6.0K shares Share

Tweet

Pin

Would you like to learn how to reupholster a chair? Today I am sharing how I reupholstered our two wingback chairs in our dining room. I was not planning on sharing this video tutorial as the quality is horrible but so many of you have emailed over the course of the last few months asking for a tutorial so I decided I would try to edit the video as best as I could. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, it’s a bit rough around the edges. Instead of one long boring video, I decided to add clips of each section of the tutorial as we go. This way, if you don’t understand my visual tutorial, simply click the clip beneath and you can see me in action.

Here is the chair before.

Many of these pictures were taken with my phone because I was recording the video while working on this project. I barely could figure out how to run the video never mind switching over to camera mode to take pictures. So the quality of the pictures are not the best. Many are even screen shots of the video.

First, start by draping your fabric over your chair simply to get an idea of how your chair will look. I am a visual person so I need to do this prior to starting any project. I started by cutting my fabric for the two inside pieces first. (see below)

See video clip

Once you have cut your fabric (leaving 3″ on either side) and tucked the fabric inside the creases (if applicable) you need to use your staple gun to secure the fabric inside the crease area. I used a staple gun, construction staples (1/2 – 1″) and our air compressor. They sell actual upholstery staples but they didn’t fit in my staple gun so I just used what I had.

UPDATED: Did you enter to win the most recent HomeGoods $100 Gift Card Giveaway?

Work in sections. Step 1 & 2, the two inside “side” pieces. Step 3, the front facing back and step 4, the seat.

The next step requires you cut your front facing arm pieces.

See video clip:

If you are not going to make piping (to cover the edges around the arm) you really need to make sure your seams are as close to perfect and tight as possible. Piping would cover any gaps and definitely give the chair a more “finished” look. Once you cut your front facing pieces (be sure to leave 3″ or so on either side, try to strategically staple where the staple will not show. The staples will be hidden by the arm fabric but you still want to try and staple in the least conspicuous place.

Once you have your front facing piece cut and stapled, you need to cover the inside of the arm chair. You will see that I covered the inside (tucked down far into the seat and out to the “outside end”). I hid the staples up underneath the outside of the arm.

See video clip:

You can see I stopped (stapled) at the outside end. I decided to upholster the “outside” arm piece separately (see below). I suppose you could just do one long continuous piece of fabric but it didn’t look good to me and I wanted a clean seam line. See below how I cut a long piece (rectangular shape) leaving enough fabric to fold inward so you get a clean edge showing on the outside.

Pull as tight as you can and staple each corner.

You do the same thing for the top side pieces. Be sure to pull tight and staple.

The seams are where you will put your piping if you choose. The piping will also hide any staples that may be showing. You can see below, I pulled the fabric around to the back of the chair leaving about 2 inches overlapping. I trimmed off the excess fabric once it was pulled tight and stapled.

I originally intended on making piping but once I finished the chair, I kind of liked it with the “seamed” look. Because I used a powered staple gun, the staples barely show. I won’t lie though, some do show but for sake of saving thousands of dollars, I’ll deal with a few staples. ha.

Next, cut your piece of fabric for the back side of the chair. You will see below the entire backside was done in one piece of fabric. Leave about 1″ extra on each side when cutting because you will need to fold each side inward about an inch in order to get the clean seam line.

The final version photo’s below are compliments of Woman’s Day Magazine.

Here is a fun shot of the entire dining room shot by the Woman’s Day photographer. I love how our chairs add so much bright and vivid color to the room.

And another goofy one of my mom and I setting the table during the photo shoot. You can see more pictures, the color of the walls and more information about this makeover on our dining room post.

Never in a million years while I was reupholstering these chairs did I think they would end up in a magazine. It was well worth the pain of learning how to reupholster to see our entire dining room and these chairs in this past January’s issue of Woman’s Day Magazine. Learning how to reupholster a chair can be tedious and a bit frustrating but I had the cost savings in mind so that motivated me to figure out how to make this re-upholstery project work. I love the fact that this chair has a new modern style and simply for the cost of the fabric. I used about 8 yards of fabric per chair. I think I really only needed about 7 yards though but ordered a bit extra just in case. Looking for another chair project? See how we spray painted this old rocking chair in no time at all.