How to Reupholster a Chair: Beginner-Intermediate DIY Guide

Using the old fabric as your pattern, cut your new fabric exactly to size on any pieces that will be sewn.
When the first two opposing sides have been stapled (up to, but not yet into, the corners), use the same middle-to-outward strategy for the other two sides.
Trim the excess fabric by the staples.

How To Reupholster A Chair

To reupholster a leather chair, you’d follow the same steps as a regular fabric chair: Take the chair apart, remove the old leather material, size and measure the new leather, and place accordingly.

Materials Needed to reupholster a chair:

• Chair
• Upholstery fabric
• Upholstery cording/piping
• Staple gun & staples
• Sewing machine & upholstery thread

Step by step tutorial to reupholster any chair:

Step 1: Select your chair

Step 2a: Disassemble the chair

The national average to reupholster a chair is 0-0.

To reupholster a chair seat with foam, you’ll first remove the old fabric and then remove the old padding. Once this is done, you’d fill the seat with new foam and continue to reupholster according to the steps outlined in this tutorial.

Step 2b: Take out staples.

To reupholster a kitchen chair, you’ll first disassemble your chair from the bottom. Place the fabric and staple it on. Then, sew together the cording.

Pro Tip: Recycling and reusing is an excellent way to help the environment.

Step 2c:Take apart cording.

It’s not hard to reupholster a chair at all! It just takes a few quick steps and you’ll be done.
Place the cord in the middle of your fabric (which should be 2”-3” wide and about 4” longer than your cord), fold the fabric over with the right-side-out, and sew together using a large (baste) stitch.

Step 3: Use removed fabric pieces to cut new fabric.

Once you’ve pulled it tight and checked the front to make sure there are no wrinkles, staple into place using the same strategy shown in Step 5. 
Simply lay thew new fabric over the old. Size it, cut it accordingly, and staple it into place.

Pro Tip: Take photos as you go so that you can reference them later as you’re reassembling the chair; often, something that seems obvious as you’re taking the chair apart will not seem so obvious when you’re putting it back together.

Staple in place.

It is critical to line up raw edges all around the corners as much as it is down the straight stretches.

Step 4: Sew your cording.

Then pull the two resulting folds toward the middle and staple those.
With right sides together (and the cording sandwiched in between), sew this on, starting at least 1” in and keeping raw edges aligned.
Just to reupholster a chair seat, it will cost about 0. Since this is an easy DIY project, you can save some serious money by doing it at home, yourself.

Pro Tip: Trim the raw edges of your cording to be the width of your seam allowance. Look at the stitching marks left on your old cording fabric and match the width.

Step 5a: Recover the back of the seat back.

Step 5b: Staple the other two sides.

Pin this, then sew this seam together before resuming and completing your perimeter seam

Step 5c: Staple the corners.

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Keeping your fabric and the cord itself stretched taut, use a zipper foot on your sewing machine to sew the cording. 

Step 6: Trim the excess fabric.

Today we provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to reupholster a basic office chair.
Use a screwdriver and pliers to take out staples. 

Step 7: Staple on cording.

Lay your new fabric down right-side-up. 
To reupholster a wingback chair, you’ll first disassemble your chair from the bottom. Place the fabric and staple it on. Then, sew together the cording.

Step 8: Sew the fabric for the front of the seat back.

To reupholster a dining room chair seat and back, you’ll first disassemble your chair from the bottom. Place the fabric on the seat as well as back, and staple it on. Then, sew together the cording.
This keeps your fabric from fraying along the bottom of your chair and, even if it does fray a little, it keeps the strings from hanging down.


Pull your newly sewn piece onto the front of the seat back – the fit should be very snug. 
First, pull the center of the corner toward the middle and place a staple.
Staple into place.
To reupholster a chair cusion, you’ll want to remove the old padding and replace it with new padding. Once that’s set, you can apply new fabric and staple it into place.

Step 9: Sew on cushion width fabric.

To reupholster the seat of a chair, you’d first have to disassemble the seat. This means, take it apart from the rest of the chair. Once this is done, you’ll add the fabric to the seat and staple it into place.


Try to keep chair pieces intact, as these will serve as your pattern pieces for your new fabric.
If your chair is in exceptional condition, you may be able to reuse some of the components, such as the cording.
Pay particular attention to anywhere where there are screw holes; make sure these are clear of staples and extra fabric, as this will inhibit your ability to reassemble the chair correctly.
This varies on the complexity of your chair. Typically, you can reupholster a chair in 1-2 hours.

Step 10: Cover the front of the seat back.

Start sewing about 1” in from the end of your cording and, pulling taut, sew the cording on.
Yet, with a good tutorial and some patience, you can customize nearly any piece of furniture to be just how you want it.

Step 11: Reupholster the seat cushion.

Using scissors, trim the extra fabric about ¼” from the staples all the way around the seat. 

Find the chair you want to reupholster. It could either be one you find while thrifting or have on-hand at home.

Step 12: Add cording to bottom of seat cushion.

When stapling cording, place the first staple about 1” in from the end of your cording. After you’ve gone all the way around and the two cording ends meet up, briefly overlap them and fold them down toward the middle of your board.

Step 13: Add fray strip.

Place your cording on the edge of your fabric (at the center of what will be the bottom of the cushion), raw edges of the cording lined up with the raw edge of your fabric.
With the cording attached to the seat back fabric, it’s time to sew on the strip of fabric that goes around the seat back as the cushion width. 

Step 14: Reassemble your chair.

When you’re ready to learn how to reupholster a chair, re-upholstery in itself can seem very intimidating if you’ve never done it before.
This depends on the size of your chair itself. It’s best to measure the area that is being reupholstered and then buy your fabric.
Slow down and don’t cut corners. 
This depends on the size of your chair seat itself. It’s best to measure the area that is being reupholstered and then buy your fabric.
If your fabric will be stapled on the underside of something, such as this chair-back, cut your fabric a few inches larger on each side to ensure plenty of extra to pull taut.

Conclusion:

As you near the “start”, stop your machine, cut your thread, and pin exactly where the ends will come together. 
Pro Tip: Precision cuts are necessary for sewn pieces.
To reupholster a dining chair, you’ll first disassemble your chair from the bottom. Place the fabric and staple it on. Then, sew together the cording.