How to Reupholster Anything

Last year, I posted about my summer reupholstering project but I never told you how I did it.  I took an old chair from our district warehouse that had good structure but nasty, dusty fabric.  I'm not going to lie and say it was easy, but it was inexpensive and the results are great.  I now have the best office chair EVER.  This isn't an exact science-details will vary depending on the project, but this is the basic idea.  Good luck!

Before-icky!

You'll need:

1. The item you're reupholstering

2. Scissors

3. A seam ripper

4. A permanent marker

5. Water soluble marking pen/dressmaker's pencil/chalk

6. Disinfectant spray

7. Screwdrivers

8. New fabric of your choice

9. A sewing machine and thread

10. A staple gun.

11. Trash bags.

12. Optional: ribbon and fabric glue.

Time to upgrade!

1. Remove any hardware from your piece that you aren't going to be working with.  For me, it was the base of the chair with the wheels.  It came off pretty easily with a screwdriver-and was surprisingly heavy!

2. Label EVERY SINGLE PIECE of fabric on your current upholstery with a  permanent marker in a way you will remember and understand.  When I say every single piece, I mean if there's a seam separating two pieces you need to label both.  Trust me. 

3. Get out your screwdriver and seam ripper and start ripping!  Make sure that as you do this you're careful not to rip pieces of fabric too much (they'll be your pattern pieces later).  Initially, you'll use your flathead screwdriver to pry up the edges of the fabric.  BE CAREFUL as they're likely held on with heavy duty staples and/or upholstery nails.  You don't want to stab yourself.  If you're extra cautious you might consider gloves or eye protection. This is by far the hardest part.

4. Remember the order in which you take everything apart (take photos-it makes things easier later).  Set your pieces aside as you go.

5. You should now be stripped down to the frame.  If you had stuffing anywhere that isn't attached to the frame (for example, in that back cushion), you might want to save it in a trash bag.  If it's not too gross, that is.  Otherwise you'll have to go buy more.  Vacuum up any dirt and spray this whole thing down with disinfectant spray (careful not to spray the cat...seriously, that spray is toxic to cats).

6. Prepare your fabric as you usually would-wash, iron, etc.

7. Lay out all of those pieces you cut apart on top of your new fabric and trace using your water soluble marker.  Then label all of those pieces on the new fabric using the labels you had for the old fabric.

8. Cut out your pieces.  Sew together anything that was sewn together on the original (the cushion in the back, the seat cushion.)  As always, make sure you're sewing right sides together.

8. Get out your staple gun and start reassembling in reverse order of the way you deconstructed.  This takes patience.  Make sure you're stretching the fabric taut as you go, and be careful with that staple gun!  Eye protection is a fabulous idea.

9. Re-stuff anything that needs to be stuffed and close up seams.

10.  If you have edges where you can tell that you've stapled (for example, the original had cording or piping and yours doesn't), you can either use fabric glue and piping to cover it up or you can do what I did and use fabric glue and a flat ribbon in a coordinating color.  

11.  If you want to paint any hardware that you removed, do so and then put it all back together.

Voila!  You're done!