Vintage Train

How can I reupholster a chair?

Someone gave me an old chair. Looks cool in a vintage way, but some of the upholstery is worn. This may be a dumb question. But can any idiot reupholster or do you need special training? Are there any cheap ways to cover furniture? For example, I did a search and found a lot of decorative furniture tacks? What are these exactly. Since I have no upholstery experience, I was thinking of buying some cool looking fabric and tack it on the chair? Is that a dumb idea? Also, do furniture tacks stay put? I don’t want them falling on the floor and me or my pets getting tacks in our feet.

You can reupholster a chair.
Go to Amazon, Barnes&Noble, the library, and look up books on
reupholstering. Then, after reading & looking at the pictures
in relationship to your average skills, decide. The most important thing about doing these jobs is having the right tools. A web puller, curved needles, and most important (to me) an electric or pneumatic stapler.
Pulling the webbing tight cannot really be done by hand. There is a tool that grasps the webbing tight enough so that
it can be tacked down. Stuffing the chair is another thing that requires a little experience. Buy some cheap muslin ($1. a yard), place the new stuffing and shift it around until you get the look you want then, following the instructions in one of the upholstery books, cover the chair in this muslin before you even think of cutting good fabric.
The decorative tacks, provided that they are upholstery tacks, have been used for hundreds of years in furniture. Just make sure they are ONLY for upholstery.
From what you say, though, maybe you don’t need to reupholster but only to recover. If the stuffing is not sagging or drooping, recovering is a much easier job.
I have recovered and reupholstered both chairs and sofas.
It’s a lot of work. If the chair is basically sound, why not just make a slipcover? That information can be found in books, too. Try the local library.
The first chair I ever covered I made a HUGE mistake. I used velvet and did not realize until I had finished that velvet, corduroy, and other similar fabrics have a nap which if it is not put down in exactly the same direction gives a two tone effect that is dreadful.
I also once recovered a chair by sewing fabric directly to the existing upholstery. It took ages. But it looked fine. I just copied what was already there. For example, if the chair has welts on the seams. I just laid the fabric over the welting and sewed it with a curved needle. It took forever, I warn you.
Also, save the back for last whichever you choose to do. You can cover up some mistakes by doing the back of the chair at the end.
Anyone can learn to do this. It’s not calculus. But patience and practice help a lot.
Maybe you should buy an upholstered footstool at a thrift shop and try it out first. You may decide it’s not worth the trouble.
But, still, if you like the chair there’s a book out there that can show you how to do it.
Good Luck.

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