How to Upholster and Re-Upholster Furniture

By Kay Hardy

Furniture repair is work of universal interest and importance, for it would be safe to say that there is scarcely a home to be found that has not some useful article in need of repair. Repairing your own furniture can be both rewarding and cost-effective, and this handy book contains a detailed guide that will be of value to anyone interested in such an activity. Easy-to-digest and complete with a plethora of helpful pictures, this text is a great guide for the novice and makes for a worthy addition to DIY collections. The chapters of this book include: Types of Upholstery, Choosing your Material, Tools and Other Equipment, Foundation Work Fabric, Measuring and Cutting your Fabric, Tacking and Sewing Technique, Covering the Slip Seat, Covering the Soft Pad Seat, Covering the Pad Back, Special Chair Problems, et cetera. We are proud to republish this antique text now complete with a new introduction on the subject of furniture construction and repair.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473357709

Book preview

HOW TO UPHOLSTER AND RE-UPHOLSTER FURNITURE

UPHOLSTERY work—even the kind that transforms a crude packing box into a handsome, tufted window seat—only looks hard. Actually, it is surprisingly easy, especially if you have made slip covers, for the two have much in common.

A lot can be learned about upholstering by looking at finished furniture. A lot more can be learned by taking an old chair or sofa apart; or by merely re-covering an old piece that is in good condition. By carefully removing the old cover, piece by piece, so you can use it as a cutting guide, and by taking notes on just where you found every tack, stitch and spot of glue, you can put on a new cover in identical fashion, and with results that would do credit to the original upholsterer.

TYPES OF UPHOLSTERY

The Slip Seat—The simplest type of upholstery is the slip seat, used mainly on side chairs, and on armchairs with open arms. If your dining-room chairs have a rather flat pad seat with the narrow wooden frame visible on the sides, and possibly all the way around, they are probably slip-seated.

Slip-seated chairs appeared first during the Queen Anne period early in the eighteenth century, and have been in use ever since. Antique slip seats were never securely anchored, as the modern versions are today. They were merely laid in their grooves with the slight support of angles of wood set in the frame at the corners. For this reason, if you are re-covering an antique chair, you will have no difficulty in poking it out. Modern slip seats must be unscrewed first.

Slip Seats on Plywood—The simplest slip seat is made on a plywood base, padded with hair or moss, and covered with cotton wadding, muslin, and finally with the upholstery fabric or leather, which extends over the edge, and is tacked to the bottom of the seat, as in Figure 169.

Soft Pad Seats—A more comfortable and versatile seat is the one used generally on stools and softer chairs—and only occasionally on slip-seated pieces. Instead of plywood, this has a base of webbing covered with burlap. On top of this is placed the stuffing, the cotton wadding, the muslin cover and the upholstery fabric.

Sometimes the cover for this type of seat continues over the sides of the chair frame or stool, and is tacked underneath as in Figure 170. Sometimes it fits into the chair frame as in Figures 171 and 172. Sometimes, as in the case of Hepple-white and Sheraton-type chairs, it ends on the face of the chair in a neat turned-under edge adorned with decorative nail heads which form both trim and anchor.

Button Tufting—A more informal type of upholstery, and one used frequently on open-arm chairs, maple furniture, etc., and excellent for replacing old woven seats, is the kind known as button tufting. Backs and arms of chairs may be covered in the same way—often with the back and seat treated as one.

FIG. 169

Window Seat Pads—Mattress pads for window seats, porch swings or even occasional chairs are made similarly. The directions for making the tufted or buttoned type without springs, and the pillow with enclosed ready-made springs, are detailed later in this chapter. The thin quilted type of pad is discussed on page 64 in the Slip Cover chapter.

Victorian Padding—The deeply padded upholstery of the-Victorian style takes more time and effort, but is well worth it. It is wise to make your first covering of this type a small one, such as the dressing-table stool described on pages 66 and 67. After you have mastered the technique of this type of padding, you can apply it to larger pieces. Brilliant-colored satin handled in this way is lovely against a bleached wood frame.

Spring Upholstery—This is the most complex type of upholstery. It involves the fixing of webbing, the tying of springs, the insertion of padding, the covering with cotton wadding, muslin and upholstery fabric—and often even the strengthening of the frame itself. But even this type of upholstery can be mastered with little difficulty!

CHOOSING YOUR MATERIAL

Upholstery coverings must be strong, closely grained and durable. You don’t want to go to all the trouble of upholstering a piece, and then have it pull at the seams or wear out quickly. A closely grained fabric is doubly necessary if you have dogs or cats in the house, whose paws or claws might pull up threads otherwise. Some of the new novelty cottons should be avoided for this reason.

FIG. 170

FIG. 171