Curved Back Chair Updated Fabric

 

Chair After

Chair Before

This was probably the fastest completion of a chair job I’ve ever done so far in my 14 years of reupholstering. The original fabric was actually in amazing condition, but my customer just wanted to update it to a more modern, contemporary look and chose a lovely beige fabric with a postage stamp design.

This is the first chair I’ve done that had two different boxings. It also had three levels of welting; top edge of seat cushion, beneath the first boxing and at the bottom edge. The back of the chair had an inner and outer back, two separate sections. 

I began this project by removing the inner back first, then the cotton filling, cardboard backing for support and the outer back of the chair. As with most upholstery projects, this one had a lot of staples. Once the staples and fabric was removed, I starting removing the seat area and all its components. I used the original fabric to create templates for the new fabric. This was the most accurate way to get the proper dimensions and measurements, which made the assembly a lot easier.

Surprisingly, the single welting I sewed to the seat went around the tight curves pretty easily. The trick on sewing single welting in place is to pivot at the 90 degree corners and snip the fabric to ease it in place. This worked great! After the single welting was firmly in place, I stitched the upper boxing very close to the seat welting. The seat was then ready to attach to the chair. Once I had the seat all lined up, I stapled it in place and used hot glue to attach the welting to the arms and leg sections. (It’s important to NOT touch the tip of the hot glue gun because it will burn you on contact. I can’t stress this enough. One split nano-second can scorch your fingers!)

After measuring the circumference of the chair, I cut the fabric and sewed the single welting to the second boxing level. I attached the boxing to the chair with a cardboard strip, which got stapled to the underside of the material, then folded it into place and stapled it at the lower edge. The very bottom of the boxing was held in place with heavy duty upholstery tacks on strips. They get attached to the underside of the fabric, then nailed in place right into the body of the chair. This keeps the fabric securely in place and gives a clean, finished look for the chair. The bottom edge was stapled and covered with double welting. That edge was then complete.

I attached the upper back of the chair the reverse of how I removed it. I stapled the outer back in place, allowing for the curve back style of the chair, followed by a curved cardboard to keep it stiff and securely in place then laid a thick layer of raw cotton over the cardboard. Finally I settled the new fabric in place and stapled the edges so that it touched the inset wooden channel of the chair. This area was finished off with double welting, which I hot glued into place. Hot glue is invaluable for this process as it really keeps the welting in place on the fabric. 

Combining my sewing and design skills, I was able to tear this chair apart and put it back together with new fabric from the templates I created in only four days. This was indeed a record for me! But I was quite motivated since the next day I’d be in the hospital for surgery and wanted to complete this job before that happened. That way my customer didn’t have to wait until my recovery to get her chair and I could have a clean slate before my surgery. All in all, a productive few days.

Side by side

Ladies Antique Chair Reupholstered

Antique Chair After

Antique Chair Before

I believe this chair dated back to the late 1800’s. It had a broken arm and lower right side unattached, this chair had seen better days. The fabric, though old, was reupholstered since the chair’s construction, however it was done a long time ago. My guess it was done sometime in the 1940’s, judging by the needlepoint style material they had used. 

This chair had likely been made with seat springs, but during the 1940’s upholstered was replaced with thin plastic webbing on the bottom of the chair. It also had a couple hundred tacks surrounding the bottom seat as well as the arms and back rest. My customer had planned on doing the work herself, so she had already removed the needlepoint fabric from the backrest of the chair, but soon realized it was quite a bit of work.

Removing the material was time consuming and tedious. First I had to remove hundreds of staples. These staples were not your average staple, but extra thick copper staples that were quite difficult to remove. Removing that many staples gives your upper body a workout (translation: you will be sore the next day!) Then I had to remove all those tacks, which were rusted and stuck to the fabric in most of the areas. Using tack removal tools as well as a vice grip helps the process along. 

Once all the staples and tacks were removed, I could remove the old fabric. The chair had a broken right arm, which was obvious, but after I removed the material, I discovered it also had come apart at the lower right leg/seat area as well as a portion of the front of the framework. Jim made the necessary repairs then I could start the process of adding the new fabric.

The chair had a very old, very brittle cushion which was shaped to fit the chair but was no longer usable as it had the texture of a loaf of dry bread. As I was removing the staples the foam was leaking a yellow powder which resembled a cake mix. No way would I reused this foam. Instead I created a new foam seat base after I built the foundation with webbing. 

I used 2” foam cut to size which covered the underside webbing, then I added criss-cross webbing on top of the foam, front to back and left to right, for a more stable seat. Next I added a thick layer of raw cotton, which comes on a roll and can be torn apart, easily filling the seat area. This cotton is very soft and wonderful to use on a chair’s seat. On the raw cotton I added a fitted cut size of 1” foam followed by a second layer of raw cotton. Finally I topped it off with a double layer of polyester batting to hold everything together with a good top base. I always use the “sit on it” test before adding the fabric, which means I sit on the chair and if it feels good to me, it’s ready for material. 

The customer provided two identical fabric panels, each with a single large flower which she had wanted centered in the seat and back portions of the chair. She also brought purple velour for the small section of the arms and the open back facing fabric (not seen in photos). The purple color choice was perfect as it pulled the color from purple flowers. I added gimp trim along the bottom edge, arms and top front to cover the staples and add a touch of elegance to the chair. It was once again a beauty that will last another hundred years. 

French Dining Chairs Reupholstered

Armchair Before

If you have ever wondered why reupholstering a chair is costly, this is why. It's a LOT of work! Today I finished working on six dining room chairs which included two French armchairs and four regular chairs with caning for the back. The French armchairs had a padded back which was open (so the fabric was actually on front and back) as well as the seat. I was uncertain exactly how the fabric was attached to the chair, as there were no nails or staples visible. The reason for that was that the staples were hidden in a 1/2" deep groove, which was created with a router so the welting could be pushed into it.