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Heyoooo!
As I mentioned a little while ago, I’m stepping away from the freelance game as much as possible for a while (maybe forever? I guess it depends on how things go lol) to focus on personal work, tabling, and getting into the publishing world, so I’ve been spending a bit of time trying to upgrade and optimize my table setup which has actually been pretty fun!
A month or two back, I got a text from my partner asking if I wanted some old vintage suitcases. Thinking they’d be good for table display (I’d seen people using them at events and cons), I said yes absolutely. And wouldn’t you know it, they ARE great for display purposes, as well as storage. The downside is that they did not match my colours at all, so this past weekend I had a day to work on some stuff without the kid underfoot and decided to refinish these bad boys.
I was a big fan of the avocado green exterior but unfortunately it just doesn’t vibe with my table display, so I accepted I would have to paint them. The insides especially were kinda ick, the lining old and stained and not ideal. I played with the idea of just dying it but decided it would be easier and more effective just to rip it out and refinish it entirely.
There were a couple options–I could rip out the fabric and just do a kind of mod podge thing, paint it, or redo it with new fabric. I went with the latter despite it being the most work because it was also the nicest-looking and probably the most protective of the postcards I carry around in the smaller one. I went and got some plain black broadcloth for cheap as I figured that would be best for display purposes, but when I got home, I remembered I had some nice sturdy houndstooth upholstery left over from a window bench project my mom and I had done a while back, and I’m a SUCKER for houndstooth.
First, I ripped out all the lining, keeping track of the order in which it attached. Luckily, it was all in pretty good condition overall and I was able to keep the panels intact for easy covering! No real measuring or problem-solving required. hell yeah brutherrrr.
Next, I literally just traced the panels onto the fabric and cut them to size, keeping in mind a small “seam allowance” for gluing.
For the small side panels, I marked the corners, cut a notch, glued them down (hot glue gun is fine for this project, I don’t need it to be a professional finish I just need it to look relatively nice behind prints and stuff), trimmed the corners, and called it a day.
For the larger panels, they had rounded corners so I tried a couple different techniques, which worked well enough?
- Cut slits into the corner, then fold them over like an accordion and glue it all down flap by flap.
2. Honestly, basically the same thing but I glued stuff down first THEN cut it and it was fine but cutting the slits first was way easier. Do the first one if you can lol.
At this point I was just starting to glue stuff down when I realized I should paint FIRST as I would have to spray the inside lips of the cases, so I taped up the hardware (which, later, I ended up having to take off and sprayed over them anyway like an IDIOT, but it’s okay because it’s latex paint on metal I can just clean it off with q-tips and acetone next chance I get) and went to town with a nice turquoise.
I kind of wanted to have a bright yellow but none of the paint at the store was QUITE the right shade and honestly? Totally fine with it because this turquoise actually rocks even if that picture of the first coat or so is terrible hahaha
I painted in the basement with a fan going because it was raining, but after the rain stopped and the paint had dried enough to touch without ruining the finish, I moved them outside to off-gas a bit while I glued the lining down. Again, hot glue, too small of a glue gun, it’s fine. It’s FINE.
First, the fabric lining on the bottom, followed by the side panels and the hinge panel, then the big top panel to cover the edge of the hinge. The top panels fit pretty tightly in both suitcases so I didn’t really need a TON of glue to keep them snug.
ET VOILA! It looks… so cute??? I’m very excited, it’s going to look so nice on my table at the next event I do. I also got some pink plastic grid cube panels to build up a vertical display, so I’m excited to upgrade my table over the next few events as we head into Christmas season!
It’s been really humid lately so it took absolutely fucking forever for it to dry, and I did get impatient so I had to let them sit open for a few days after I put the lining back in because they’d get stuck shut hahaha, but it worked out! The whole project, taking into account dry time, took maybe 5 hours? The fabric portion probably only took 1.5-2 hours and the rest was just trying to be patient. VERY easy otherwise. And the sense of accomplishment you get when doing stuff with your hands? TACTILE FEEDBACK? 5 stars. 10/10. No notes.
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