I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving. In the last couple of days my client and I were able to come up with what I think is a very complimentary gimp color. I make sure all my excess fabric has been trimmed from the chair. Try to get as many strings or loose thread out of the way. I use this small hot glue gun to attach the gimp to the chair. I like the smaller one because it can get into tight spots and I have more control over the volume of glue that the gun puts out compared to the standard size hot glue guns. They are relative inexpensive. I use the clear glue sticks that fit this size gun. You have to pay attention to how you use this tool around fabric and finishes on the frame. It is hot and can do damage and if you have oozing from too much glue it is hard to disguise. On the seat potion of the frame the gimp starts and stops between the front arm/leg and the rear leg/rail. So the ends of each section have to be finished. I do this by putting a little glue on one end and folding it over say a ½ or so. Putting a little spot of glue there will make it lay flat. I then put a spot of glue on the front of the chair and glue the gimp making sure that I am flush with the edge of the trim rail. You want to make sure that your gimp is straight and you don’t want to have any exposed staples. I then use my “gimp” gun and place one staple near the edge of the frame. A gimp staple gun uses a small crown staple making the staple easier to conceal than a wider crown staple. There are also gimp tacks that can be used for this type of application. More than likely the hot glue will be enough to hold the gimp but I like to put that little bit extra assurance into the job. Particularly when you have so many start and stop points. So I continue gluing the gimp down along the front. I normally only glue a 5 to 6 inch section at a time. I want to continually check my progress and make any adjustments that may be needed. I continue around the perimeter of the chair frame. I then move on to the inside back. This application is a continues piece with one start and stop point. I begin by applying a spot of glue in a bottom corner. I don’t fold the gimp here. I will fold over the other end and overlap where I started at. I continue gluing and checking all along the perimeter of the inside back. Scroll gimp is woven to be able to go around curves. Right angle corners sometimes have to be addressed with a 45 degree fold in the gimp. Try to make this look as professional as you can. Continue around the inside back until you are back at the start point. Fold the end over and glue and staple down like I discussed earlier. Repeat this same process on the outside back. When the gimp is applied I then turn the chair over so that the bottom is facing up, cut off an appropriate amount of “dust cover” and start to apply it to the bottom of the frame. You may remember that in one of my first posts about applying the webbing I mentioned to start the edge of the webbing in the center of the rail. We are at the point where doing that will pay off. Doing this will give you just enough space to staple down the dust cover and hide the edge of the webbing. I then fold over the dust cover material and start to stretch and staple the dust cover to the frame. When the dust cover is completed I then turn the chair over and inspect it, clip any exposed threads and polish the exposed wood with a little wax. That chair is done. In the meantime I have finished the other chair and will make arrangements with my client to make delivery. I will post pictures of the chair and the clients in their setting. Next up, I have a commercial job to go over with you and another antique to show you.