Any, even the most durable furniture gradually wears out and takes on an unsightly appearance. The sofa, as an actively used piece of furniture, is no exception. Restoring a sofa with your own hands will restore its attractiveness and functional irreplaceability.
The easiest way to repair upholstered furniture is to invite craftsmen. This approach is quite justified if your sofa is unique and has antique value, or if its design is very complex. In most cases, restoring a sofa is a completely feasible and economical undertaking. The question of how to restore a sofa can be solved quite simply if you take the time and purchase high-quality material.
The sofa consists of several elements of a standard design. The main elements include the back, sides, and seat. In addition, sofas may contain overhead elements (ottomans, pillows, etc.), additional mechanisms (folding mechanism, hinges, etc.) and decorative fittings. In turn, the main elements include the frame, upholstery, filling and back panel. The design of the seat also includes a shock-absorbing element.
The frames of the main elements are made of wooden blocks different sizes. Usually the bars are connected adhesives, and the joints can be strengthened with screws. Foam rubber of various thicknesses and densities, as well as batting, padding polyester or other soft synthetic fillers are used as filler.
The shock-absorbing element of the seat is most often made in the form of springs, but it can also be represented by a thickened sheet of foam rubber. The armrests of the sidewalls are formed by an additional layer soft material. All main elements are covered with fabric or leather upholstery. To prevent sagging or pulling of the fabric upholstery, tightening elements (decorated, for example, in the form of buttons, rivets, etc.) are used on the surface of the main elements.
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Any restoration of an old sofa (regardless of its reasons) includes the replacement of upholstery and filling, since the materials of these elements are subject to the most rapid wear. Replacement or repair of other elements is carried out as necessary, if they are damaged.
An exception is the repair of a fairly new sofa if the frame or shock-absorbing element is damaged from mechanical impact or due to a manufacturing defect. In this case, the upholstery and filling remain in good condition and their replacement is impractical. During repairs, the upholstery is carefully removed and the damaged element is replaced, after which the upholstery is returned to its place.
If, after identifying damage, the decision has been made to restore the old sofa, then you should determine which element will only be repaired and which will be completely replaced. Accordingly, a list of required materials and their quantity is compiled.
When restoring a sofa with your own hands, you should simultaneously decide on the need to make changes to the design. It will not be difficult to make the following improvements: increasing the thickness of the sidewalls; changing the shape of the armrest; changing the rigidity of the seat and backrest, etc.
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The upholstery is the most visible and most worn element of any sofa. The upholstery material must meet a number of requirements, such as:
Leather upholstery has many advantages, but is expensive and difficult to install yourself. This upholstery is usually used if the leather was on an old sofa. A good tapestry is very beautiful and aristocratic, more technologically advanced, but not much different in price from leather. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that both leather and tapestry have a long service life.
The choice of fabric colors is very important both from aesthetic and practical side. When selecting fabric, you should take into account the need to combine it on different elements of the sofa structure and its location on the area of the element itself. The least waste is achieved when using plain fabrics and fabrics with small abstract patterns. Overconsumption of material occurs when cutting fabric with large patterns in the form geometric shapes, lines and cells of different colors.
Dense fleecy fabric can hide many flaws when stretched. When choosing a fabric, you need to check that the pile is firmly attached to the base. Cotton fabrics are not practical, wrinkle and are not abrasion resistant. Velor fabrics look good, but have low wear resistance and actively collect dust.
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Foam rubber and synthetic winterizer are widely used as filler. When choosing a material, you should pay special attention to its quality. Sintepon must have White color without significant shades. There should be no unpleasant odors coming from it. The strength of padding polyester is such that it is difficult to tear it apart by hand; if it breaks easily, then it is a low-quality material.
Foam rubber with a thickness of at least 50 mm or several layers with a thickness of 20 mm is usually used in the seat and backrest. The structure of high-quality foam rubber contains very small pores. When purchasing a material, you should check its elastic properties: after pressing the foam rubber with your hand, it should quickly return to its previous position.
