How to Upholster a Tufted-Back Chair

Remove the fabric from the back of the chair, using the staple remover to pry any old staples or tacks from the wood. Take the back fabric off of the chair, using the seam ripper to remove any seams holding the fabric together. Inside the back of the chair, you will see the wire or twine holding the buttons to the front of the chair. Carefully remove the buttons by cutting the old wire or twine with scissors or untying it.

Remove the rest of the fabric from the chair, being careful not to cut or tear the fabric. These pieces of old upholstery will be your pattern pieces for your new fabric. You may want to use a digital camera for taking detailed reference pictures of how the upholstery goes together.

Unzip a removal seat cushion with a zipper if your chair has one and and take the cushion foam out of the cover.

Take apart any remaining connected fabric pieces with the seam ripper.

Label the old upholstery pieces by writing on the inside with the marking pen as you remove the pieces from the chair. Identify the piece's location on the chair and which end of the piece is toward the chair's front.

Pin down the old pieces and use them as the pattern for your new fabric, cutting out the new fabric pieces with scissors. Stretch out any pleats on the back piece of the chair before cutting so that you can mimic the original tufting.

Label the new pieces as you did with the old ones, writing in the seam allowances on the wrong side of the fabric to avoid marker bleed-through.

Mark on the right side of your new fabric where the buttons should lie, using the old seat back fabric as a template. Use a contrasting thread to sew a few stitches at the button locations, so that any changes in button placement will not leave unsightly marks on your upholstery fabric.

Pin the new fabric pieces together and place them on your chair. Any fit alterations should be done now.

Sew the new pieces together, using the sewing machine and upholstery thread, just as the old upholstery was sewn, starting with the largest pieces first.

Place the upholstery onto your chair, and staple the upholstery to the frame, in the same manner as the original fabric. Do not attach the fabric onto the back of the chair at this time. For unwrinkled upholstery, place one staple on each opposing side of the fabric first, pulling the fabric taut. After the first four staples have been placed, one on each side of the piece of fabric, staple around the rest of the fabric to attach it to the chair frame. Staples should be about one inch from the outer edge of the chair frame, and spaced one to two inches apart. Trim any excess fabric.

Cut the tufting thread or twine into 18-inch lengths with scissors and thread the upholstery needle. Insert the needle from the back of the chair, through the batting and front upholstery fabric, at the spot where you want the first button. Thread the button onto the thread and push the needle back through to the back of the chair. Pull on the thread ends until you get the desired level of tufting on the front of the chair. Tie the threads through the eye of the washer, wrapping them around several times to secure the threads. Knot the threads and cut the tails. Repeat for all buttons.

Attach the fabric to the back of the chair.

Sew the cover for the seat cushion by stitching the zipper into the rear portion of the cushion's side piece. The rear part of the cushion side piece is often divided into two parts, with the zipper sewn in between. Sew the cushion top to the completed side piece, unzip the zipper halfway, and sew the cushion bottom to the opposite edge of the side piece. Turn the cover right side out through the opened zipper and slide the cushion inside. Zip closed.