DIY: Reupholstery

Have you ever wanted to reupholster something, but weren't sure you were up for it? Well make sure you are up for it before you start.

Begin by stripping the your piece of furniture. For me, it was a chair. So, begin stripping the chair layer by layer. Examine the item and find the furthermost outer piece of fabric. Then using a screwdriver pull the staple out. 

As you remove each piece of fabric, number it. You will want to number each piece so when you start reapplying the fabric you can put it back on in the order it came off. 

Once you have your chair all stripped you will then be able to measure the pieces to see how much new fabric you will need to buy. Use the pieces you removed as your pattern and keep the patterned numbers also. 

We reused everything from our chair that we could. Buttons, welting, padding, etc. anything that was still in good enough condition to reuse. This helped to cut down the cost. 

There was quite a bit of sewing that went into place to assemble all the pieces back together in the correct way. 

I would say overall then project took 30 hours. 

Supplies you will need:

-Staple gun

-Staples

-Upholstery Fabric

-Muslin or another plain fabric to use for the pulls

-Sewing machine

-Screwdriver 

-Hammer

 Before

During

After

In the during photo you can see the muslin we used for the pulls as well as the chair mostly taken apart. 

Overall, this was a rewarding project, but quite a bit more work than we were expecting. Just make sure to take a lot of pictures and number every piece you take off the chair as you take it off. Happy re-upholstery!