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Instructions for reupholstering a dining chair
What new fabric can do for a dining room chair is amazing. It as well gives your dining room a wonderful look pleasurable to the eyes of lookers, it adds style and a new spice to your room, the before discomforting chair would give comfort, and make an old piece feel like new helping you save money from getting a new one. In addition to changing the fabric, you can paint the chair's frame or buy new cushioning to make the seat more comfortable.
You wouldn't need much stress by finding ways or means to reupholster a dining chair. It has been made simple in this content and can be completed during your leisure time/off time/weekend. To learn how to reupholster a dining chair, below are the steps.
To upholster a dining chair, you will need all these tools below which have been categorized under their needs (compulsory or optional):
Compulsory:
- Screwdriver: used for removing screws for DIY upholstery
- Scissors: Ideal for cutting thread, batting, thin foam, and fabric.
- Needle-nose pliers: These are used in pulling out the ends of broken staples.
- Fabric: the cloth worn on the chair to cover the nakedness of the foam and padding.
- Pencil: used for making marks on your cardboard.
- Paint: This is applied on wood.
- Paintbrush: it is used to apply paint or ink on the wood.
- Staple gun: This is used to drive heavy metal staples into wood, plastic, or masonry.
- Screws or corner braces: used as a 90-degree point support, regularly used to join a rack to a wall or combine two pieces, highlighting two arrangements of openings one on each angle for screws and assisting with a heavier application.
OPTIONAL: These tools will be needed if you are considering re-cushioning your chair
- Thick cardboard
- Plywood
- Foam padding
- Batting
Materials Needed
- Staples 3/8 or 5/16 inches
- Batting ½ inch
- Upholstery fabric
- Chalk
- Polyester welt cord cellulose piping
- Upholstery weight thread
- Tack strips
- Fabric glue
- Upholstery tacks or nail head trim
Are you ready for practicals?
STEP 1: GET RID OF THE CHAIR'S FABRIC AND SEAT.
Remove the seat of the old chair by unscrewing it most upholstery fabric is attached underneath the seat with staples.
You might find it difficult in removing the staples, this is where you will need your screwdriver; to target the middle of the staple, insert the flat side of the screwdriver and pull it up (be careful of your eyes while doing this).
Some pins might be stubborn. Your pliers can come to your rescue at this point; clip the pin and pull up.
When you are done removing the old fabric on the chair, remove the padding, if you have the intention of changing the padding, you can remove the padding from the chair. You still don’t need to quickly dispose of your removed fabric and padding (if you’re changing the padding), it will be your guide in measuring the new one.
If necessary, replace the plywood. The dining chair consists of four layers: fabric, batting, foam, and wood. Assuming you are reupholstering chairs that are in the best shape, you will just have to supplant the fabric.
Cut a covering from the new fabric. Cut the new fabric large enough to accommodate any additional fullness if you intend to add cushioning. If the chair needs to be touched up or painted a different colour, now is also a good time to do so. Allow drying before proceeding.
You can begin layout: place your fabric face down on your work surface to begin. Lay the batting after; the foam follows and lastly, the wooden seat.
How Much Fabric Is Needed?
You must consider these factors; the size of the chair and the choice of fabric to be used.
Before taking any measurements, remove the padding of the old dining chair. Using a tape measure, determine the dining chair seat's length and width.
Measure the length and breadth adding an additional 2 to 3 inches each to the sides
Step 2: If You’re Re-cushioning, This Will Be The Next Step, If You’re Not, Skip This And Move To The Next Step.
As I have aforementioned, you don't need this step if you are not re-cushioning. Following this step means your cushion is no longer comfortable when you seat on the chair.
On the off chance that you want a sturdier seat, the knowledge used while cutting the fabric in step one above would be required. The current seat will be used in getting a new size for the new one, measuring the size and making an imprint on the thick cardboard, and cutting after ascertaining you have gotten the right measurement. The new plywood seat can be cut using the template as a guide.
You are not done yet. Use the cardboard template as a guide to cut foam padding for the base to replace the cushioning; the padding ought to have a thickness of 1-3 inches. Remove the cushioning that is currently in place. Place the brand-new foam padding over the seat and align the edges. To attach a piece of batting to the seat's underside, leave extra on each side. Cover the foam and wood seat's top and sides with the batting; flip around the seat. Pull and smooth the batting as you go to secure it to the underside of the seat with a staple gun. Remove any excess batting.
Step 3: Apply New Fabric With Glue.
At this stage, your cushion must have been placed on your chair. Be careful while placing your fabric so you won't turn the pattern side down and the opposite upward.
Get your staple close to you, and pin each side of the fabric down to get a perfect shape and cover. Staple each side once the fabric has been tightened. Tape the upholstery to each side of the four sides of the seat in the middle. Pull the fabric up and over the seat by grabbing it on one side of the seat. Place a staple in the centre of the seat edge to hold the fabric in place. Repeat this for the other three sides of the seat. Staple the upholstery to the seat’s underside in four equidistant places, such as angle 360°, 270°, 180°, and 90°. Leave no wrinkles while stapling to get a perfect job done.
The excess fabric should be cut 1 inch from each side of the staples. Cut the fabric inside the chair back 1 inch from the staples after securing it at the corners. The excess fabric won’t hang down as a result of this; be careful while cutting so you don’t cut the fabric too close to the staples or else it might lose its grip and remove.
Make sure you avoid wrinkles as much as you can. By avoiding wrinkles, you are as well doing your stapling carefully. This method is applicable to your leather dining chair.
Wilfredo Emmanuel, an authority on dining tables says that the most common dimensions for rectangular dining tables are as follows.
- The table should be 36 -40 inches wide and 48 inches long to accommodate four people and accommodate place settings on both sides.
- The table should be 36-40 inches wide and 60 inches long to accommodate four to six people.
- The table should be 36-40 inches wide and 78 inches long to accommodate six to eight people.
Step 4: Re-affix The Seat
Your reupholstered dining chair will be complete once you have finished securing the fabric. Reattach the chair to its base with the screws.
In Conclusion
Remove the old fabric, remove the staples attached to the fabric, cut your fabric by measuring and adding 2 to 3 inches, start layering and make sure to staple with one staple in the centre of each side, staple the sides perfectly without any slacks, cut off the excess fabric, then reattach the chair seat.