Buttons loose after using tufting tool??

[Ageorge]

We used the the tufting needle to reattach buttons to this chair, but now they are loose. Is it because we didn't go deep enough into the foam?

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z348/heskett6/100_2929.jpg

Thanks in advance for any advice. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend :)

[sofadoc]

That tufting tool doesn't always address the underlying problem that caused the button to fail in the first place.
If the lining on the inside of the back isn't substantial enough, the clip doesn't have anything to catch on.
At this point, you have to remove the outside back so you can properly service the problem.
If you remember the topic that you started a while back, we discussed a few "cheating" methods:

http://get-up-and-go.com/upholstery-forum/index.php?topic=11249.0

[MinUph]

Did you upholster this chair? That type of back should have something on the backside of the attached pillow back that should hold the clip. You need to go through this backing fabric and then release the clip. It will then catch and you can tie it off.

[Ageorge]

No, we did not upholster...just tried to fix

[sofadoc]

If you were just replacing a button that had already failed, then it's possible that you went right back in the same hole, which is now enlarged by the previous failure. So the clip didn't catch on anything. It looks like the other buttons are a little loose and saggy too. If the internal padding has settled, then all the buttons will naturally loosen up.

That tufting tool is a great time saver for in-home repair. But if I have the chair in my shop, I'd rather go ahead and remove the outside back panel (or at least partially remove it) so I can fix the problem in a way to prevent re-occurance.