabric after taking the photos).

All that remains is the final assembly! I'm kind of shocked that the project is nearly complete, it feels great to see everything coming together. I managed to dig out my digital camera and take photos with natural light, so these images should hopefully be better quality than previous images I've posted.






And in case you're interested, here's a few bonus photos of the project that distracted me over the weekend: working on creating eyes with hand-sculpted irises. This is the third set I've worked on:






I'll be back with updates soon, and photos of the finished chair! I'm also planning to do a photoshoot that includes my doll, so that you can see how the chair fits him (and because it's fun, and he's adorable). Thank you for taking a look at my project, I hope you will check back in to see the end results!!

 

Here's the final chair! I'm really thrilled with how it turned out. It's just so cute, I can hardly stand it!



Fritz says that the chair is "adequate," but I think he is secretly quite satisfied with it.



I've learned a lot from this project, and I'm already thinking about ways to incorporate more effective techniques and construction methods on my future projects. I'm planning to make an entire set of furniture in a matching style, at 1/3+ scale (instead of 1/4 scale like this chair.) So far, items on my to-do list include: a chaise lounge and/or sofa, large armchairs, side tables, and ottomans. I intend to maintain project journals to share my progress on those items, I hope you'll be interested in joining me for that process!

Thanks so much for taking a look, I would love to hear your thoughts on how the chair turned out!! Also, please feel free to ask questions about any stage of the construction, I know that I didn't do the best job of documenting and explaining my work

 

Thank you so much! It's tough to choose which furniture project to tackle next, but I'm sure that I'll make up my mind soon!

I'm so glad that you're feeling inspired, dive in and give it a try!

Thank you!!

Thanks so much!! The grapes ended up being my favorite part too