Tips for Reupholstering Sofas

Buy More Fabric

• When you purchase your upholstery fabric before you being your project, purchase more fabric than you need. Although there are basic rules of thumb on fabric requirements for certain types of sofas, not every sofa needs the same amount of fabric to get the job done. Hidden areas, such as the sofa arm's depth and other elements of the sofa may need extra fabric coverage than initially estimated.

Save Everything

• As you detach the original fabric pieces from your sofa, save everything. Keep piping, cardboard forms, cushions and fabric pieces intact as much as possible as you work. If your sofa is a complicated piece, label each section as you work with a piece of masking tape. Mark any spots with a chalk pencil where staples, upholstery tacks or other items, such as buttons, were added, so you know where to place such items on your newly reupholstered piece.

Create a Pattern

• Before you cut the new pieces of fabric to reupholster your furniture, stretch out the pieces of fabric you removed from your sofa on your new cloth. Outline each piece on your new cloth with a fabric chalk pencil. Then, cut out the pieces to reupholster your piece. Keep in mind the age and type of fabric originally used to upholster your piece when creating new pieces. Certain types of fabric are more likely to stretch out over the years than others, and you want your sofa to look like new. If your original fabric is stretched and you're worried about cutting too large pieces, use the original pieces to measure out a basic pattern on butcher paper, instead of directly on the fabric. You can then place the pieces on your furniture to see if you're going to need to cut them down.