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Restoring a sofa begins with its complete disassembly. It is done in the following order. All overhead and decorative elements are removed. The sides are unscrewed. The mechanisms for laying out the sofa and fixing the elements are being dismantled. The back and seat are separated.
Complete disassembly of the sides includes unscrewing the legs and fittings, removing the upholstery and removing the filling. The armrest is removed. The strength of the frame is checked.
Disassembling the backrest begins with removing the back panel. Then the tightening elements are dismantled and the upholstery is removed. The filler is removed. The strength of the frame is checked.
Disassembling the sofa seat includes removing the tightening elements and removing the upholstery. The shock-absorbing elements are removed. The filler is removed. The strength of the frame is checked.
It should be taken into account that in a number of sofa designs, the upholstery of the back and seat is carried out with one continuous piece of fabric covering both elements.
Often the sofa seat is installed on a pallet. Its separation and disassembly completes the disassembly of the entire sofa.
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The easiest way to cut new fabric is on old upholstery. If you managed to remove it carefully, it will serve as a template for new upholstery. With this kind of cutting, it is advisable to add 1-2 cm in all directions, providing an allowance and facilitating subsequent stretching. If a decision is made to expand the sidewalls, then the corresponding change is taken into account when cutting. If it is impossible to use old upholstery All elements are measured using a tape measure and a meter ruler. Then a pattern is made on paper and the fabric is cut.
It always brings joy when we acquire something new for our home, for example, furniture . Every apartment or house must have armchairs, a sofa, ottomans, and chairs. We use them all the time.
It's hard to imagine an apartment without a sofa, armchairs and other upholstered furniture.
Time passes, the upholstery becomes ugly, wears off in places, holes, stains, traces of paint, felt-tip pens, and plasticine stuck in places appear. All this remains, especially when there are small children in the house. They will take furniture to the extreme in just a few months. The stains cannot be cleaned, the holes cannot be mended, even a bedspread will not save you from their pranks, except perhaps a Euro-cover. Furniture becomes unusable and ceases to decorate the interior.
After a few years, the upholstery may lose its former attractiveness, become unusable and no longer fit into the interior of the room.
Many people simply get rid of it, throw it in a landfill or take it to their country house. Others, on the contrary, cannot get rid of the old furniture simply because it’s comfortable or it’s a shame to throw it away, but there’s simply no way to buy a new sofa or chair. What to do in such cases? There is only one thing left - to restore, make sofa reupholstery . Of course, you can turn to specialists, but it’s easier and much more profitable, in order to save your budget, to do it yourself.
Not everyone knows that reupholstering a sofa with your own hands is not a very difficult task.
A big plus if the sofa has quality basis. Old items furniture much better quality than those that are produced now.
Replacing the upholstery will not take much time and effort.
Furniture restoration at home has some advantages.
It’s worth deciding whether you will reupholster the sofa yourself, in which case the work will take more time, or trust the specialists, they will do it in a short period, perhaps at your home, without transporting it to a workshop.
To change the appearance of an old sofa, you can sew a new cover, make pillows and throws of various models. Furniture will sparkle with new colors. If you want to constriction , then it can be done partially by replacing some upholstery elements. There are many varieties here - from typical to creative.
It is important that everything is in harmony.
A cape made using the patchwork technique will look extraordinary. You can make an unusual applique and glue it to the upholstery. For sofa reupholstery denim will do textile or artificial leather. The most commonly used furniture tapestry, high-quality leatherette, leather, special synthetic velor, artificial fur with a strong base, and furniture jacquard. It is quite possible to sew removable covers from clothing fabrics.
If the sofa is not intended for decoration, but for relaxation of all family members, then you will need strong upholstery that will last for quite a long time.
To begin work on replacing old upholstery, the first step is to decide which textile you choose a color scheme, with or without a pattern, artificial or natural material. There are many different furniture fabrics.
Each fabric has technologically advanced and multifunctional quality levels.
Let's decide what materials will be needed. Besides the fabrics Need accessories, foam rubber required thickness, piping to cover the seams, felt, padding polyester or batting as a filler, zipper, marker needles, decorative buttons.
