Mary Calarco

Mary CalarcoMary CalarcoMary Calarco
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    • Home
    • About
    • Gallery
      • Rug hooking
      • Mixed media
      • Work in progress
    • Links
      • Instagram

Mary Calarco

Mary CalarcoMary CalarcoMary Calarco
  • Home
  • About
  • Gallery
    • Rug hooking
    • Mixed media
    • Work in progress
  • Links
    • Instagram

"When things fall apart"

Work in progress

My husband's reupholstered rocking chair is finally finished

A before shot with the original fabric...

My talented pal, who is always so generous with her time and knowledge, gave me a crash course in how to reupholster this old rocking chair. 

After we removed the existing material, we found the cotton and horse hair stuffing to be in fairly good shape.

A much needed addition was new strapping for support.

The wooden seat frame displays the signature of the original upholsterer. Well done! Only a bit of foam was incorporated for extra cushioning.

A few little details to illustrate the frayed edge on my onion-dyed fabric. Repurposed cotton bedshe

A detail shot of the piping, which used my frayed onion-dyed fabric as an edge.

I sourced this repurposed cotton fabric  at The Bay, which was being sold in the form of a waiter's apron via The Drake General Store. I dyed, ripped apart and reassembled the apron to reupholster the seat and chair backing.

More 'Food Waste' aprons are in the works...

These aprons were a crisp white when I bought them...

...but my food waste dye gives them a wonderfully warm glow.

Avocados pits and skins provide a lovely pink hue.

Iron darkens dye to a purple-grey.

It takes me at least 5 hours to scour, mordant and dye each piece of fabric.

Some projects bring surprises and unexpected results. Every now and again, I just have to grab the lighter and conduct some experimenting...

Osage ink, rust, sumac, avocado and onion dye. This piece of fabric is now incorporated into one of my mixed media canvases entitled "Contrast Dye I".


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