How to reupholster a dining chair seat.

Reupholstering a dining chair seat is the easiest and most common upholstery project that ANYONE can accomplish.

The first step to reupholstering a dining chair seat is to remove the old fabric.  

I use a flat head screwdriver or an awl and wedge it under the fabric, in between the staples to pry up the fabric, rather than prying up each individual staple. Prying up the fabric will pull out the staples.  This method is much faster and easier than trying to get under each individual staple.

After all the fabric is removed, use a pair of pliers to pull out any remaining loose staples. Add a new layer of dacron(upholstery batting). Dacron can be purchased at an upholstery supply store, or you can use high loft batting found at the fabric store.  Dacron is more dense and won’t flatten out as quickly as fabric store batting but if you can’t go to an upholstery supply store it’ll work.  FYI…the Dacron at an upholstery supply store will most likely be quite a bit cheaper too.After you determine how you want to position your fabric…where you want your pattern, or which direction you want your stripes, etc. , cut your fabric out with about 2″ extra fabric all the way around,  so your fabric will easily reach around the bottom of the seat.   ALSO…if your using a solid fabric, make sure to cut your fabric square and on grain so it won’t stretch and warp…I have a video on this…How to cut fabric straight, square and on grain.Start by attaching your fabric with one staple to each side of the seat bottom.  Then work your way around the seat from the center staples to the corners, leaving the corners for last.
Then staple the corners, easing the fabric toward the sides of the platform so the gathers won’t show on the top of the foam.  Or if you have a thick cushion you can use the “V” fold method.  The video explains each method in more depth. Last, trim off any excess fabric on the bottom of the seat, and attach a new dust cover if you desire.  Sometimes if I have enough leftover fun cotton fabric, I’ll put a printed fun fabric on the bottom of my chair for nice surprise.

Heavy Duty Staple Gun