Tips and Tutorials to Upholster a Wingback Chair

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A few tips and my favorite tutorials to help you give that wingback chair a makeover!

Last week, I shared the full reveal on our Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover with you guys. A big part of our living room makeover was all of the DIY furniture and upholstery projects. I’ve already shared the tutorials for the matching Blue Velvet DIY Upholstered Ottoman and Teal DIY Farmhouse Console Table. Today, I’ve got my tips and tutorials to upholster a wingback chair for you.

This isn’t a step by step guide from me. I don’t really feel like I’ve done enough chairs to give a full tutorial. BUT, I used a few great tutorials to help me do this and I really wanted to share those with you. Plus, a few tips and process shots from my wingchair makeover. I will warn you, this makeover took this newbie about 24 hours of work. So, I hope that helps you decide whether or not to go for it. 🙂

And, I’m still working on the tutorials for the end tables and that kids executive desk from the Living Room. So, sign up for the email newsletter to find out when they’re ready.

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Tips and Tutorials to Upholster a Wingback Chair- Materials Needed

• A Sewing Machine, like my Brother Computerized & Easy to Use Machine
• Heavy Duty Stapler, I’ve used an Arrow Fastener T-50 for years and years and years now
• 4 to 6 yards of upholstery fabric, like the Blue Velvet I used from JoAnn’s or some of my other favorite fabric by the yard
• Curved Upholstery Needles
• Small Cording for making piping
• Tack Strips
• Pins, Thread, scissors, needle nose pliers or staple remover
• And possibly, batting, foam, etc…each chair has different needs and materials. My chair is only 6 years old and I’m the only owner, so I didn’t need to replace anything but the fabric.

Tips and Tutorials to Upholster a Wingback Chair – Process Shots

BEFORE YOU START, inspect your chair closely. You’ll be able to figure out which order pieces of fabric were added to the chair. You’ll remove the pieces in the exact OPPOSITE way that you add them back on. It’s likely that your pieces will be removed in this order (BUT PLEASE VERIFY AS YOU GO): The seat, full back piece (no sewing req), the front of the seat back (no sewing req), the arms and sides will be sewn together then stapled into place, and the front piece under the seat (sewn and stapled). You’ll see more examples of this in the other tutorials to upholster a wingback chair, at the bottom of this post.

Two last tips from me. First, the seat is the hardest part for non-sewers, like me, just take your time and be sure to pin carefully. You can always remove stitches in sections that need a bit of adjustment. Second, after the seat and each side is completely sewn and you’ve double-checked that it is completely perfect, trim away the excess fabric at the seams, to avoid getting weird lumps in the chair. 🙂

You can do this! Now here are my favorite tutorials that helped me get the job done.

Tips and Tutorials to Upholster a Wingback Chair – Tutorials I Loved

• This series of 8 wingchair upholstery videos from Thrift Diving was a huge help. These are pretty thorough and gave me confidence to get started. She hasn’t posted the final video yet. But the hardest parts are shown.
• Newton Custom Interiors has a really simple tutorial for making cording. It’s so easy, guys!!
• This professional upholstery class video for an arm chair.

Looking for more DIY Furniture Ideas? Check out this DIY Over Washer and Dryer Laundry Table.

Or my DIY Farmhouse Console or Entry Table.

Feeling inspired? Now you have my tips and tutorials to upholster a wingback chair. Have fun and let me know if you have questions. Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.