Selected fabric – it needs to be taken with a margin for the possibility of error, now let’s prepare the tools that will be needed: a sewing machine, a set of needles, strong threads (polyester), a flat-head screwdriver, a hammer, an anti-stapler to remove old staples, pliers, spanners(from 8 to 19 mm), side cutters, furniture stapler, scissors, staples (6-8 mm), sewing meter, square, metal ruler, chalk, screwdriver, drill, glue.
The necessary set of tools.
All work is divided into stages. First you need to disassemble furniture . We remove all pillows, cushions, and decorations. Then using necessary tools separate the back and sides of the sofa.
Disassembly with removal of individual components in the form of pillows, sides, poufs.
We dismantle the seat and separate furniture from the base. The parts needed for fastening need to be placed in some container; they may be needed.
All fasteners are placed together so as not to lose them.
The next step is to remove the worn upholstery using an anti-staple gun or a flat-head screwdriver. old textile You can leave it - it will be easier to cut out patterns using it. We remove dirt and dust accumulated inside. Old foam rubber should be thrown away and replaced with new one.
The work requires a certain amount of care so as not to tear the old covering and use it as a template for cutting out parts from new fabric.
Let's look at the condition of the spring block and frame. If necessary, we carry out repairs. We strengthen all the joints and tighten the screws.
All screws must be carefully tightened, the joints of the parts must be strengthened, and the wooden joints must be glued.
On old fabric We cut out new patterns from the selected material, leaving seam allowances. We fasten the parts with special needles and grind them onto sewing machine. If you don't know how to sew, entrust the work to a seamstress.
The result of the entire reupholstery of the product largely depends on the quality of the new patterns.
Now you need to cover the sofa. We attach new upholstery to each individual part, starting with the decorative elements, then the seat, sides, and back. We carry out the tension carefully so that there is no distortion, using a stapler in the work.
In order not to make a mistake with the amount of material, it is recommended to buy it with a small margin.
The fabric on the sofa parts is stretched evenly so that there are no distortions.
Four centimeters - this should be the gap between the staples. Use the remaining material at your discretion. We attach the foam rubber, and its remains will be useful for upholstering other furniture.
Having finished with the reupholstery, we assemble the structure and return the legs and other fittings to their place.
The most significant point in this work is the acquisition of the required quantity fabrics . You can roughly calculate how much you need by adding the length and width of the sofa and multiplying the resulting amount by two. For example, a sofa has a size of 2 x 1.8, then you will need to buy 7.6 m of fabric. To find out exactly, draw the layout necessary elements, taking into account the fractional direction. You need to be extremely careful when making calculations for corner sofas, because they have a complex shape.
When choosing fabric, you should avoid synthetic and very coarse varieties.
It must be remembered that material having large drawing or striped, it is necessary to cut in one direction, accordingly, the cost of fabric will increase. It is very important to consider seam allowances. You definitely can't go wrong if you buy upholstery textile with a margin of one meter. It is worth considering the fact that you will need to change the filler. Compacted foam rubber and a layer of padding polyester are quite suitable for this purpose.
The structure of some pieces of furniture may include parts filled with thick foam rubber. This causes certain difficulties. To avoid this, foam rubber is wrapped in thin padding polyester, then attached and wrapped in upholstery fabric.
High-quality foam rubber has very small pores in its structure. After squeezing with your hand, it immediately straightens and takes its previous shape.
How to reupholster a sofa with your own hands competently and avoid mistakes when sewing parts? It will be better if you familiarize yourself with master classes, watch video and photo lessons, and read the necessary information on the Internet.
This will contribute to short time and carefully execute necessary work and assemble the parts correctly.
The sofa is the most important piece of furniture. We gather there with the whole family, relax after work, watch TV, and sometimes it’s just great to lie around, covered with a cozy blanket. Its color scheme is significant in the design of a room.
How to make an old sofa sparkle with new colors?
To begin with, you can change the area around the furniture, for example, change the wallpaper or stick photo wallpaper. Picturesque prints will look original. They decorate pillows - choose some image and apply it to the cover. This is best done in a workshop.
