How to Upholster a Dining Chair

This lovely Victorian Nursing Chair has been fully restored & upcycled from a single dining chair that was thrown away........so from this

The legs to this Victorian Dining Chair had already been cut down, so we added black & white

webbing using a magnetic hammer & 15m upholstery tacks

Next we put on 16oz Hessian (burlap) & added stuffing ties in barbours linen mattress twine

The a good layer of coir is added tied in by the stuffing ties, this is then regulated to give a nice even finish & then a layer of 10oz hessian (burlap) is fixed on top of the coir using 10m improved tacks spaced out at 1" intervals

Using a double pointed mattress needle& the Barbour linen twine a row of blind stitches were sewn. A further row of stitching but this time top stitch was sewn to give structure to  the seat & define the shape. Through stuffing ties when then added using the double pointed mattress needle & the linen twine.........

Next hessian webbing was applied to the back, note that a piece of webbing had been used to denote the end of the back, this is instead of the usual wooden batten. On top of the hessian webbing a sheet of 16oz hessian ( burlap)was applied. Both the webbing & hessian applied were not pulled tight but were tensioned to suit the chair back & allow for the curve............

Stuffing ties were added to the back using a curved needle & the Barbours linen twine. A covering of coir was added under the ties & regulated to given an even finish. The 10oz hessian (burlap) was attatched using 10m upholstery tacks & a row of top stitch was sewn using a double pointed mattress needle & Barbours linen twine.....now ready for  the next step

More stuffing ties were added with a curved  needle & the linen twine. A  layer of hair was added, we use the cow tail / hog hair mix. This is a very soft hair & is regulated to give a very even finish......

A layer of cotton/wool wadding is then added. This stops the hairs from comming through to the top  cover of the chair. A sheet of calcio is then applied & tacked to the back of the chair. The seat of the chair was then built up with the soft hair, cotton/ wool wadding & calico. We use a special loom state calico that is superb & can be bought from us @ www.vintage57.com

Next we are ready to aqpply skin wadding or you can use poly wadding (dacron). This is essential as this stops the top fabric from "moving"

We have chosen a fabulous linen by Felix Spicer, designed around his collection of antique hairpins. I  love this fabric & have used it a number of times in  different colour ways.......The top cover is attatched & then hessian is attached to the back tightly & a layer of skin  wadding. Then the linen top fabric is pinned in place & hand sewn on using a ladder stitch which is an "invisible" stitch. The  chair then has a piece of 16oz hessian tacked on the underside of the seat to act as a dust cloth. Vintage 57 run upholstery courses for all levels of students please see our website for more details
www.vintage57.com

So from this.........

to this..............