by Graycin Miller

Created on: August 20, 2009

For two years, I waged a silent battle with my nemesisa channel-back chair covered in a truly hideous fabric that some kind soul insisted I couldn't live without. A saboteur of style, it sat in all its dubious glory in the corner of my living room, subtly souring the social scene like a bad smell permeates an elevator. I was secure in the knowledge of its intrinsic value and my lack of storage space dared me to confront its offensive appearance.

I didn't do anything about the situation for so long because I was paralyzed by the fear that I might somehow make a bad thing worse (impossible!) if I were to attempt to recover it. I have recovered my share of wingback chairs and other assorted upholstered pieces. But the channels on this chair (all 25 of them) mocked my previous efforts. Finally, after a party guest opted to sit on the floor rather than the chair, I knew I had to do something.

I want to save others from a life of fear and disgust, so I decided to share what I learned the hard way about recovering the channel-back portion of the chair. The rest of the chair can be recovered easily, same as any other chair or sofa, using copious instructions found on the web.

You'll need the following supplies to complete this project:

Upholster's foam of desired size, thickness, and density

Spray-on fabric adhesive

Scissors and a craft knife

A ruler or straightedge and a sewing tape

A strong, tightly woven fabric for backing (can be ugly and inexpensive as it will not be seen on finished product)

Beautiful, non-scary new upholstery fabric (spend a bit extra to get good quality fabric and go classic, not trendy, unless you want to do this project repeatedly)

Pliers (to remove staples or nails)

Fabric marker

1. You must systematically remove the existing fabric on the piece. You'll need to use the strips of fabric as patterns for the new strips you'll be applying.

2. Determine if you can use the existing padding for the chair or sofa back or if you'll need to replace it or add more for comfort or aesthetic reasons. You never know what you are going to find when you begin removing the old fabric from an upholstered antique. Many types of padding-hair, cotton, rags, burlap, etc. were used to create the desired shape and texture of these pieces. If the padding material is rotten, retains an odor, or is shapeless or worn out, you will need to discard it and start with new padding.

3. If you can reuse the padding, then skip ahead to step 6.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>