New Fabric, New Look

I am often asked if I will reupholster for someone and my answer is always the same..."I'm sorry, I'm just self taught."  And what I me by this is, I'm going to screw up.

Thanks to mom and grandma, who taught me to enjoy a needle and thread whether it's embroidering or using a sewing machine, I have always enjoyed sewing. That came in handy as a young person with limited funds trying to make passed down furniture or yard sale finds into something new. I would buy patterns and try to figure out how to slip cover, with limited success. Buy hey, it was better than throwing a sheet over the chair, right?   For 30 more years I have often found something old that needed new fabric and improved my technique here and there.  Needless to say MOST of this time was "pre internet" (showing my age). Now we have unlimited resources for help and advice through videos, blogs and anything else you can imagine.

I thought I would show you some steps I took to transform the sofa in the above photo.  This was my first purchase on our trip up from Alabama earlier this month.  It had great bones, but also had rotted cushions, a torn up cane back and creaky old springs.

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I forgot to get a photo when Chris had the sofa all stripped down for me.  He was a great help with getting the caning out as well as all those tacks and nails.  Next step after painting the frame was to get my foam and batting cut to size.  We cut wood for the  back and seat, so I used 4 inch foam for the cushions to compensate for the lack of springs.

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Next step was to staple on my back fabric of faux leather over the two layers of batting. I later trimmed that out with a nail head trim to cover the staples.

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Making progress

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Before wrapping the front with the fabric, I tacked up 3 layers of batting for a comfortable rounded edge against legs.

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The rest of the make-over involved sewing cushion covers and playing with stripes. 

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I found this tutorial through pinterest and thought it was easy to understand.  I learned a few new tips to throw into my mix for a more professional job. There are a million more out there if you are wanting to tackle a simple job, like a small chair or even start with a dining chair.

When I tell people "I'm self taught", I follow up by explaining that I make mistakes, and I don't want to make them on their items with their fabrics.  When I make mistakes on my pieces, I simply price it accordingly... as in "it's imperfect but at least it's cheaper, so maybe you will love it anyway!".