My mother and I’ve been engaged on reupholstering my desk chair for the studio. She gave me an excellent head begin on the mission by beginning on it whereas I used to be nonetheless engaged on group, in order that was an enormous assist. The chair we’re reupholstering is one which I’ve had for a number of years, and I find it irresistible. After I began redoing my studio, I considered buying a brand new desk chair in the precise shade to save lots of myself the effort of reupholstering this one, however I couldn’t discover one which I preferred as a lot as this one. It’s very comfy and has a excessive again, which I like. So my most suitable choice was to reupholster the one I’ve.
Right here’s what the chair appeared like when it was new…
However after having the chair for a number of years, my cat utterly tore it up. The woven material was excellent for her to get her little claws into. So even when the present shade went completely with my imaginative and prescient for my studio (it doesn’t), I’d nonetheless must reupholster it as a result of she has utterly shredded it. And naturally, I’ll be reupholstering it with velvet, which is my favourite cat-proof material.
My #1 tip for reupholstering chairs and sofas is to take the previous material off in an orderly vogue. I’ll always remember the present Buying and selling Areas for a lot of causes (most of them not good 😀 ). However one factor I bear in mind very vividly is the shoddy reupholstery jobs these amateurs would do. And below the steering of these designers (I’m you, Hildi), they’d begin by ripping into the unique material, tearing it off as rapidly as attainable. That will make for thrilling TV, however in case you’re a novice at reupholstering, and even in case you’re like me and also you’re not a novice, however you simply don’t do it usually sufficient to be actually proficient at it, then you definitely’re going to need to take your time in eradicating the unique material.
In eradicating the unique material in an orderly manner, it is going to take extra time firstly, however it is going to additionally prevent time and frustration in the long term. First, taking it aside in an orderly manner will show you how to see simply how the chair was upholstered within the first place. You may see precisely the place each bit is stapled into place. It provides you with the chance to take numerous footage of how the items match collectively. However most significantly, the unique items will function patterns that you need to use to chop the brand new items of cloth.
Right here’s my mother fastidiously eradicating the material one piece at a time, beginning with the very again, after which the surface of the arms and wings.
A very powerful software in taking previous material off of an upholstered chair or couch is a flat head screwdriver. This may show you how to to take away all the previous staples holding the material on.
However generally the staples are so deep into the wooden that you could’t get a flathead screwdriver below them. In that case, I exploit a brand new and really sharp razor blade to chop the material across the staple, leaving the material as intact as attainable.
I all the time take pictures of areas like this simply in order that I can bear in mind the way it appeared. And not using a image to remind me, I would begin reupholstering this half, see this bulk of cloth that received’t lie flat, and assume that I’ve performed one thing fallacious. Having a photograph is useful to remind me that it appeared like this initially.
The material usually comes off of chairs and sofas on this order: the again facet of the chair again, the outsides of the arms (and wings on a wingback chair), the within of the arms (and wings), the entrance facet of the chair again, after which the seat. And as soon as all the material was off of my chair, right here’s the way it appeared.
That is when it’s good to assess in case you’re going to want new foam or batting. I’ve seen chairs and sofas that had pristine foam and batting below previous material. And I’ve seen others that had previous and brittle foam and destroyed batting. Heck, I’ve even reupholstered a really previous daybed that was initially crammed with one thing that I can solely guess was straw. However on this case, the froth on my chair appeared fairly good, however the batting was trying fairly skinny.
So a few layers of recent batting shall be wanted on this chair earlier than I add the brand new material.
The material on the again had a thick piece of cardboard below it, so I’ll be reusing that to present some construction to the again.
As soon as we had all the material off, I used to be able to take the items aside and put together them as my patterns for the brand new items. Right here’s a take a look at the piece that wrapped across the again of the chair and onto the surface of the arms and wings. You may see the injury my cat did.
This was three items sewn collectively, so I used my sew ripper to take them aside.
I additionally measured the seam allowance and made word of that measurement. This fashion I can resolve if I need to use that very same seam measurement or add further allowance after I minimize the brand new material. These seams had been solely 3/8-inch, so I’ll in all probability add not less than 1/8 inch to the seam allowances after I minimize the brand new material.
After the items had been taken aside, I ironed them in order that the seams allowances would lie flat.
After which I flipped the items over and used a giant Sharpie marker to make notes. I famous which edges had been seams, which edges had been wrap-and-staple. On the middle piece, I famous which facet was the highest, since that may be laborious to inform on a rectangle piece as soon as the items had been separated. Mainly, I simply made notes of every thing I assumed may be useful for me to recollect. And I don’t ever assume that one thing is so apparent or primary that I’ll simply bear in mind. I’ve had too many occasions after I assumed I’d bear in mind one thing, solely to get in the course of the reupholstering mission and get confused about one thing as a result of I didn’t make notes or take footage to remind me of the main points.
I did the identical factor for the items that went on the entrance of the seat again and the within of the arms and wings. None of those items had been sewn to one another. As an alternative, that they had eight-inch strips of skinny black material sewn to many of the edges, and that skinny black material is what’s shoved into the crevices, pulled, and stapled into place.
These items of skinny black material aren’t seen on the completed chair. So after eradicating that black material, I made notes of which edges these items (which I name “pull material”) had been sewn to.
After which I made word of which edges required a wrap-and-staple.
And eventually, I did the identical factor for the seat. This chair has a seat cushion which covers most of this piece, so there’s a big piece of the skinny black material. So earlier than taking these aside, I labeled which edge wanted to be sewn, and which one was a wrap-and-staple.
So now that I’ve all of my sample items, they usually’re all labeled, I’m prepared to make use of these to chop the brand new material. And all of my notes ought to turn out to be useful after I begin placing all of it again collectively.
It’ll return collectively within the precise reverse order that we took it aside. First, the seat, then the entrance of the chair again. Then the within of the arms and wings. And eventually, the three-piece again and outdoors arms and wings piece that will get sewn collectively. And since I took footage of the tough components with complicated particulars, I can breeze by means of these tough components as nicely. Keep tuned for the brand new and improved desk chair!
Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I rework and enhance the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do nearly all of the work on the home on my own. You can learn more about me here.
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