You can do it yourself using fabrics different colors, sew stripes or squares, or combine them.
Most perfect option- This is a replacement cover. If you don't want to sew it yourself, buy it at the store. Now presented very big choice various colors and models. They have different features, including water-repellent, and even ones that are resistant to the sharp claws of your pets. Well, the simplest option is to cover the sofa with a blanket or two.
This will create cozy atmosphere, setting the mood for relaxation.
Pillows with new covers of different colors will add some zest to the sofa. Rich shades It is better to place them in the center, neutral ones are preferable at the edges. If you like a style such as eclecticism, then feel free to use all your imagination - combine incompatible things. Cushions can be square, round or triangular, large and small, different colors, different fabrics, even fur.
The color of the pillows can be matched to the curtains, lampshade, and chair.
Padding furniture – exciting activity, which does not present any particular difficulties. The main thing is to do everything according to the rules, and you will have original old furniture at home that will serve for many years to come.
During the renovation process, all objects and elements of the room are subject to changes. But not everyone has sufficient funds to update their furniture. If the frame is still strong and reliable, then there is no need to go to the store for purchases - modify and restore upholstered furniture you can do it yourself. The central place in the living room is occupied by a sofa or sofa. If you don’t know how to make a reupholstery for little money, we recommend that you read this article.
As with any other process, it all starts with planning and preliminary work. If you are planning to upholster a sofa at home without involving specialists, then you should perform all the steps in order. To begin with, a tool is selected. Here's what you need to stock up on:
In addition, you should select new materials: filler and upholstery material. Let's look at the most popular options.
Among modern fillers, the leading place is occupied by polyurethane foam, which can be bought at a hardware store at affordable price. When purchasing foam rubber, you need to pay attention to the following characteristics:
Among domestic producers foam, the company “Muromporolon” stands out, which has been offering its consumers high-quality products with a large list of advantages for many years:
Once you have decided on the filler, you can move on to choosing the material for the upholstery. The choice is quite large, most often consumers choose the following options:
Regardless of what is chosen, the following requirements are taken into account:
You should also include furniture tape, braid and edging in the list of required materials. This Consumables which will be needed for upholstery.
When all the necessary materials and tools have been collected and purchased, you can get to work. To begin with, the sofa should be disassembled into its main elements. Typically, each model consists of the following parts:
To do everything correctly and not break the components, follow a simple algorithm of actions:
The upholstery and filling must be carefully removed, since they will subsequently be used to cut out new elements.
The main part of the process involves several steps. To know exactly how to properly upholster a sofa, you should do everything step by step and carefully.
You should start by repairing the frame, namely the spring block:
It is possible to make old springs more elastic using pieces of foam rubber or an old blanket. We stuff the springs with pieces of cut foam rubber. If an old blanket was chosen, then they cover the entire block from above and stitch it with a needle and twine. To ensure that the foam sheets lie tightly, they are first coated with glue. To make the foam look more voluminous, you can lay a padding polyester on top of the foam.
You don’t have to remove sagging springs, just stretch them - this way they will last longer.
Regardless of whether the sofa will be upholstered with leather or fabric, the procedure is very simple:
When everything is ready, the sofa is directly upholstered, or rather its individual components:
All that remains is to assemble all the components in the reverse order of disassembly, while paying attention to:
All processes are quite simple and only require attention. Now you know how to upholster a sofa yourself and save a decent amount of money.
Constantly tensioning the upholstery is required to ensure that the material lies evenly and smoothly. Work should be done on the long side and move towards the short side.
If leather was chosen as the new material, then the tightening process here is somewhat different; more precisely, it will be necessary to take into account several important points. It should be noted that a sofa covered with leather will look somewhat more respectable, and the care process will be easy, because, unlike textiles, it is easy to remove dirt, dust, greasy spots and other types of pollution.
The sequence of work when dismantling and repairing the sofa frame is no different from the previous description, so we will not dwell on it again. We pay great attention to removing the old upholstery, which will be used as a pattern for cutting out the new material. In addition, you will also need a lining, which will be any adhesive material.
