Re-Upholstering Furniture Part 2: Upholstering

Materials:

- Old piece of furniture
- butter knife (totally professional tool I know - but it works!)
- flat-head screw driver
- pliers
- staple gun
- hammer
- sewing machine
- regular and zipper foot
- seam ripper
- upholstery fabric
- plastic piping
- iron

I'm not a pro at this by any means (in fact this was my first attempt), but here's what worked:

The basic rule of thumb is that you work one section at a time, take off the old fabric in whole pieces, then use those pieces as a pattern for your new pieces. Pay attention to how things come off - because you'll put the new pieces back on the same way.


1) Remove Staples:
Starting from the bottom of the furniture, remove the staples using your butter knife, flat-head screw driver, and pliers (safety goggles are a good idea). Remove bottom covering (keep aside until later), and release the rest of the fabric from the bottom of the furniture frame.


2) Remove Fabric Section:
In this case I began by loosening the side sections and removed the back piece of fabric from the chair frame (put aside with metal stretchers), and then removed the lower-front section of fabric, saving any pieces of piping that also had to come off. If any piece is sewn directly onto the furniture, you may need a seam ripper to release it.

3) Iron Out Old Fabric Section & Trace:
Once I had the fabric piece removed I ironed it flat, and then traced it out exactly onto my new fabric. Cut out new fabric piece. (If you're using patterned fabric - make sure you have your piece in line with the direction of the fabric pattern before cutting it out)


4) Attach New Fabric Piece:
Place new fabric piece on furniture frame in place of the old one and sew/ staple to frame in the same manner as the old one.



5) Repeat with other sections:After replacing the lower-front piece, I worked on the sides next. In this case the side pieces consisted of 1 whole jacket composed of several pieces sewn together. I removed the entire jacket and used my seam-ripper to detatch the pieces from one another.

Then I ironed each piece out, traced it out onto my new fabric, sewed them back together in the same way, replaced the jacket onto the side of the chair and stapled into position on the frame.

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Piping:

To make piping:

1) Remove plastic piping from old fabric sleeve (if piping cannot be re-used, cut a new piece of piping to the same size).

2) Cut a piece of new fabric long and wide enough to make a new sleeve for the piece of piping. Fold in half lengthwise and iron to crease. Sew sleeve just narrow enough to fit piping snuggly.


3) Insert piping.


4) Sandwich between right sides of fabric pieces with piping on the inside - raw edge to the outside and pin in place.


5) Sew pieces together using a zipper-foot on your sewing machine.

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After I completed the sides, I repeated the process with the upper-front section, and then the back piece.

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Using Fabric Stretchers:

Again the rule here is put it back on the way it was, so take careful note when you pull it off. Position fabric stretchers on back side of fabric pointy side down, and poke through material.

Fold fabric over, position on frame firmly (right side up) and hammer in, stretching fabric across the back.

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6) Replace Bottom Covering:


Staple bottom covering onto furniture frame the way it was - tucking in any loose ends.


7) Enjoy your "new" furniture!

If you liked this post - check out this one too for more details and better pictures on the reupholstering process:  

HOW TO RE-UPHOLSTER A SOFA

You might also be interested in:

How to Re-Upholster Furniture with Deep Folded Tufts

Re-Uphostering Furniture Part 1: Refinishing Wood

Old furniture can become new again, but I won't lie - it takes time and effort.


Currently, I am re-upholstering 2 mis-matched arm-chairs that a client found for cheap at a 2nd-hand store. By the time I am finished they be new matching chairs.

First we had to make the wood legs match which required refinishing.

*The following steps can be used to re-finish any kind of wood furniture*


Tools & Materials:

- safety googles
- Flat-head screw-driver and needle nose pliers (to remove upholstery staples)
- electric palm sander
- detail sander (for fine detail)
- heavy and fine grit sand-paper
- wood conditioner
- wood stain
- paint brush
- lint-free rag
- varathane/polyurethane finish


Step 1: Pull old fabric away from legs to fully expose them.


If the piece you are working on needs to be re-upholstered - do not remove fabric sections entirely (you will do that later), just pull it back enough to fully expose the wood. Be careful not to damage the fabric pieces too much, and keep whole pieces as intact as possible.

Be sure to wear safety googles when pulling upholsetry staples - sometimes they can really fly!


Step 2: Sand off old finish.


Here's where a lot of the work in refinishing furniture comes. To do it properly, ALL of the old finish needs to be removed - which means you need to take everything including every nook and cranny right down to the wood. (if your furniture has a lot of classic details - you will need a detail sander to do this)

To make this a little easier I like to start with a heavy grit sand-paper which takes the old finish off quickly. Once the old finish is removed the wood will need to be sanded again with a fine grit sand-paper to smooth everything out.

Once all sanding is complete, brush sawdust off of wood, and clean wood with a damp rag. Clean up all sawdust in surrounding area, and allow wood to dry thoroughly.


Step 3: Pre-treat wood with a wood conditioner.


Follow instructions on label.


Step 4: Apply wood stain.


Do not shake stain to mix - stir. If you're working on a large project, you will need to stir your stain several times during the job to maintain uniformity. Once your stain is adequately mixed, use a paint brush, or in this case foam brush to paint the wood with a coat of stain. More recently I have become a fan of water-based stains because I find they saturate well, and they clean up with soap and water, which just makes life easier.


Let the stain sit for no more than 3 minutes. Dampen a lint-free rag with stain, and rub on wood in the direction of the wood grain. Allow to dry (at least 2 hours). Repeat process with additional coats until desired colour is achieved (in this case I only needed 2). Allow to dry thoroughly.



Step 5: Apply protective finish.


In a well ventilated area, cover wood with a clear varnish. In this case I applied 2 coats of an aerosol Varathane. Allow to dry thoroughly according to directions on label.