pieKnits

or Do-It-Yourself Upholstery

I do love my staple gun. When shopping for yours go for the Heavy Duty, do not entertain any others.
And so as promised, more escapades in re-upholstery!

While this piece is actually new, I found it at a closeout furniture shop for such a steal that I couldn’t pass it up despite the undesired upholstery fabric. I figured even with the cost of new fabric it would still be a deal, and well – it was perfect.

This kind of couch, or settee as I took to calling it, is really more an elongated chair. Which is good – chair upholstery is one of the easiest. If you’re not sure about tackling that sofa Grandma donated to you yet I’d recommend trying out a “drop-in” seat style chair first, like the one I did here.
Here’s what I did if you’re interested in following along to try it yourself.
Conveniently with this piece the “Some Assembly Required” part could wait until after I was done, thus saving a step. Otherwise your first step would to be unscrew the seat and any other parts on the piece.
Starting with the seat cushion, flip it over and the bottom will most likely be covered with some backing material. Using a flat head screwdriver and some pliers I removed all the staples and the fabric. Save this fabric, you will want to put it back when finished.

Now I’m one for using what you have and being thrifty but sometimes the right tools make all the difference – especially if that difference is not cursing out every single one of several hundred staples. After the backing was off I stopped, went out and got myself a Staple/Tack Remover.
I would recommend doing this step first.

My cushions also had piping attached around the edges. Piping is made by wrapping fabric over cording and stitching along one side. The excess fabric edges are stapled down along the edge. After all that is removed you can finally start pulling up the staples on the main fabric. Pay attention to how everything goes on, how the corners are handled and the fabric folded. This is the one time I found myself wishing my recent purchase wasn’t quite so well made. There were a lot of freaking staples, then glue as well.
Save all your fabric, this is you pattern template!
Next we turn to the seat back. Here’s what the front of mine looked like. In this style of piece the fabric is pulled taunt and stapled directly to the frame. The edge is then covered with single or double piping or other trimming such as gimp, braided cording, etc and usually glued down. Get comfy with your staple remover again and remove all that. Now often the back will be the same way. Unfortunately in my case it was built like this. The back fabric was put in first, then the webbing support bands, then the foam, then the batting, then the front piece of fabric.
An important part of successful DIY is knowing when to seek professional help. (Although I’ve found once in the middle of said project wondering about your need for other kinds of professional help is typically normal.) Anyway, I realized for this section it would require more tools and knowledge than I possessed and handed it over to a professional upholsterer. Gutsier crafters than I may feel different about that threshold location.

Onward to the seat cushion. With the right side up, I laid out my new fabric how I wanted it over the top of the old fabric “template” and cushion (taking care to align it with the top seat back), then flipped it over. Next I cut out the fabric along the old material’s lines and pulled the old out, tablecloth-under-china style. Now wrap the fabric up over the edges and staple. It’s good to have a helper at this point to hold the fabric nice and tight as you staple. (Thank you Mr. PieKnits)

Next goes on the piping if you’re using it. I went ahead and had the upholsterer make mine but it can be made easily enough if you’re comfortable with a sewing machine. Smaller piping can be created using your sewing machine’s zipper foot; otherwise specialty piping feet are available.

And continuing with the reverse disassembly order, the backing goes back on.

Staple it down flush to the piping edge.

Almost there! Now assemble the furniture pieces back together.

And drop in your seat and screw it down.

Look out mismatched hand-me-downs and thrifted finds!