When sewing new covers, we take into account the following features:
You will also have to work with the allowances that were left for the seams during the cutting process. If you put them together, then with front side they can stick out like a lump. To get an even and smooth surface, you should carefully separate and iron the seam allowances through gauze.
The seams will be securely fastened if you use tape.
To summarize, we can say that the restoration process can be completely completed independently without the involvement outside help. It is enough to purchase the necessary materials, assemble a simple tool for the job and begin the painstaking task of upholstering the sofa.
An old sofa can be brought back to life:
Even a high-quality item wears out over the years. The outer upholstery of the sofas is washed away in the seat areas. Springs tend to sag, and over time the wood crumbles and begins to crumble. Minor wear can be corrected using common solutions for restoring old furniture.
The primary task in assessing the work is to determine the degree of wear of components and calculate the cost of materials. Practice has shown that restoration is advisable when the cost of repairing a sofa with your own hands is no more than 50% of the cost of new furniture. For large investments, it is more profitable to buy a ready-made item. Let's consider the types of parts and materials for repairing a chair or sofa.
The choice of repair method must begin by familiarizing yourself with the types of materials and mechanisms used in the production of chair and sofa parts. The following parts of the chair are subject to replacement:
The latest models use modular parts. That is, assembling, disassembling and replacing parts of the sofa is not particularly difficult. Monolithic structures furniture has sunk into oblivion and repairs are limited to restoration and replacement individual parts. The sleeping part consists of a mattress hidden under the upholstery and a base for it. To make the mattress, high-strength materials are used that do not wear out. During repairs, upholstery material and spring blocks are changed.
Under an orthopedic mattress, a base is used, consisting of armor, which is attached to metal or silicone holders. Holders and battens can be made independently and each one can be replaced individually. Pine material is used for armor. It is distinguished by its low cost. Instead of silicone inserts, we use those made of rubber, which should not emit a pungent odor. Worn wooden base can be replaced with metal, but welding and paint skills will be required. The result will be a durable and strong frame.
Spring blocks have calculated dimensions and elastic properties. You will have to buy spare parts for an orthopedic mattress, but if they are not on sale, you can make it yourself. But whether the effect of sleep benefits will remain on the repaired product is unknown. Conventional mattresses have polyurethane interiors and repairs involve replacing sagging layers. Sometimes the cost of a mattress is equal to the cost of the insides and it is more rational to replace the mattress completely.
Materials of varying strengths are used to fill the seats and backs. The pattern of relationship between comfort and durability led to the search for a type of filler that combines spring properties, convenience and reliability. Everyone remembers the first mattresses with cotton wool padding, which over time fell into lumps, interfering with normal sleep. Foam rubber tends to crumble with age and in places of special stress it was pressed down to the ground. It is replaced by polyurethane, which is capable of restoring its shape and volume after loading.
There are fillers with a memory function, mainly in orthopedic models. The filler varies in density for different purposes. Definitely has a sleeping place average density for a comfortable sleep. The sofas used in living rooms use the densest polyurethane, which can withstand the jumping of a restless child. For fillers, a solid base made of armor is used. The armor itself tends to spring back, and sleeping on a regular mattress with such a base is similar to sleeping on an orthopedic bed.
There are varieties of interiors made from layers of polyurethane of varying densities. When repairing, it is necessary to take into account the choice of density of each layer. How to find out about the type of filler? Comparison with a previously known seat or removal of upholstery and further disassembly. The spring blocks can be felt by the springy softness when you try to sit on the seat. Broken blocks can also be felt when pressing on the surface.
To save money, use classic foam rubber. It may not last long, but the furniture will require replacement as the filler wears out, as it will lose its aesthetic appearance. In very outdated models, the cheapest materials are used, because the cost of similar models is low. This especially applies to small-sized furniture armchairs and chairs. The thickness of the foam rubber is chosen to be at least 50 mm. Optimal thickness 100 mm, if the design allows.
