How to reupholster a sectional couch? Times are tough, and people generally have to be extra budget-conscious. For example, it may not necessarily be in a person’s best interest to buy new furniture for their home.
The old stuff has to suffice! That could mean that a person undertakes an upcycling project or gives their house a DIY paint job instead of seeking professional services from painters.
However, some items aren’t worth reupholstering, like sofas, for example. This is where one might wonder how to upholster a sofa which is why they’ve come across this article.
How To Reupholster A Sectional Couch
We’ll discuss how you can easily accomplish this by yourself and make your room look sophisticated yet straightforward.
1. Select New Fabric
When reupholstering your couch, one of the first things you should do is choose fabrics that work with what’s already there.
For example, if your couch already has sections of cushions, consider getting a solid upholstery fabric in shapely designs that don’t require too much precision when maintaining their pattern.
Variety packs are also great because you end up matching many sections of your couch together and reducing much of the confusion on how to select new fabrics.
You also want to make sure that the material you select is accessible clean and attractive. We recommend a polyester or cotton fabric for this purpose due to its durability so you can avoid having your furniture become overwhelmed by spills or dirt over time.
2. Remove Old Fabric
You can’t replace the sectional sofa fabric without first removing it. Start by removing the cushions and then placing them out of the way.
Turn the sectional over to get underneath the fabric secured to the frame quickly. Using your pliers, remove all of its staples. This enables you to free up the fabric from the piece.
Remove cushions and put them somewhere out of the way for now (you’ll be replacing them later).
Now that you have your sectional flipped upside down, go ahead and remove any loose or uncooked/raw edges with a pair of pinking shears; this will prevent fraying later on when you start sewing in new materials.
3. Replace the Foam
When would you need to repair the foam on your couch? When the foam or batting fabrics have become stained, torn or ripped.
You may find it necessary to repair these two components of your couch if you notice unpleasant odours as well.
Remove the foam from the couch frame if you are repairing this fabric. For assistance in doing so, check out our guide here.
Be mindful that new foam requires a precise measurement for fitting. Make sure that you cut the new padding with sharp scissors – and only try to remove any excess fabric next.
4. Cut the New Fabric
On an ample space or floor, lay down the new fabric. Take the old fabric you’ve just removed, and then lay it on top of the new fabric.
It can then be pinned in place to keep its shape. With scissors or electric scissors, duplicate your original shape so that they will look identical when you place them next to each other.
5. Staple the New Fabric
After cutting out and preparing all of your new fabric pieces, you can then get started on the task of placing them onto your sofa.
You’ll have your organizational skills tested in this part of the job, but that’s alright because you need to apply each piece the same way as the old pieces were put on.
You might want to work with a good sewing machine that can help give shape to any problematic areas like under both armrests or along the centre of the couch.
In giving shape in these hard-to-reach places, one might prefer the use of thin cardboard strips glued together for cushions or perhaps some tack strips depending on what works best for their situation.
But it all depends on how comfortable or sturdy they’d like their newly improved sofa to be.
6. Reupholstering the Seat
To remove the foam cushions, unzip the seat cushion. Look at the state of the foam and decide on what to do with it. If it produces a foul odour, replacing it may be more advantageous.
The same goes if the foam is discoloured or has mildew. Measure out front and back seam allowances for your cushion covers by measuring four inches away from the edges of your fabric panel.
You’ll need this much space to support your seams along with allowing enough room for imperfections in cutting (which is common when working with fabrics) as well as extra padding inserts (i.e., extra thin memory foam or buckwheat hulls).
Use these measurements as a guide in cutting out your new fabric, giving yourself at least four inches of allowance on all sides.
So that there’s sufficient space for seams and cushion forms since sewing with such dense materials can be a bit tricky sometimes! Now that you have everything ready start sewing away.
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