How to Upholster the Back of an Armchair

Cut the upholstery fabric several inches larger and wider than the back of the chair using scissors. If the fabric has a pattern or design make sure your cuts allow for the design to be centered on the back of the chair. In most cases you need to add welting right before attaching the back. Welting is fabric-wrapped cord that you make or buy prior to upholstering the piece. For furniture without welting skip to Step 3.

Make welting by cutting fabric strips 1 1/2 inches wide plus the diameter of the cord. Cut on the bias (45-degree diagonal of the fabric weave). Fold the strip in half along its length and insert a cord. Sew as close to the cord as you can. Tack or staple the welting along the edge of the chair back with the cord up. This helps to hide how your seam is attached.

Fold the back of the chair fabric in half widthwise or at the width centerline and position the fabric on the chair. Use a tack or staple 10 to 12 inches from the centerline on each side to hold the fabric to the back of the chair while you sew.

Thread a curved upholstery needle with a heavy duty upholstery thread that closely matches your fabric. Bring the threads even. Find top dead center on the chair back and insert your needle into the fabric so you can see the spot. This will free up your hands. Fold the upholstery fabric under along the top edge of the chair back and fit it to the welting or seam so that the rest of the fabric is lined up, pattern centered and long enough to complete the installation.

Bring your needle up from the underside of the welting. Pull the needle through the fabric until only a 1-inch tail remains. Knotting the thread is unlikely to hold with most upholstery materials and you do not want to cause a lump under the fabric. To hold the thread with no knot, the first few stitches are sewn to act in place of a knot. For this reason, do not pull on the first two or three stitches and you may choose to stitch them under where your seam stitches will be.

Sew a crossover stitch from the underside of the welting, over the folded under seam and down through the fabric. Bring the needle under the welting side and back up. Continue make small stitches close together to contour the fabric to the shape of the top. Sew away from the center until you run out of thread. Start a new thread and sew away from the center in the other direction. Continue until you reach the straight sides. As you sew the contour, stretch the fabric to each side. You may need to trim the fabric under the seam and make easing cuts in the seam allowance to assist in creating the curves.

Cut the nail strip to length using tin snips. Nail strip is a long length of hard-edged material that has nails evenly spaced along the strip. Place the nail strip under the seam allowance fabric with the nail points facing outward. Press the fabric onto the points and rotate the strip toward the seam so that the straight edge of the nail strip is along the seam and the nail points are facing the wood frame. Hold the strip in position and nail the heads with a mallet through the fabric. Because the heads are sandwiched between the fabric and seam allowance the heads are completely hidden. Repeat for the second side.

Stretch the fabric toward the bottom of the chair back. Tip the chair forward. Staple or tack the fabric 1 inch away from the underside bottom edge. Staple from the center toward the back legs every inch. Keep the fabric smooth and even until you reach the legs. Trim off excess fabric and cover the underside with cambric.