An orthopedic base with independent springs is the most expensive filling option. The difference between this type lies in the name: two people sleeping on the same mattress will not feel any fluctuations if one wants to stand up or turn around in his place. A glass of water should not wobble on one edge of the mattress if you suddenly sit on the other side. This effect is achieved by using a separate block for each spring. For people suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system, an orthopedic mattress will become the best variety grounds for sleeping.
Varieties of fabric and leather are used for furniture upholstery. Fabrics are distinguished by purpose and strength. IN latest versions eco-leather is used as a cheaper replacement genuine leather. The cost of sofas from natural materials can increase by 3–5 times compared to economical options. Eco-leather has absolutely identical external characteristics and is close to natural samples to the touch. But the strength of such material is much lower, and accordingly the durability of the sofa suffers.
Criteria for choosing new upholstery:
Using low-quality upholstery will require repeated replacement after a short period of time. Therefore, it is necessary to use optimal fabrics. Let's look at the most commonly used upholstery materials and the features of each of them. Leather and eco-leather are difficult to install and manufacture and will require skills to work with them. The difficulty lies in applying an even seam without tears and maintaining the exact dimensions of the products. This method is chosen experienced craftsmen who have practical skills in reupholstering leather furniture.
The seams on the product are clearly visible and every unevenness of the thread is noticeable. Machine stitching has the smoothest outlines and is used in manufacturing plants. Leather has a number of disadvantages in use. Exposed parts of the body stick to the surface during the warm season and leave greasy marks. On dark options Every speck of dust is noticeable, which entails daily cleaning with a damp cloth. Sharp objects will instantly leave scratches. To eliminate unfavorable results, leather is combined with fabric.
A common fabric material is flock. The main advantage of the fabric is strength and durability. Recommended for pet owners. Wool is collected from such a base with enviable ease. Jacquard is distinguished by an original pattern with complex textures and high cost. The matting is selected to match the interior furniture of the room, as it has a similar appearance to burlap and fits into a rustic or country style.
Velor has a refined appearance and pleasant to the touch properties. Until recently, it was one of the most preferred materials, carrying a touch of luxury. Tapestry is used in furniture that experiences daily stress. The fabric does not gather in waves and has a luxurious pattern. The colors and patterns have outlines called fanciful.
The design of the sofa uses lifting mechanisms, which are distinguished by type of manufacture:
Folding chairs are used in the form of a French folding bed or accordion. Space for linen drawers can also be used. When repairing mechanisms, it is more rational to use the first method and simplify the design. In practice, the chair is rarely used as sleeping place. But, if there is a need for a folding bed every day, then you should splurge on an expensive original mechanism.
Before carrying out work, you should remember or write down the sequence of parts to be removed. Let's consider complete disassembly furniture parts. For work you will need:
Disassembly begins by separating the modules in the following sequence: armrests 1, backrest 2, seat 13 and linen drawers 12. When removing upholstery 3, do not throw away or tear the old fabric. These pieces will be used as templates for making new ones.
The removed seat has worn parts to replace:
Thin pads for drawers 12 and 9 break due to heavy items. Repair consists of strengthening with guides and sealing breaks.
Assembly is carried out in reverse order. If there lifting mechanism, carry out an inspection of it: cleaning the metal parts from burrs and old oil. If repair is impossible, the mechanism should be replaced or the design of the chair or sofa should be simplified.
The cost of reupholstering an old sofa is around 4 thousand rubles, excluding materials. Whether this amount is comparable to the effort and time spent is up to the owner of the furniture to decide. DIY repairs will benefit you in acquiring carpentry skills and save money.
What we today call furniture reupholstery, i.e. Replacing its upholstery used to belong to the category of furniture and wallpaper craft, and craftsmen specializing in this occupation were called upholsterers.
This ancient craft was so diverse that it required the master to master many different techniques: the upholsterer had to have good taste in order to skillfully select fabrics and high-quality materials for padding; possess basic woodworking skills; be able to make a beautiful stitch; select the most suitable reupholstery methods for all types of furniture and much more.
