Reupholstering With Leather & Tacks

Selecting Tools

• Reupholstering furniture requires less precision than sewing slipcovers, and the fitted appearance is often tidier. Leather and fabric upholstery techniques are mostly the same, but decorative and functional upholstery tacks let you fasten some edges from the outside instead of tucking them away in the frame. Surface tack any leather section edges you like, as long as there is wood underneath. Common areas for tacks are around chair arms, the chair’s base, or Ottoman and surrounding large sections, such as the chair’s back or side.

Prepping the Item

• Reupholstering nearly any item requires removal of the original upholstery, but the padding usually stays. The benefit of removing old upholstery is that it provides you with patterns for the new leather, so there is little guesswork. Begin at an outermost layer, which is often the chair or sofa’s back panel or skirt. Pull off the upholstery with pliers and take notes to remember how it was originally assembled. In tight areas, tapping a flat-head screwdriver under staples loosens them. Mark each piece as you remove it and mark the item’s frame in a corresponding manner. For example, when you pull off the first upholstery section of a chair, number it as the first piece and note its location. Mark the item’s frame with the same information. When you reupholster the item, the new pieces are installed in reverse order.

Choosing the Hide

• Removing the old upholstery before choosing the hide gives you a better idea of how much leather you need. Full hides are available in specialty leather shops, but remember that each one is unique. Skilled leather workers can create close matches with dyeing and tanning. Inspect the hides in natural light, noting the color, weight and texture. Lightweight leather appears fragile alongside a heavier hide, and deer hide does not match cow or bison hide. Untanned leather is stiff and prone to stains, so choose prepared hides for furnishings.

Marking and Cutting

• Spread the leather out on a large, flat surface with the rough or suede side facing up. Arrange the old upholstery sections, wrong side facing up, on top of the leather. Mark the hide around each pattern piece with chalk and cut along the chalk marks with leather shears. Transfer the markings from the patterns to the leather’s back side. Almost as important as marking the placement is transferring the locations of folds and tucks from the original upholstery to the leather. They guide you through folding corners and edges when you fasten the leather to the item’s frame.

Putting It Together

• Beginning with the last numbered piece of leather, fold the edge as the original piece was folded. Hammer upholstery tacks through the fold into the item’s frame. Tack one edge of the leather to the frame, pull the leather straight across and taut, and then fold under and tack the opposite edge to the opposite side of the frame. Repeat this on both perpendicular sides of the section or halfway around both sides of a rounded section. After four sides are pulled taut, fasten the remaining tacks around the edge’s perimeter. Decorative tacks less than one-half inch from the next. Fastening hidden areas is more difficult. Staple or nail the leather’s edge to the frame in the hidden area, such as behind the padding of a chair’s arm or inside the frame behind the seat. Pull the leather across the seat or arm, and then fold and fasten the exposed edge to the frame with decorative tacks. Each furnishing item is different, so follow the assembly path that you learned while removing the old upholstery. Note where the fabric was originally fastened to the frame and recreate those steps when installing the leather. When sewing cushions or joining hides to cover the back of a large sofa, use the same methods as with upholstery fabric, creating the same seam arrangements as the original upholstery.