"All You Need is Courage, Curiosity, and the Makings."

Now I knew that the housewives of yesteryear had very special powers.  I often find their handiwork while scouring sales and antique stores, but here is even more proof. September 1940 edition of Woman's Day.

Rose Wilder Lane (do you think that was her real name?) writes "new upholstery is as easy as making a dress.  Anyone who can drive a tack can do it.  All you need is courage, curiosity, and the makings."  Pretty good advice for anything, don't you think?!

"Taking out tacks is the curse of this job."  Heck yeah they are!!!

"Under all these pieces you find a layer of discouraged cotton.  (And my goodness, the dirt!)"  At this point my nanny would be shrieking!

"Easier than a good pie, isn't it?"

Her apron seems to awfully clean to me.

And of course when you are finished, you look like this...just before serving dinner, as you stand in the doorway awaiting your beloved, his favorite mixed drink in hand.

In all seriousness, reupholstering is not rocket science, it is however, VERY labour intensive.  I thought, after naively watching Hilde Santo Thomas on an episode of trading spaces years ago, that I could completely redo a wing chair in a day...it took me a week!  And the end result was decent, but these days I leave the big projects to the experts!