Ask:
DH and I have this really ugly and used oversized chair ad ottoman. It was his parents and when he moved out he took it with him. Our old beagle loves to lay in it and together with our pomernaian, they have ripped and chewed on it.
I was wondering if anyone has every reupholstered a chair before...Any suggested books or supplies or anything? Is it possible for someone who has sewn VERY little before to do this? Does the previous fabric stay on the chair or will it come off?
Thanks, we are currently evaluating if the chair will stay or go. We had a homebirth and our daughter was born in this chair, so it has a lot of value to us - but if it would impossible for me to fix, then I think we can get rid of it with minimal heartache.
Answer:
I have never done this. But I would think that the old fabric has to come off first.
Have you considered a slip cover?? Just to go over the chair?? Just a thought.
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I have not ~ but have slightly (emphasize slightly) helped my mom do a couple. She reupholstered her couch, and a chair for a friend. The hardest thing for me to remember is when you are taking the chair apart - the order you are doing it in. However you take it apart, you will need to reverse it to put it back together. She did take all the fabric off, trying to keep each piece intact as much as possible - this way you can use the old fabric as patterns for the new.
The only tool (besides the fabric, stuffing, etc) I remember her having is a staple gun. Oh - and it pays to have someone stuff the cushion for you if you like it firm.
It may be worth your while to see if there are any ads in your paper for people who do this on the side. I know when my mom did it for her friend, she only charged her $50 labor & supply your own fabric.
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Does watching my Mom reupholster my recliner count? Ha, ha.
Because it was a recliner, she basically cut pieces of upholstery fabric to "fit" each part of the chair and then she sewed together what she could on a machine, slipped it over the original cover and hand sewed it into place to secure it! Before resorting to this, I had research reupholstery on the internet & I [i]did[i] find a few articles--so try that first!!
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I looked at a few articles, but just wanted some input. I just thought of slipcovers, but I will probably have to search pretty hard since this is a oversized chair. We would probably still have to reupholster the ottoman though, but that sounds much easier than the chair. My mom has done it before, but she didn't really offer to do it when I mentioned it. She is an expert sewer (sp?) so I know I could ask her for help.
Great idea about checking the ads for someone who does it on the side. I will def. look into that!
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We have an old winged armchair from dh's grandfather that we both love. it is really comfy and a perfect reading chair, and has great lines, etc. The upholstery is horrendous, though, and for years we just had a basic throw blanket covering it. I always wanted to have it re-upholstered, but then I discovered the prices - around 300 - 500 Euro!! (450 - 650 Dollars!!).
After that, I found a really nice slipcover at pottery barn online and bought that instead. I have had to pin it in multiple places to get a good fit, but I'm happy with it. In fact, I decided to buy another slipcover to go over our white couch. Target also has many slipcovers - at somewhat lower prices than PB - but from the reviews I read I wasn't convinced of the quality. Slipcovers have the clear advantage that they are easy to remove and wash, which is great with small kids in the house, and theoretically you can change them more frequently if you like to redecorate often. They just don't have the neatly tailored look of upholstered furniture.
One day I'll have that chair recovered... but it's at the end of a long list of projects!!!