 |
| cherry dining chair |
There is not really a long list of do-it-yourself tasks at which I
show any skill. Plumbing and electrical jobs, however small, I leave to
those who know what they're doing, but there are some little jobs
around the house that I enjoy doing, however slowly, with the result
that I save a little bit of money and can tell my friends, "Yes, I did
that myself." One of those tasks is simple upholstery of chairs. I'm
not talking about complicated wing chairs, car seats, or sofas, but
simple desk chair, or dining chair jobs for which a staple gun and
scissors are all that is required.
The book that I believe is the best for instruction of beginners,
like me, is SIMPLY UPHOLSTERY written by the editors of SUNSET BOOKS.
If you go to Amazon.com, you'll see the book at under $10 and can read
eleven reviews by other readers. I like the book, because it gives easy
steps to easy upholstery jobs and then some information on more complex
challenges of more advanced upholstery tasks.
 |
| 19th century French chair |
It's surprising how a new piece of fabric on an old chair can change
the character of a room through color and pattern. It's very easy to go
on line to purchase fabric at good prices, and with a staple gun, you
can finish a chair in no time. I'll include here some photos of chairs
that I have done, but I'll start with the most complicated challenge I
tackled, which was a 19th Century French arm chair given to me by an old
friend. I chose a grey silk striped damask material and measured the
surfaces I would be covering, bought the roll of material, and the nails
and trim. I cut the material for each surface, folded it under just an
inch as I went along and used many dozens of small upholstery nails to
attach the fabric to the wood. I did this for the back, the arms and
the seat, and then took the trim, which covers the nails, and sewed it
on. That's the part that took the longest, but the result was a chair
that looked very respectable, so that when friends found out I had done
the job, they were wowed. By the way, stripes are one of the most
difficult patterns to use in upholstering, because they can shift easily
if not placed properly from the beginning and tightened well.
 |
| silk upholstery |
The other chairs I have done are simple, because only the seat had to
be covered, and the material was folded under so that no nails or trim
were necessary. The seat part of the chair can easily be removed with a
screw driver in most cases and covered by the fabric, folded
under, tightened, and stapled as you go along (checking the position of
the fabric design along the way too), and finally putting the seat back
and tightening the screws. I have used stabalized silk for all the
upholstering I have done, mainly due to its strength and sheen. Its
being "stabalized" just means that for upholstery purposes, the silk has
been adhered to a cotton backing, which makes it easier to work
with and adds strength for long wear. The 19th Century French chair I
upholstered in 1987, and it has worn quite well. The other chair photos
here are from very simple jobs that required no complicated folding
around corners. Anyone can do that kind of upholstery, as long as you
have a staple gun, because you fold, tighten and staple until you've
gone all the way around the seat bottom. Paying someone to do even that
simple job can be rather expensive, but aside from the savings, It's
just fun to tell people that you did the work yourself. JB
