Trying a chair re-upholster...pictures

[Highvelocity]

Hello to all,

    It was a great summer but now it's time to get some projects going.  Here is a chair I am going to re-upholster, it will be my first one.  I am excited to do it, after removing a million staples I think it's all down hill from here...lol 

I think I have most of the tools and materials needed.  Any hints or comments would be greatly appreciated.

  Thank You,
         Ed

[kodydog]

Cool chair Ed. Are those Lion heads on the arms? That first pic makes me think its going to need some spring work.

[Highvelocity]

I need to take a picture with the padding off...It actually looks like "Hey" underneath.  I think its wood shavings, so not sure how to fix that.  But since it's not mine I maybe I will leave it original in that respect...lol  I think they are lion heads on the arms.  It's a very old chair, that's for certain.

[Highvelocity]

Here it is, all finished up.  Not as bad as I thought.  You do need a good working knowledge of basic upholstery.  The video on youtube helped alot.  I think they it was DIYupholstery where this guy Dave did a chair similar to this one.  Great hint and tips.  This was my first chair and I think it came out nice.  You have to be careful with the plygrip on the back, make sure you don't cut material too short.  Overall it was a fun job with a few challenges.

Ed

[kodydog]

Good job Ed. Is this yours or for a customer?
Your so right about cutting the fabric too close to the plygrip. Ill usually push the fabric into the plygrip then thumb tighten just enough to hold it in place. Then pull the fabric out just a hair (1/16") and trim it. Looks like you got it.

The seat looks much better, neat chair.

[gene]

Great job.

I just saw a video on youtube by Kim and she runs a chalk line along the ply grip to show her where to cut the fabric. I thought that was a good idea. I plan on trying that with thick fabric where it helps too cut away the fabric first.

Sometimes on open arm chairs, the arms are attached to the back frame with screws, and can be unscrewed from inside the back frame. If there is no, or very little padding on the sides of the back frame, I unscrew the arms where they attached to the back frame, I attach the inside back fabric without having to cut around the arms. I only cut holes for the screws to go through. Then when I reattach the arms, the fabric looks great. I then attach the outside back panel.

Thanks for the pics.

gene

[Highvelocity]

It was a great project for friends of ours.  I would encourage anyone with basic skills to give it a try...take a hundred pictures as you go, you won't regret it. 

Everytime I said to myself "Now How Did That Go??" I had a picture to help out.  Also, I didn't try to get creative, I just stayed with what was there...

   Ed

[kodydog]

Question Ed on the bottom of your pic post you have 4 pics going horizontally in a row. If its not too complicated, how did you do that. Remember I'm PC challenged.

[bobbin]

Wow! that looks really nice.  The "before" seat looked lumpy, your revamped one doesn't, a very nice improvement.  I know what you mean about having pictures to "refresh"  your memory, I did the same thing on a recover I did recently and it was really helpful. 

I have always been fascinated by upholstery and how you can sort of sculpt and shape a piece (within reason) to suit your needs/taste.  But I've always been sort of afraid to just "go for it"; prolly just cautious by nature, I guess. 

Your great result is inspiring, thanks for the pictures. 

[gene]

I appreciate your clarification, Bobbin, "within reason". I wish all my customers understood "within reason".

Here's my latest actual verbal exchange:

Mr. Customer, all 300 pounds of him, has sat in his favorite club chair, almost everyday, for the last 20 years.

Customer: I want new foam for the seat cushion and the back cushion. I want the arms built up to where they were when we bought this chair new. And when I sit in the chair I WANT IT TO FEEL JUST LIKE IT DOES NOW.

Me: We can do that but we will have to work together. I will do my thing over the course of the next 3 weeks. You will then do your thing over the course of the next 20 years. When we are both done with our respective work, your chair will feel exactly like it does now.

gene

[sofadoc]

Me: We can do that but we will have to work together. I will do my thing over the course of the next 3 weeks. You will then do your thing over the course of the next 20 years. When we are both done with our respective work, your chair will feel exactly like it does now.

I'm a little hesitant to promise elderly, or obese customers that they will find the comfort to their liking. When they try to really "Pin me down" to a guarantee of comfort, I usually suggest that they just buy new, so they'll know what they're getting.
Most of the time, they've already done just that (and didn't like it when they got it home). I'm not gonna spend the next 3 months re-doing the padding to suit them. I pass.

[gene]

Excellent point, sofadoc.

I tell folks that our butts have a memory. (That really gets their attention.) They have been sitting on 'squish' for a long time and now they are going to be sitting on new quality foam. The new foam will feel like a rock for a few days or a week or two, but then they will become accustomed to the support of the new foam. The feeling of it being 'too hard' is not because of the foam, but because our butts are remembering the old 'squish'.

I like to use technical terms like "squish" when talking to customers.

I used the "our butts have a memory" once and the homeowner, a man, said something like "My butt doesn't have a memory. I don't have a brain in my butt!!!" I said, "I wish you and I were friends because I have a great comeback line for you if we were."
He thought for a second and then started laughing. He turned to his wife and said, "I'm a dumb ass!" ROFMAO