How to Upholster an Ottoman

Since completing my upholstery class at Spruce I have been going all over town buying up every chair I can get my hands on. Currently I have a two wing back chairs and an armchair that I am planning to reupholster. But, I thought you might enjoy seeing the step-by-step process I went through recently to reupholster this great looking ottoman.

My sister got me this ottoman at a garage sale for $2 knowing I would want a project to work on. The wood was scratched and the fabric was all ripped up. So, I removed all of the old fabric, foam, and webbing and stripped the ottoman down to the bones. The frame of the ottoman was in perfect shape. I just scrubbed it all down a little bit.

To spruce it up I gave it a fresh coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg Blue. When the paint dried I used an extra fine sand paper to buff off the pain in a few areas to give it a nice distressed look and to highlight the ornamentation. I then used a clear coat of paint to seal and protect.

To start the upholstery process I put down a fresh layer of webbing making sure to keep it tight for extra support and basket weaving each strip. Webbing is the foundation of the ottoman so I made sure to make it extra secure with two rows of staples.

To protect the webbing and to add a barrier for the foam I stapled on a layer of burlap. To do this I laid the burlap flat, stapled it on and folded the edges over and stapled it once again for strength.

Over the burlap and around the frame went edge roll. Edge roll is a round cotton filled tube that you put onto the edges of chairs and ottomans. Over the years as seats are used the edges of the foam tends to break down. An edge roll will help to prevent this and help the seat keep its nice shape.

To fill in the gaps under the edge roll I placed cotton batting. I then put down a layer of cotton batting covering the entire burlap layer. Then, to create a nice crown in the seat, I added a few extra layers of batting that increasingly became smaller. This will make my ottoman look extra fluffy and give it a nice round shape.

Over this I put my foam that had been cut to the shape of the ottoman. To attach it and round out the corners I glued on strips of burlap to the edges of the foam and stapled the burlap to the frame.

This was late at night. I'm not sure what I was wearing. But this is the ottoman with edge roll, batting, and foam.

Removing excess burlap after attaching foam.

Over the foam went a layer of Dacron. Dacron is made from polyester into sheets and is used to give your upholstered items a nice finished look and increased softness. This is stapled onto the side of the frame and any excess fabrics are cut away to the staple line.

Then comes the fabric! I started by stapling the fabric onto the frame in the front and back. When I was sure that the lines were going straight I then stapled on the sides. When everything looked straight I stapled all around. Any excess fabric was cut down to the staple line using a razorblade.

I then needed to create a double welt cord to cover the staples. To do this I cut my fabric on the bias in three inch thick strips. I sewed these strips together to make one long piece. I then used two pieces of piping and a piping foot to sew this all together with one seam. I’ll try to get a post up soon that shows more detailed directions on creating a double welt cord.

To attach the welt cord I used a super hot glue gun. I applied the glue in small amounts to the back of the welt cord and placed a few inches at a time onto the ottoman covering the staples. I know it sound weird to use a hot glue gun but this is industry standard.

Once the glue dried I had a beautiful new ottoman! Every time I walk by it I am surprised by how pretty it is. I love the delicate blue paint and the distressing. The cream colored linen textured fabric is so hot right now and looks very pretty with the blue paint. All the lines look smooth and even. I am really sad to see it go.

That’s right. I did all this hard work but I don’t have a place for it in my house! So, this gorgeous ottoman can be yours! Visit my Etsy Store for more information on how this lovely ottoman can adorn your home!

I’ll be sure to keep you updated on any new projects I am working on and when this ottoman finds a happy home that will love and care for it!

Oh, and by the way. The lovely folks at Annie Sloan Chalk Paint recently contacted me to let me know that Annie Sloan herself is doing a small US tour. This isn’t just any tour either. There will be hands on demonstrations where you will learn to do all sorts of finishing techniques. The price is $350, but when you consider you get to meet Ms. Sloan herself, have her teach you new techniques, you get all the materials, and lunch it is a great deal. They will also be donating a portion of the funds to breast cancer research. Sounds like a win, win, win!

If you would like more information on this event visit their website at http://www.anniesloanunfolded.com. If any of you attend let me know how it goes!