Easy Upholstery: Step by Step - Softcover

Luke, Heather

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801986303 ISBN 13: 9780801986307

Publisher: Chilton Book Co, 1994

Synopsis

Upholstering a piece of furniture to make it comfortable requires a careful building of the layers of padding and lining; making it decorative means choosing the right fabrics and trimmings. Each piece in this book has been specially designed by Heather Luke, who uses her extensive knowledge of contemporary fabrics and trimmings-such as buttons, bows, and piping-to finish each piece with a flourish. The first three chapters explore traditional upholstery techniques, taking you through all the stages in careful detail, fromt he bare frame to the fully upholstered piece, dealing with webbing, padding, and tying in springs. Each important step has been photographed as it happened in order to provide a visual sequence to accompany the precise written instructions. The next five chapters show how the quicker, modern upholstery methods-such as stapling-and newer materials-such as foam pads-can provide exciting finishes to boxes, baskets, headboards, and screens. They also describe how to make professional-looking slipcovers and cushoins for a variety of seating.

About this title

Review

If you're serious about learning to upholster like a pro, you can learn quite a lot from Heather Luke's extremely comprehensive guide. Step by step, Luke takes us from the raw beginnings (the stripped-down wooden framework) through the inner workings (webbing, springs, horsehair, and batting) to the selection, handling, cutting, and attachment of fabric, as well as the elegant finishing details. She reupholsters chairs, stools, headboards, cushions, dressing tables, screens, even glorious tented ceilings, all with thorough directions supported by clear color photos. Despite the excellence of this volume, however, it is not for the faint of heart: although there are chapters with easier projects like slipcovers and fabric-lined baskets and boxes, this is mostly a guide for the dedicated upholsterer-in-training. But since hiring a professional reupholsterer gets pretty costly, can take weeks of lead-time, and may not result in exactly the look you want, perhaps it makes sense to try it yourself. And for dedicated students of upholstery arts, this is a fantastic resource--one they shouldn't do without. --Amy Handy

About this edition

• Publisher: Chilton Book Co
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0801986303
• ISBN 13: 9780801986307
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192