Cacti Chair Design

To get the dimensions of the chair to start pattern cutting pieces to gauge the best way to move forward, I un-pinned the back cushion and base cushion to find that the base of the chair was soft and springy! This was a great result as not only was that something I was hoping to achieve through different padding etc, removing the thick base cushion also made the chair feel much bigger. Sitting in it felt intimidating and it really did give the sensation of sinking.

In the photographs above you can clearly see the difference of the persons position in the chair, in the top row they can much lower and the chair appears larger and creates the sensation of feeling captive in the chair.

I measured the dimensions of the chair and began to draw up patterns from there. Breaking the chair down into different sections to make the process as simple and time effective as possible. Rather than shaping every piece on the domestic machine I realised that most of the shapes could be rectangles that are then cut and sewn, for the more complex shaping that might be a more effective method.

After a tutorial with Helen Hill, an experienced knitted pattern cutter, I have ideas for moving forward with this design process.

Things to consider:

- getting some jersey fabric to experiment with while developing patterns for the chair base cover

- experiment with drawing cacti designs on the jersey while its on the chair to develop different options of cacti placement

- consider breaking the larger areas down into smaller sections

Working towards finding the best way, and fit for the jersey on the chair - its not as heavy as the knitted fabric samples I have been developing but it has a similar stretch and way of manipulating as knitted fabrics, so it will still convey a strong idea of how the knit will mould to the chair.