Do you have an old piece of furniture seating in your garage but you can’t seem to throw it? Perhaps it has a sentimental value for you or to your family? Well, luckily there is a way on how to upholster a really old loveseat.
How To Upholster A Really Old Loveseat
Fabric for upholstery measurement
The very first thing you must do when you upholster a really old loveseat is planning your project. To properly design, you must first measure every visible piece of fabric on the couch, as well as some concealed parts. This includes the following:
- Fabric for the couch’s exterior (the upholstery on the shell of the sofa)
- Fabric for the inside (the upholstery on the inner part where you sit)
- Cambric (the dust cover, which is often comprised of a thin cloth that covers the underside of the couch and is distinct from the upholstery fabric)
- Crimping (that round, upholstered cord you might see at the seams that adds an accent and also makes the seam stronger)
- Using a Bat (the puffy, cushiony layer of material under the upholstery). You don’t have to replace the old batting if it’s still in excellent shape.
Make a table to record your measurements.
When you upholster a really old loveseat, remember that the measurements you’re taking are only for the areas of the cloth that you can see. More fabric is buried on the inside that you cannot see, areas where the cloth is stitched or stapled to keep it in place. You must add an “allowance” to each piece of cloth to compensate for the hidden seam or overlap.
Including a stipend: add 4 inches to each side. There’s a total increase of 8 inches in the width and height of each piece of cloth you will cut. Make sure to leave enough room for the inner arms and the outer back!
Your “cut size” is the total quantity of fabric required for each piece: the fabric measurement plus the allowance. If the previous batting is still in good condition, there is no need to change it. If not, you’ll need batting dimensions as well.
Depending on the design, each sofa uniquely makes use of batting. Feel around the entire couch and measure for batting everywhere it felt cushioned. This comprised the inside arms, interior back, and interior seat over the springs but under the cushions.
First, make a plan for the cuts on paper.
It’s time to sketch the parts on a small scale so you can calculate how much fabric you’ll need in total. Before you begin, make sure you know how big the roll of fabric you chose. It is so that you can efficiently arrange the cuts to waste as little cloth as possible.
Obtain supplies
Use the supplies list below as a guide to ensure you have everything you need for your project (changing the measurements, of course, to match your needs). You should buy a few extra yards of fabric and batting in case something goes wrong and you need more.
Take careful notes while you dismantle the couch.
When you upholster a really old loveseat, you need to disassemble your loveseat. By disassembling, you will learn a lot about how to reassemble it. It’s critical to pay close attention to the seams and keep track of which layer went on top of which. Take careful notes on everything you do, including how parts were placed on the sofa.
It includes which sides were stapled vs. where a tack strip was used, etc. Also, which side of the piece was placed first, and the sequence in which the pieces were removed. This will come in handy when it comes time to reassemble the couch.
Flip the sofa over.
The initial step for all sofas will be to turn them upside down. Next, remove the legs of the furniture followed by removing the cambric dust cover. These are the basic steps on how to dismantle a loveseat.
Remove all of the staples from the couch’s bottom.
When you upholster a really old loveseat, take off all the staples. Remove all of the staples around the bottom of the sofa using pliers so you can figure out which component to remove first. This staple removal procedure will most likely take some time. If you can, get someone to assist you.
Take caution while removing old upholstery.
Determine which component needs to be removed first. The first thing you can take out is the exterior back. After removing all of the staples, you’ll discover that the fabric’s short sides were kept in place by tack strips.
Insert your pliers into the fold of the cloth where the tack strip is located and gently push up. Repeat for the whole length of the tack strip. Do this for both sides, and then remove additional staples to get the remaining side of the fabric out.
Remove the remaining fabric pieces.
How you continue will be determined by how your particular couch was built. Take notes on how you disassemble it. You may preserve these scraps of cloth and use them to double-check your dimensions.
Restore the couch’s springs and base.
Begin by replacing the couch springs or fix the springs if they are sagging but still fixable. Start with a cut-to-size sheet, then a layer of batting, and staple both down. Add another layer of batting around the couch’s foundation before measuring my fabric to repair the base.
This section involves stitching, beginning with the inside seat fabric that covers the spring batting. You can use an old blue sheet for the interior seat fabric instead of the more costly suede cloth. Then cut the corners to make it easier to put the cloth over the foundation.
Prepare the cording
The next thing to do when you upholster a really old loveseat is to prepare your cord. Cut your cording into the appropriate size pieces. Next, sew the fabric over it to match what you need for each component. You’ll need one for each arm’s front, one for each side of the arm, and one to span the upper back of the sofa.
Replace the seat and back cushion covers.
First, disassemble the covers and use them to cut cloth pieces that were almost the same size. Then add zippers to the back wall of the seat coverings to make it easier to remove and wash them if necessary. Tack and stitch the cushion walls to the cutouts of the seat cushion tops and bottoms after the zippers were placed.
So how to upholster a really old loveseat? Final thoughts
We hope these ways on how to upholster a really old loveseat have helped you bring new life to your old loveseat. It’s not always about buying the latest furniture. Sometimes, all you need is to fix them and add a bit of decor.