Children's Crafts

How to Make a Shoe Chair

By editor ⋅ August 10, 2008 ⋅ Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

I enjoy browsing on the internet for antique patterns and craft projects. One of the best places to find such things is Gutenberg.org, which has a searchable database of ebook resources.

I found this project to make a shoe chair, in St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, published in 1877. It is suggested as a project for children to make as Christmas presents - the single paragraph of instructions is complete.

How to Make a Shoe Chair

Shoe Chair

An old cane-seated chair will answer perfectly to make this, provided the frame-work is strong and good. Cut away the cane and insert in its place a stout bag of twilled linen, the size of the seat and about ten inches deep. Around this bag sew eight pockets, each large enough for a pair of shoes. The round pocket left in the middle will serve to hold stockings. Have a bit of thin wood cut to fit the seat of the chair; fasten on this a cushion covered with cretonne, with a deep frill all around (or a narrow frill, provided you prefer to fasten the deep ruffle around the chair itself, as shown in the picture), and a little loop in front by which the seat can be raised like the lid of a box, when the shoes are wanted. This chair is really a most convenient piece of furniture for a bedroom.

How to Make a Shoe Barrel Chair

In the same magazine is another version of a shoe chair, this time made from a barrel. I know most of us don’t have easy access to complete wooden barrels, but thought this was interesting nonetheless.

1. SHOWS MANNER OF CUTTING BARREL.
2. BARREL SHOE-CHAIR COMPLETED.
3. INTERIOR OF BARREL SHOE-CHAIR.
4. MODE OF MAKING POCKETS.

Another shoe-chair …. can be made out of a barrel by any girl who has a father or big brother to help her a little with the carpentering. The barrel is cut as in Fig. 1 below, so as to form a back and a low front. The back is stuffed a little, and covered with chintz nearly down to the floor. The front has a deep frill tacked on all around the chair. Four blocks are nailed inside the barrel to support a round of wood, stuffed and cushioned with the same chintz, to serve as a seat.

A straight shoe-bag, with eight pockets, is made in the same chintz, and tacked firmly all around the inside. A loop of the chintz serves to raise the seat. Four castors screwed to the bottom of the barrel will be an improvement, as the chair without them cannot easily be moved about. About five yards of chintz will be required for the covering; or you might use the merino of an old dress.

Notice the automatic assumption that a girl would want their father or big brother to do the carpentry work while boys, of course, wouldn’t be caught dead doing the sewing. This is a prevalent theme in Victorian publications, so you’ll often come across references to the “boy carpenter” or the “feminine pursuit” of needlework arts.

We’ve come a long way since those days - but I still find the creativity and thriftiness of past generations inspiring. We talk about recycling as if it is a new discovery, when really it’s more of a lost art.

Tags: children, craft, kids, projects, Recycling, shoe chair, Victorian