To learn how to reupholster furniture with your own hands and be able to do it not only beautifully and stylishly, but also with high quality, we will use a professional publication of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
To perform his work efficiently, the artisan was obliged to have a good understanding of the materials used in his work. As a rule, all these materials are divided into three categories: padding, rough work and upholstery.
The first category includes everything that serves as furniture padding. So, for example, in the century before last, horsehair from horse tails and manes was considered the best stuffing; Camel or deer hair, grass, bast were also often used, and down and feathers were used for feather beds and mattresses.
For rough finishing, coarse fabric like canvas, sackcloth or serpyanka was used. If a particularly durable fabric was needed for work, for example, when upholstering spring mattresses or very wide seats, then calico or calico was used. Also, for rough finishing you need strong twine, jute braid, and coarse threads.
For the front upholstery of mattresses they usually used thick cotton fabric- denim or striped canvas; Upholstery of upholstered furniture and drapery was done using silk, velvet, wool and half-woolen fabrics, often using leather and morocco.
If the padding material cakes, which often happens when using grass or horsehair, and the item itself must maintain a certain shape, then such padding is quilted either only at the edges or all the way through. If down and feathers are used as filling, then they limit themselves to filling a specially prepared case of the desired shape with them.
The shape of the stitch directly depends on the type of furniture: the less often a piece of furniture is used, the less dense and frequent the stitch can be; and vice versa - furniture that is in constant use should be quilted more often and firmly. Well, of course, the type of stitching will also depend on the type of stuffing: grass and bast are quilted with frequent stitches, hair with sparse stitches.
Simple mattresses are quilted only at the edges once or twice, and only fastened in the center; in the seats of chairs, armchairs and sofas, the upper outer edge is quilted in one or several rows. If there are several such rows. then the stitch begins from the far edge, and when stitching the middle, work begins from the row closest to the edge.
If the rows run parallel to each other, the stitches in adjacent rows should be staggered to give strength to the upholstery. Moreover, when performing the stitches, they work only with the rough fabric covering the padding - the filler itself is not affected.
To prevent the feathers from pricking and coming out through the fabric, it was thoroughly rubbed with yellow wax on the reverse side before work. For the same purpose, one could use the following composition, prepared in this way:
Poor customers preferred it as padding feather beds well-dried hay, straw or autumn moss, cleared from the ground, dried and beaten with twigs to remove dust. The straw is laid along the cover in even rows so that its lower ends rest on the end of the feather bed. It is recommended to put a little more stuffing in the middle than at the edges, because... The straw becomes heavily caked during use and is subsequently compared to the edges.
The simplest ones are sewn using the same principle. mattresses, stuffing the cover with filler and sewing up the hole. To form the sides, the corners, before turning the cover inside out, are sewn from the inside out in a straight line equal to the height of the side.
More in a convenient way You can sew a mattress if you cut out the top panel and the bottom panel separately - along with the four sides.
In cases where dissimilar materials are used for padding - for example, grass and hair, then more cheap material, A top layer fits more expensive.
The mattress is stitched first in the middle of the sheet, and then along the edges to form the sides. Single narrow products are quilted in three parallel rows; for wider mattresses the number of rows of stitches increases.
First, the middle part of the mattress, the largest one, is placed on the lower panel, then the side parts are placed and their edges are hemmed to the middle part, after which the entire product is covered with the upper panel and stitched.
To do this, the filler is covered with a piece of coarse fabric of such a size that it covers the entire seat and the ends of the material can be nailed with wallpaper nails. Then, using an awl, the layers of filler are straightened under the fabric and aligned along the edges of the seat. To give these edges a certain strength, they are stitched in the same way as the edges of mattresses.
The seats of the chairs are stitched equally firmly on three sides; on the armchairs - only one side is strong, and on the two sides - weaker and looser; for sofas - firmly on only one front side. With the help of such firmware, the seat is given the appearance of a pillow raised in the middle and in front. When the edges are stitched and the filling is laid in accordance with the shape of the seat, another layer of fabric is applied on top of this rough finish, with the help of which the shape of the product is finally leveled, correcting minor flaws.
