What happens when everything you can think of making looks like everything you’ve been doing for the past five years? Either you a.) Give up b.) Don’t change c.) Start looking around to see what you can copy, or d.) Go get yourself inspired. Of …
Handmade upholstery fabric will be ‘having a long moment’, as predicted. As more and more talented Makers venture into the age old craft of upholstering, the designy, artsy participants can’t help but give bequeath their creative stamp to existing furniture. This folksy, sewn appliqué fabric …
On Monday, over on Instagram, I posed the question to my lovely followers how much they thought it would cost to flip this $9.99 Goodwill chair. Today, I’m breaking it down. Now remember, costs vary depending upon what part of the country you live in. …
Happy August! But what I really feel is “Doggone it! Summer’s almost over!” Now that we’re being honest, I might as well tell you that Spring and Summer are really the only seasons I like. Fall has that ‘Sunday night feeling’, you know, when you …
Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, fringes and trims were dripping off of chairs, loveseats, sofas, table edges, drapes and any other surface to which you could attach them. It got to be way too much visual noise. To this day, some people still …
Before we had industrial sewing machines that can practically stitch two pieces of concrete together, hardy craftsmen were quite adept at hand stitching leather upholstery and other durable goods. At the time, they probably only dreamed of a machine that could sew their wares, while …
In the somewhat under-the-radar world of upholsterers, there’s an extremely wide base of craftsmen and women with varying levels of skills and know-how. It can range from the very basic DIY-er, all the way up to the master of all Masterful Upholsterers. In Upholstery Club’s …
Here’s a quick little illustration to show how easy it is to take three so-so chairs and quickly and simply transform them into three little dreamboats. Subtle paint job and spectacular funky botanical fabric from Clarence House was all it took. Designed and upholstered by …
After receiving many inquiries into how to create the flat welt cord to cover the staples next to show wood have prompted this easy tutorial. Besides this rather sticky method, you can also use double sided fusible interfacing cut in 1 1/2″ strips and simply …
The easiest thing in the world for a person to teach is something they’ve been doing for over 25 years, wouldn’t you agree? Well, spring chickens, I’ve spent that many years building an upholstery/DIY/writing/teaching/online video course business. Now it’s time for me to teach you …
Upholsterers refer to it as welt cord, not piping. You can call it piping, but that generally refers to smaller, fabric covered piping used for apparel. Whatever you call it, it’s being made all the time for furniture, cushions, pillows and bedding in upholstery shops …
Some people just have the knack for upholstery. Some can work and work at it and learn it, others just seem to instinctively catch on. Either way works just fine. Here’s the Before and After from Elizabeth, one of my Chair Up! Online Upholstery Bootcamp …