Upholstery projects

Upholstery is a skilled job, that said, we could all learn new skills and while there are many businesses that do this professionally, you could always give it a try & give items of furniture a new lease of life. 

In a time when environmental and sustainability issues are high on people's agenda, there are many vintage and salvage quality items of furniture that can be repurposed with new contemporary fabrics. Auctions, bootsales or online marketplaces. Salvage yards, flea markets and Antique Centres are all great places to visit to obtain your first upholstery project. 

If you're brave enough, then you could give it a try.  Perhaps choose an item of furniture that is simple in it's design. 

What equipment do you need?

*Tape measure 

* Stapler 

* Scissors 

* Magnetic Hammer 

* Tack lifter

* Craft Knife 

* Pliers 

* Glue Gun

* Fabric Chalk

If you're serious about taking this up as an extension of your hobby, then there are other tools you could acquire. I'd recommend sourcing this book: The Upholsterers Handbook by Nicole Fulton with Stuart Weston.  

The is also a vast amount of tutorial videos on YouTube. If you have watched Drew Pritchards TV show,; Salvage Hunters, you would have seen Craig Hughes transform various items of furniture with stunning affect.  Here's the link to his YouTube channel:

https://youtube.com/@craighughesupholsteryoffic5077?si=U-gvjlNewUITfZid

I am an enthusiastic upcyclist and I will give any upholstery project a go. You just need patience and a steady hand. 

When it comes to fabric choices, I'd suggest you use a plain heavy cotton fabric like Calico, for your first project because a patterned fabric will require a greater skill.  You could then use trimming and frills to add to the overall look.

In terms of colour choice, it's worth considering what other colours are in the room where your upholstered furniture is going to live. 

Personally I'd choose an item of furniture that still has alot of life in it, in terms of the foam, springs, webbing and stuffing and just look at the cover fabric.  The more you do the more skilled you will become. 

Have all the equipment you need close to hand before you start your upholstery project. 

If you're not entirely confident in taking on a furniture piece, you could start with a pillow or cushion then move on to a simple chair cover, an Ottoman or screen for example. 

The first step to take is in the stripping back, being careful to remove existing tacks, studs and pins while trying your best not to damage the wooden frames or painted frames.  If you can remove the fabric cover as a whole, then you could use it as a template to cut your new cover. 

When purchasing fabric, you can start with your best estimate, based on the measurements of the original furniture item, taking into consideration all the dimensions.  Do this before you strips it back.  This takes into account the different layers of materials that are beneath the top fabric. Always err on being over generous when sourcing your fabric. 

It would be wise to draw it out on a piece of paper and then you can write the measurements to. 

Lay your fabric out and remove all creases and wrinkles to ensure you have a smooth surface to cut out your patterns.  You can use the original covers, a paper pattern or use a fabric chalk to draw your outline.  Again be over generous because you can always trim fabric but you can not add fabric.  Be sure you have a sharp pair of Scissors and the cutting blade is clean. 

When you lay your fabric in place, you will encounter corners that require folds and pleating.  You can secure pleats with stitches or tacks.  Take your time here to get it as taught as possible and uniform.  You don't want different sizes of pleats for example.  You want it to look symmetrical on either edge & side. 

It's worth pointing out if you have to re-paint or re-varnish the furniture, now is the time to do it before you secure your new fabric in place. 

One you have secured your fabric in place using tacks, pins or studs, then you can add the finishing touches like trims, ribbon or Piping.  If you're looking at Piping then, you may have already stitched this in place within the fabric . You can get a huge variety in trims now from tassels to poms poms. 

Now it's time to stand back and admire your handy work.  Well done you, now you have successfully completed your first upholstery project, what's next? 

You may be interested in our Blog on MJs top Antique fairs and markets, they are a great source of preloved furniture items.  

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