Tim Burtonnish Mad Hatter Tea Party Chair!

Our friend was dressing a promotional set for the opening of the new Tim Burton ALICE movie and asked if we could whip him up a quick Mad Hatter Chair. This is how we made ours.

Materials:
-old secondhand wood chair
-mattress foam
-fabric
-plywood
-1x2s (a bunch)

Tools:
- fabric stapler
- fabric scissors
- jigsaw
- sewing needles
- fabric glue
- PL glue

Step 1: Build Up the Back of the Chair

The first step was to guess how tall the chair was and then glue and staple 1x2 pine strips to it. We cut a thin strip of plywood for the top and pinned all the 1x2s to that.

Step 2: Build Out the Arms and Sides

Again, we guessed at the shape and dimensions and then cut plywood pieces to match the reference pics we found online. We used a mix of PL construction adhesive and a narrow crown stapler to position the wings and secure them into place.

Step 3: The Foaming

For the foam we used a mix of memory foam (for beds) and some cushion foam. We spray glued the pieces onto the chair and then stapled everything into place.

Step 4: More Foam!

Just a few more detailed photos of the foaming process.

Step 5: Fabric Fabric!

The actual chair is green but we used what we had at the shop (heh, brown). This is our second time trying to upholster a prop - if you have any advice here please write it in the comment section!! We tugged and stretched and pulled the fabric to shape it and make it fit over the foam with as few wrinkles as possible.

Step 6: You're Done! Throw a Tea Party!

After lots of battling fabric we were finally finished! Because the legs were not going to be seen we left them alone.
Now: set up a really long weird table, pour water and absinthe in funny-looking tea pots and invite your mates over for a Mad Hatter Tea Party!