When I upholstered my
full-sized slipper chair, I didn't take any photos. That was my absolute first time attempting to upholster anything, and I figured that anyone that'd done it before would know better ways.
I don't upholster.
I don't sew.
I don't know what I'm doing.
With that said, I built an entirely new slipper chair solely to document MY upholstering... uhh... "technique"... That way you can upholster YOUR slipper chair..
Because you're GOING to build one, right? :-)
(before we get started, I want you to note that I made this toddler-sized slipper chair from scraps, so ignore the random paint colors - ehhh... while we're ignoring things, I really need to replace my jig saw blade, there are a bunch of.. umm... "character" marks from my bent blade... which we're ignoring as well)
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First things first... PAINT YOUR LEGS! Or stain them... but it's so much easier if done FIRST!
Paint the front legs from the bottom to top.
The back legs need to be painted to just above the bottom apron. Nothing else will be showing.
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Step 2:
Cut your foam to size. Pretty self explanatory... I also glued mine into place. Don't know if it's necessary, but it can't hurt!
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Step 3:
Cut a piece of batting large enough to wrap all the way around your seat.
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Step 4:
Fold the batting up and staple along the insides. Do one side and then the other, leaving the front and back 'til the next step.
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Step 5:
Tuck the front of the side under, and pull the front down taut. The best way I can describe this would be like wrapping a present. Trim the excess.
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Step 6:
I didn't photograph this, but I stapled the back down along the sides and top, and cut out a large rectangle along the back board. That will be where I will be screwing the pieces together, and I don't want fabric there.
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Step 7:
Cut enough fabric to completely cover the seat. (Are you dying over this fabric, too?! I LOVE this!!!!)
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Step 8:
Staple the fabric just like you stapled the batting, starting with the sides. Make sure you pull everything taut. When you get to the front, you'll want to crease the fabric (like you did with the batting - gift-wrapping-style), but be sure to pull this extra taut so the fabric stays put when sat on... staple to the bottom of the front apron at the crease.
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Step 9:
I glued my cut-edges around the legs.. I have no idea if they would fray or not, but I didn't want to risk it (remember, people, I've never done this!!!). Trim excess.
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I don't know if you can tell, but i was over-zealous with my stapling, and stapled pretty much a continuous line along the back of this board. Inside my staples, I cut the fabric to allow for me to screw through this area.
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Step 10:
Measure the foam for the back by placing your seat where it will sit when finished. There should be absolutely not foam UNDER your seat (like what's circled in the photo above). To solve that, I just moved the foam up and trimmed the excess from the top.
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Step 11:
I'm putting 3 steps in this one, since, by now, we're all proficient upholsters.
Cut your batting so that it will cover the front and sides of the chair. There is no need to go all the way around, unless you REALLY want to. Staple along the insides of the boards. Trim the excess.
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Step... Umm... 12?
Cut your fabric to go completely up the front and down the back. The fabric should be starting where your bottom apron is (and completely covering that board). Lay your fabric print-side down, and lay the chair front-down on it. Starting at the bottom of the front, roll your fabric up a tad, as shown above. This will cover your unfinished edge, and only needs to be pulled like that on the side and back of the chair. Pull to the back of the chair and staple.
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(the arrow is pointing to the staple that I mentioned in the previous step - it's what's holding the "fold"
Step 13:
As with the batting, staple up both sides of the back of the chair. As long as the staples are on the back of the board, and not right near the edge, they won't be visible... so you can go staple-crazy like I did.
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Step 14:
When you get to the top, tuck the sides in (remember, ALWAYS pulling taut) and staple. You want to get the tuck to where, when you pull the front down, it's a straight line along the side of the back. This WILL take a few "tries" (unless I'm an idiot - which I wouldn't argue with :-p).
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This should give you a clearer idea of what I meant in the previous step.
Step 15:
Put glue along the stapled-down fabric. Get it as close to the sides as you can, without it leaking out. Pull the back of the fabric down (TAUT) and pin. Again... I
may have overdone this part....
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If you've done it right, it shouldn't look like this.
My fabric wasn't taut, so there's a big wrinkle.
Here's *almost* what it should look like when finished. PLEASE don't rush (should I follow my own advice, or what?!) and make sure you pull your fabric taut before pinning.
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Step 16:
"Notch" out squares along the bottom. These should be longer than the sides, so that you have enough fabric to roll up.
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Step 17:
Fold the fabric over, so that the fold is even with the sides. Put a good amount of glue, and pin.
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LIKE THIS!
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Step 18:
Staple along the perimeter of the board.
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Step 19:
As before, we're cutting the fabric from this area to screw through.
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I didn't photograph the last parts. Just staple the bottom of the back up and assemble your chair!!!!
I think she likes it :-)
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SO! What're you upholstering experiences? What would you do differently? (please, be gentle :-p). Are you planning on doing ANY upholstering projects soon?