Reupholster Aunt Bea: Product and Resource Guide

It’s official!! We survived our YouTube adventure!!!

Rather than tag/link all the tools and products we used as we went, we decided to do one big post at the end.

Which is this!!!! 

May we recommend saving it for future reference?? (We’ve also outlined the skills covered in each section for your convenience 🙂 )

Please note, products/tools/skills used in multiple sections are only listed once, in the section where they’re introduced.  If you do not have a wholesale account with Fabric Supply or Greenhouse, linked products can be purchased through The Funky Little Chair or other professional shops in your area. 

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Part 1: Tear back and Documentation

(Tools, tips and safety for taking apart your upholstered piece)

• C.S. Osborne Staple Lifter
• Safety glasses
• Pliers
• Sidecutters
• Supplemental discussion on this series and upholstery education in general: Say hello to my little friend: We call him Mr. Staple Lifter

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Part 2: Layout and Cutting

(Measuring and planning for your upholstered project. Some best practices for achieving a professional outcome)

• Pencil, paper, tape measure, chalk
• Wiss heavy duty upholstery scissors, 10″
• Welt cord ruler 
• Fabric: A4367 Aqua by Greenhouse 
• Supplemental blog post: What makes a good upholstery fabric?

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Part 3: Deck and Nosing (A)

(A tricky part of our chair! Cutting and sewing a mitered deck and nosing. Some basic tips for cutting/sewing for upholstery)

• Denim heavy weight deck cloth
• Consew 226 (Industrial walking foot sewing machine)
• Bonded nylon upholstery thread
• Bonded nylon pre-wound bobbins
• Supplemental blog post: What sewing machine do I need for upholstery?

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Part 4: Deck and Nosing (B) 

(Attaching your deck/nosing – order of operations, centering, tensioning, easement cuts)

• • Dacron/batting – bonded polyester 3/4oz.
  • FSI heavy duty spray adhesive 
  • Curved needle
  • Nylon tufting twine 
  • Porter-Cable US58 Upholstery Stapler

 

• Staples (BEA 71 series 3/8″)
• Wiss inlaid straight trimmers

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Part 5: Front Tackband 

(Introduction to back tacking – a very versatile technique)

• Cardboard blind tacking strip
• 5/32″ Fiber welt cord

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Part 6: Inside Arms

(Tips for creating pleats)

Supplemental post about pleats and learning upholstery: A little life lesson

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Part 7: Inside Wings

(more pleats, easement cuts and upholstery basics!)

Just-for-fun supplement post: Why are there wings on a wing chair? 

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Part 8: Inside Back

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Part 9: How to Sew a Simple Boxed Cushion

(A full walk through on creating a boxed cushion cover – great preparation for creating boxed/welted cushions. A look at patterning cushions to fit your deck space)

• (Supplement video: How to sew a cushion zipper) 
• No. 4.5 nylon zipper and slides
• Supplemental blog post: It’s time to have The Talk about cushions

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Part 10: Cushion Inserts

(Foam selection and determining size for your insert. An easy trick for filling cushions)

• Seat foam: HR 3133 (3.1# Density, 33 IFD)
• Back foam: HR18 (2.4# Density, 1.8#IFD)
• Dac 91 premium cushion wrap
• Silkfilm
• Supplemental blog post: Foam Selection for Upholstery 

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Part 11: Outside Arm and Wing

(Foundation work for outside pieces, basic hand stitching)

• FLW Synthetic Burlap
• C.S. Osborne Skewer Pins
• Hand sewing thread 
• Supplemental blog post on alternate method for closing.

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Part 12: Outside Back and Bottom

• Accord bottom cloth

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero  (After all, what is a comfortable chair without a good book???)

 

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Thank you for watching and supporting our Aunt Bea series – we hope you’ve had fun and learned a lot. . . we certainly did!!!!

Remember to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and to our mailing list to stay in the loop on future educational resources. We’re already looking ahead to the future. . .

And a HUGE thanks to our sponsors for this project!!!!! I don’t know how we convinced them that we knew what we were doing, but let it be said that these folks took a generous leap of faith. It is through them that this free content was made possible:

Our main sponsors: 

The Professional Upholsterers’ Association of Minnesota (PUAM)

Fabric Supply Inc., Minneapolis, MN

Fabric provided by:

Greenhouse Fabrics, North Carolina

Video editing/support provided by:

Amy Otteson, Amy Oh Design/Upholstery

See you next time, upholstery fans 🙂