Ideas/Sugestions for a newbie

[Ajames901]

Hello,

I have an old sofa, that I would like to restore.

Honestly I'm newbie for this kind of work.

The sofa mater is composed by Napkin. and i want to refurbish it, can someone give me quick tips on how to start, like the fabrics and how to do the cuts, materials i will need?

Regards,
A. James

[kodydog]

Hello James and welcome to the upholstery forum. This question has come up many times with beginners and I commend you on your enthusiasm.

Just a couple things we need to know here to help us better understand your knowledge/experience. What is your background? Do you have any experience in sewing? Do you own a sewing machine? How are you at working with your hands? Any experience with working with woven fabric?

Believe me everyone on this forum would love to see someone new venture into the field of upholstery. Lord knows it is a dying art and we will give you all the help we can. But a sofa, especially an old one, may not be the best place to start.

Unless you are skilled in a similar trade I would suggest starting with something smaller (perhaps dinning seats) just to get you familiar with the tools and techniques and build your way up to more difficult projects.  

If you are sure this is the project you want to start I would suggest posting a picture so we have an idea what is involved. Some sofas are fairly simple and some are very complex.  

[MinUph]

A,
  Kodydog has some great points. If you do not care about the sofa go for it. If it matters to you don't. If this is truly the 1st Upholstery job your going to tackle then I doubt a sofa will come out all that good. But if it doesn't matter then it will show you a lot of what is involved.
Choose a fabric that has a little stretch. That will make it a little easier to put on. The cuts are not easy to explain in words but as you put the fabric on you will see where they need to be made to go around rails and other frame members. Take pictures of how it all goes together as you take it apart. When you are removing the old cover safe all the filling on the sofa and keep it neatly in place unless it is bad for some reason. Normally it is reused. You might want to add a layer of polyester (dacron) or cotton on top of the existing filling before putting the new fabric on. You didn't ask anything about tools so I take it you have them.
  When you get stuck post a question here. And pictures help a lot.

[mike802]

A James:  Take a look at my video series, should answer a lot of your questions.

https://youtu.be/OOM7FTJfeG8