A facing layer is placed on top of two layers of fabric with filler. upholstery fabric and cover the seat. The fabric is stretched so that not the slightest fold remains, after which it is carefully nailed with wallpaper nails. The backrest is reupholstered in exactly the same way, only the filler is laid evenly, without forming any bulges in the center.
IN spring furniture the canvas is also stretched over the bottom of the seat - this is done in order to give the springs greater stability; Sometimes there are springs installed on a wire frame - most often this is found in the manufacture of mattresses.
To make the seat durable, choose the maximum thick fabric, the corners of which are cut to the shape of the seat. One edge of the fabric is folded inward and nailed to the front of the seat. Then, stretching the fabric with pliers, nail it to the back, moving from the center to the edges. One side side is pulled by hand and its folded edge is nailed, the second side side is pulled with pliers and nailed in the same way as rear end. If it is necessary to give the product maximum strength, then additional thick braid is stuffed under the canvas.
When replacing springs, follow simple rule: the hardest ones are placed where the greatest pressure is applied, i.e. at the edges and in front; the weakest - where is the smallest, i.e. at the back of the seat. Some upholsterers sometimes wrap the springs with twine - this will help avoid noise and squeaking in the future. Springs are always installed in rows: the middle ones are placed straight, the side ones - with a slight slope. But in spring mattresses, where the body weight is distributed evenly. The arrangement of the springs should be equally even.
The shape of the seats on chairs and armchairs is usually slightly convex, so the middle springs should be 2 turns higher than the rear ones, and the side springs should be one turn higher. This is achieved either by shortening the springs or by lacing them tightly. The springs are installed on the canvas and attached to it with a strong thread that tightly covers the lower ring. Next, start lacing.
Lacing of springs in upholstered furniture
Lacing is a very important part of the work and requires a lot of attention from the master. The most durable lacing method is considered to be eight-knot, when each spring is surrounded by four strings in eight places. First, all the springs are tied crosswise along the width and length of the frame, and then crosswise from the corners.
When starting lacing, take a strong twine and nail it to wooden frame. Then, having given the spring the desired position, the rope is tied to its upper turn. The same is done with the rest of the springs. Then, having reached the opposite side of the frame, the string is tied to a nail driven halfway into the seat (it is finally driven in only after all the springs have been installed and are in the desired position).
The prepared springs are covered with thick fabric, which is stretched well and nailed to the seat frame. The upper branches of the springs are sewn to this fabric in 3-4 places. Then a layer of filling is laid on top of the material, lightly grabbed with large stitches so that it does not bunch up, then this filling is covered with another piece of fabric and the seat is finally formed by quilting it with a curved needle. The upper upholstery fabric is placed on the seat prepared in this way, straightened, stretched and nailed.
Typically, the stitch algorithm looks something like this:
Having nailed dense fabric and putting in a little more filler than is customary in ordinary cases, the furniture is covered upholstery material, but do not nail it completely yet, but only stretch it in the desired position;
on the wrong side, stitch marks are made along the rough fabric (in some cases, markings are also made on the front side);
at a distance of about 15 cm from the edge, parallel to the seat, draw a line BB (see figure)
between the line BB and the line of the upper side GG, a line BB is drawn, which is crossed in the center by the vertical line AA;
the distance between the BB and the BB will be equal to the desired height of the cage. Usually, for beauty, dimensions are used in which the width of the cell is related to its height as 4:7
After marking is completed, a nail is driven into each mark on the wrong side, and the stitching is done with strong thread and a long needle. Pressing the upholstery fabric with your finger to feel the point of the nail, insert a needle into the mark on the wrong side and bring it out from the front, then through the same mark, stepping back a small distance, bring the needle out on the wrong side, tighten the stitch and straighten the folds.
When the stitching of the entire marked surface has been completed and errors identified during the work have been eliminated, the upholstery fabric is nailed to the frame, and all the recesses of the cells are decorated with buttons covered with leather or fabric matched to the upholstery.
