Have any of you done any reupholstery?

mattandbekah

I found two nice Ethan Allen wingback chairs recently, and aside from the actual fabric being awful (pink with raised dots) they are in really great shape. I am planning to try my hand at completely redoing the upholstery, and was wondering if you all had any first hand advice (I have found a few good tutorials on pinterest).  I figure if I completely fail I dont really have much invested in them, I literally found them on the curb.

Also, what kind of fabric would you choose?  I think I would like to go neutral and dress them up with pillows, rather than go for a bright pattern that I like now, but might not like in a year or so.

Magdala9

Is the seat crenellated?  Is the underfabric in good condition?  Reupholstery is harder when you don't have straight lines.  I would not make curved wing back chairs my first upholstery project.  You may want to look into slipcovering the chairs in a nice neutral fabric.

mattandbekah

I've recovered simple chair pads before, so its not 100% my first reupholstery project, but it is definitely a bit ambitious, I totally agree with you there.   I haven't taken any of the original fabric off of the chair at this point, so I am not sure about the underfabric, although the one area where the seat cushion is ripped you can see that the actual inner cushion is still in good shape (does that even make sense?). 

Also, you asked if the seat is crenellated, and I'm sorry to say I have no idea what you mean.  Haha, I tried googling so I wouldn't sound like a complete moron, but all I am getting are references to castles...so...I'm stumped.  

leafbride

I have done some reupholstering, like chair seats and a headboard. I also want to try something like the chairs you have. I don't have too much advice, but I think you should totally go for it. So, it might be challenging, how else are you going to learn? However, I would try to stick to a fabric that you don't have to worry about it not looking straight. Like stripes or something similar.

And what's the worst thing that could happen, you would be out the money for the fabric, the chairs were free. I've had projects totally bomb, but I'm glad I tried. 

Also, Roadkill Rescue just featured a chair that was reupholstered. Here is the blog it linked to - http://www.sasinteriors.net/2012/08/reupholstered-side-chair/

 

Magdala9

Here is a sample of a wingback chair with crennellations. The vertical dents on the back of the chair are the crennellations.  Each is a separate piece of padding (usually foam).  I have reupholstered numerous chairs (including non-crenellated wingbacks) but the one with crennelations was beyond me.  After six months of attempts and lots of frustrated tears, I gave away that chair because I never wanted to see it again.  

mattandbekah

Magdala9:

Here is a sample of a wingback chair with crennellations. The vertical dents on the back of the chair are the crennellations.  Each is a separate piece of padding (usually foam).  I have reupholstered numerous chairs (including non-crenellated wingbacks) but the one with crennelations was beyond me.  After six months of attempts and lots of frustrated tears, I gave away that chair because I never wanted to see it again.  

Gotcha! Oh wow, no, there are no crenellations or tufting on the chair.  I definitely think that would be well beyond my skill level.