How to Make Upholstered Furniture

You can make upholstered furniture by working on a piece you built yourself, or by rejuvenating old furniture. Gather some instructional books and attend an upholstery class if possible, then select your tools and formulate your plan.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Staple gun
• Staple lifter
• Upholstery tacks
• Tack hammer
• Upholstery fabric
• Webbing
• Padding
• Springs
• Burlap
• Stuffing
• Upholstery books
• Upholsterer's horses
• Webbing stretcher

Instructions

Assessment

1. Determine what you're working with. If you're upholstering a piece for the first time, you have the advantage of not having to remove the old upholstery, but the disadvantage of not having an existing template.

2. If you're reupholstering an old piece, evaluate its condition. If it's damaged, you may have to replace padding, springs, webbing, trim or fabric. If the damage is minimal, it can be tricky to match new fabric or padding to original elements you want to keep. If you just want to re-cover a piece of furniture that's in good condition, evaluate how difficult it will be to wrap and tuck new fabric around the piece.

3. Consider the design of the piece. It will be relatively easy to re-cover a standard dining-room chair with a removable seat panel. You'll need more time and skill, however, to reupholster a sofa with rolled arms and attached cushions. If you're upholstering from scratch, examine as many similar pieces as you can find. Decide which elements of upholstery you'll need before buying supplies and beginning work.

Education and Tools

1. Familiarize yourself with furniture anatomy. At the heart of an upholstered chair or sofa's construction is the frame. You'll either have made this yourself, or you'll be working with an old frame that you've stripped of fabric and padding. On top of the frame is the webbing, which consists of strong strips of fabric that support weight. Next are the springs, which act as shock absorbers for the seat and back rest. Burlap goes over the springs and provides a foundation for padding and stuffing. Stuffing is made from foam, horsehair or synthetic hair, and is covered by a layer of muslin. A layer of padding, which is often cotton batting, lies directly under the upholstery fabric. The fabric can be secured with glue, staples, nails or all three.

   The piece of furniture may also feature decorative trim or nails, and welting or piping, a bias-cut strip of fabric that covers a stiff cord and is then sewn into the seams of the upholstery. You can construct, repair and replace any of these elements yourself.

2. Take an upholstery class. While it helps to read books on upholstery, it's beneficial to see the process up close. That said, there are books that take you through specific upholstery projects step by step. Singer, the sewing machine company, has a useful book called "Upholstery Basics." Another useful instructional guide is "Simply Upholstery" by the editors at Sunset Books.

3. Gather your tools. Get a tape measure to determine the amount of fabric to use. Do this before stripping off the old cover. Measure each piece of the cover and add allowances for seams and folding or tucking. Make a list of your cover pieces, their measurements, and how much fabric you estimate you'll need.

   Get a staple gun and staple lifter to strip and re-secure fabric. Upholstery horses are useful to support your furniture while you work. If you've made your furniture's frame, you can also make a quick upholstery horse out of scrap wood. Purchase upholstery tacks and a magnetic tack hammer to attach webbing, burlap, stuffing, muslin and padding.

Planning and Executing

1. Write out a list of steps detailing everything you're going to do. For example, if you're upholstering a new piece, your first and second items might be cutting the correct amount of webbing and tacking it to the wood frame.

2. Begin work, checking off each step as you go so you don't get confused. You'll be covering your work with new layers as you go--sometimes you won't be able to see where you've just been.

3. If you're working with an old piece, remove the fabric by first removing any staples or tacks with a staple remover. Then begin working on the batting, padding and webbing, pulling out staples and tacks until you've removed all the damaged material, or all the materials you want to replace. If you're working with a new piece, begin by attaching the webbing. Use a webbing stretcher to pull the webbing taut over the frame and secure it with tacks.

4. On your old piece, begin replacing the materials you removed. This could mean starting from the webbing up, simply re-covering the piece, or jumping in at any stage in between. On your new piece, you'll be adding complete layers of new material on top of the frame.

5. Re-cover the piece with your new fabric. Make strategic cuts so you can wrap the fabric tightly around chair arms and back rests without it pulling or wrinkling. Staple or tack the fabric to the frame, either folding the raw edge under so that it doesn't show, or hiding it with trim or nails.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't rush your work. If you have questions or doubts, stop and do research before continuing.

• Be careful with upholstery tacks, decorative nails and your tack hammer. Wear gloves when possible.

References

• "Singer Upholstery Basics;" Singer Editors; 1997
• "Simply Upholstery;" Sunset Editors; 1998
• Upholster Magazine Online

Resources

• DIY Upholstery Supply and Charlebois Fabrics