Tufting Crafts

History of Tufting

• Tufting became a trend as early as the 1800s, and a patent for an an apparatus for tufting cushions was issued in 1899. The trend has continued into the 21st century. According to the website Shelter Pop, "In 1901, House Beautiful recommended the style as perfect for low long couches." In the 1920s, the style gained popularity when Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe debuted the Barcelona chair. Versions of the Barcelona Chair, featuring a modern, fully tufted leather look, sell for thousands of dollars.

Tufting Materials

• Solid color fabrics are best when tufting, because tufting creates a design in itself. Patterned fabric can be distorted and distracting when tufted. Choose a small to medium pattern, if you must use a pattern. Choose thick upholstery fabric such as a smooth leather. Tufting most often requires batting, an upholstery needle and embroidery floss. It can also require plywood and tools such as a staple gun and a drill, depending on the project.

Headboard

• A tall tufted headboard can dress up a bed, as well as add color or a bold statement piece to any room. The process of tufting a headboard starts with cutting a piece of plywood to a desired headboard size and then drilling holes into the plywood where you plan to create tufts. Typically, a pattern of six to eight tufts is created on a headboard. The front side of the plywood is then covered with spray adhesive and foam batting. Fabric is tightly wrapped around the headboard and stapled onto the back with a staple gun. To tuft, an embroidery needle and floss is pulled through each of the drilled holes at the back of the headboard, through the batting and fabric and out the front of the headboard. The floss is then pulled through a button and back through to the back of the headboard where it is tightly knotted.

Memo Board

• Tufting a memo board is a simple project for inexperienced tufters. This consists of first covering an old bulletin board with thin batting and then fabric, both held in place with staples. Ribbon is used to create a diamond pattern on the front of the board and the ribbon is also held in place with staples on the back of the board. To create a tuft appearance, furniture nails are placed at each "X" on the diamond pattern. Tufted memo boards create a decorative way to hang photos or papers.

Ottoman

• A tufted ottoman makes for a rich looking piece of furniture and provides additional seating or a place to prop feet. To create a tufted ottoman, you can simply use an old coffee table that sits low to the ground. Holes are drilled into the coffee table where you would like to see tufts. Then, the top of the coffee table is covered with a spray adhesive and batting and draped with fabric. Like a headboard, the fabric is tightly secured on the underside with a staple gun and/or nails before the tufting process begins.

Chair or Couch

• Often, the back of a sofa or chair, such as a cane chair is tufted. An old chair can be recycled by removing the old cushions and carefully removing the fabric. The old fabric can then be used as a pattern to cut out new fabric pieces for the cushions. Once the cushions are covered with new fabric, tufts are created by pulling a needle threaded with embroidery floss through the back of the cushion and out to the front of the cushion. The needle is looped through a button and pulled through the front of the cushion to the back where is is tightly knotted.