Re-upholstery tips and recs?

hkiesling

Hi ladies,

DH and I just bought a new couch and "almost" matching chair from Dock 86.  I love the color and style of the couch, but the chair needs different fabric.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a re-uphosterer?  I would like to find someone who lets me bring in my own fabric, because I might attempt to do the removable cusions on my own (with the help of a very sewing-savy friend).  Have any of you done this yourselves?  Tips or tricks?

Crappy cell phone picture of the couch.  The chair looks exactly the same, except it's only one cushion wide and in black and white fabric.

jennyk213

I got pretty ambitious once and reupholstered a chair myself.  I'm a pretty crappy sewer but the cushion actually turned out decent.  Here's how I did it:  http://homemadeislovely.blogspot.com/search/label/chair%20cushion.

hkiesling

jennyk213, your chair turned out wonderfully!  I'm thinking that I would like to give it a shot, but I'm pretty nervous.  Your instructions and link will be a great help if I decide to try and tackle it.  Thank you!

jennyk213

Thanks.  I really think all it takes is patience and paying attention to detail.  Even if you start it, what's the worst that happens?  If it doesn't work out, you take it in and probably save a few bucks since they don't have to remove the current upholstery.   If you do try it, pull the fabric tighter than you think you should.  I thought it was tight enough at the time but as the batting and foam have worn down, the fabric around the inside of the arms gaps.  I think it would have been better had I used actual upholstery fabric.  I have a feeling upholstery fabric doesn't stretch out as much as the stuff I used. 

If you just do the seat, I would definitely follow the instructions that I linked to.  Initially, the seat was really puffy and I was worried that I overstuffed it but it's perfect now.  If I used less foam and dacron, it would have ended up way too floppy and not firm enough.

hkiesling

I was planning on going to SR Harris to look at fabrics, and I'll be sure to restrict myself to the upholstry section.  I have the added benefit that this is a new chair, so the padding and everything should be in good shape.  It will just be swapping out the old for the new.  I wish I would have taken pictures of the chair, too, but when I was looking I initially dismissed it because the color was off.  DH went back and purchased it after we talked it over and decided to reupholster it.  Now I have to wait until it's delivered on Friday to see how it all fits together and determine if it can be a DIY project.  I would at least like to do the removeable seat and back cushion.  It has very sharp lines, which makes me nervous about doing all the edge work and getting them to look right.

SoEnamored

Call my guy, Steve Cone at JW Upholstery - he wrote the book for Singer on upholstery and used to teach it at the college level.  He is in northeast, a total sweetheart, and way reasonably priced.  His shop has workshops where you can learn to do it yourself.

651-276-2510