How to Reupholster Furniture
(Page 3 of 4)
November/December 1974
By Virginia Schmitz
One caution: Before you buy fabric, notice whether any parts of the old covering were cut on the bias to stretch around curves. If they were, some stripes or plaids won't look very attractive if used as replacement material.
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Some people make a big point of measuring yardage so closely that not an extra inch of fabric will be left. I don't. I take loose measurements, figure on the high side and order more cloth than I think I'll need. There's always excess material, and it never goes to waste. In fact, it's one of the bonuses of doing my own upholstery. For example, I had enough fabric left from my first job to make matching curtains and throw pillows, a touch that suggests interior decorators and lots of money, when in reality I spent far less than I would have for blah store-bought ready-mades. Smaller amounts of leftover material can be used to make valances, footstools, covered wastebaskets or what have you.
OK, back to our naked chair. Take all the pieces of old covering and flatten them out (clip open any darts or seams). Arrange the shapes on the new fabric so as to waste as little as possible, and remember to leave an extra inch around each segment. (If your earlier research turned up any parts that must be cut on the bias, be sure to lay them out that way.) Place the cushion itself on the yard goods and trace around it twice for top and bottom. Measure its sides for length and width and mark out a strip to fit, again with an inch over for a seam allowance. Cut out all the parts, and keep each old piece together with its replacement for identification purposes. Use the scraps to make welting, trim, buttons and such.
When you apply the new material, you'll simply reverse the order in which you stripped off the sections of old covering: The last worn piece you removed from the chair will be the first new one to go back on, and so forth.
Use your heavy-duty staple gun to attach one side of the first piece of material to the chair in the same manner in which the old covering was fastened. Gently but firmly pull and stretch the cloth from the opposite direction and staple down the far border. Then secure the third side, pull gently from the free edge and fasten it down too. This is much easier done than said, fortunately, because the manner in which the material is stapled and stretched across the frame is the secret of professional-looking upholstery. The covering should be taut, without sags and wrinkles, but not so tight that there's no "give" and the fabric tears. If you're not satisfied with way things are going, remove the section and start over. Mistakes are easily corrected as they happen but impossible to fix later.
Sometimes a section of the original fabric is attached by means of a metal strip of tacks. When these are removed they usually become bent and are impossible to reuse. I'm sure they could be purchased, but we don't bother. Instead, Jim cuts a piece of cardboard the length and width of the metal strip and staples it in place (again, much more easily seen on your own article of furniture than described). If the last side of the piece was originally fastened with such a strip, I just secure it with blindstitching.
