A lot of people have asked about this project (of course that's mostly because it's been sitting in the middle of our house for months) and since this seems like a project a lot of people I know may want to take on at some point, I thought I would post a small guide.
Part 1: Getting ready
The Type of Sofa Matters
What's usually just called a "Victorian style" sofa is actually not just so.
Generally it doesn't matter at all what you call an old
couch (except to decor geeks), but when it comes to reupholstering- it makes a big difference because of the structure of the piece of furniture. Different frames of course come with different difficulties to cover in fabric.
(sofa vs couch: Not to be confused with a davenport, settee, divan, or a more specific piece of ass-supporting device, the more generic of the padded benches are generally just called a "sofa" or "couch," and are interchangeable in the U.S.. For design geeks there is a deep history on the construction of the things, the arms, the legs, the height off the floor, the use, and a hundred other things that make something a sofa. But it seems simply that sofa, with it's origins in Arabic, now means anything that sits more than two people, and although "canapé" may describe this particular sofa, who wants to go around calling it a canapé?)
This sofa, large enough to seat three Victorians, is very crudely carved (in places), and well crafted in others. It's an assembly of rosewood, and the style indicators are a mix of the Eastlake, and Renaissance revival (two of so many Queen Anne fads). So if I were to describe it to an upholsterer I would say it is a medium sized medallion back canapé, with a rosewood light frame, jute and tied-spring seat, with a shield shaped center medallion, and padded curves on either side leading to free arms.
(Many "Victorian" sofas you see out there in the world are actually 20th century reproductions which came about in some revival fad, or were built for traditional decor (people in the 1950's for example who wanted victorian when everyone else was going Saarinen). The mid-century victorian-revival pieces usually have their own unique charm, and give-aways which let you know they are later. Another great percentage of "victorian" sofas are replicas made in Malaysia or other exotic locales and sold as decor-pieces at flea markets and such (some of these are made out of some amazing tropical woods). But just as when you see someone who's had a little too much work done, it's usually rude to point these differences out unless the owner asks.)
Starting State
Having carried it's share of people, this couch was exhausted. Considering it's probably been a hot seat at 1,000 parties over it's lifetime with various owners we were impressed that it held up as long as it did. Our big chessie puppy also made it her regular spot for almost a year, that's when the squeaking and sagging got worse, and the springs finally fell out of the bottom.
This era of couch (or style for accurate reproductions) has a frame strung with jute webbing, and on that webbing sits the springs (which are sewn into the webbing). The particular way that the jute is woven under the frame, and the springs are attached to it, and then strung together, make for a very strong contraption when done right (usually called the "8-way hand-tied spring," which means the springs are tied together by hand, with at least 8 connections per spring). However, if a point fails, say one spring comes loose, or a strand of webbing rips, then the whole thing comes apart pretty quickly. It's strength is only present as a unit, if one part fails, it becomes very weak (I know there's a metaphor in there, but there's no use for one).
The stuff under the fabric is called the foundation-materials. This sofa had probably lost it's original foundation-materials, as I believe it has been recovered once before (I am guessing from some duplicate tack holes in the frame, and mix of some material), but there was still a lot of old material in there which had been layered over the years with various hack fixes, including a flour sack from the 1920's.
What You'll Need
Here is a list of supplies and some comments based on experience.
First off- let's eliminate foam from this project. A sofa like this
could be reupholstered using foam, you
could put foam on top of the webbing and then use the fabric to pull it into nice round shapes, but that would feel totally different. It would feel like a foam couch.
An old couch has a certain
pre-foam feeling to it, and to some this feeling is just right. That is what we want here. So this supply list is not for a foam job (and also foam is pretty damn expensive anyway, it is not a cheaper approach, just a newer one).
Supplies
- Some Webbing, which is another way of saying the straps that are attached to the frame to hold the soft parts in place. Unless your webbing is perfect (and it probably won't be after you pull all the fabric off) you'll want to replace it. The material sold most often is a classic style jute, and a newer plastic (made by companies like Pirelli). Webbing is also available in polyester and nylon (a lot like the straps on old 1980's era lawn chairs). The classic jute is a lot cheaper than the stronger plastic webbing, but more expensive than the polyester. Seeing as the jute should last another 50-100 years if done right, I think it's a good choice. It also has a traditional look and feel.
- Some Spring Tying Twine, which is the strong line that holds the springs together. Again, there is a traditional natural fiber twine sold at fabric stores (which I used), but it costs a bit more than just getting a spool of strong nylon line from a hardware store.
- You'll need some Tufting Twine and a big Needle: to attach the springs to the webbing, or for tufting, I figure you could also use any very strong thread, or thin nylon string, but tufting twine is easy to get at most fabric stores.
- A Webbing Stretcher, which cost anywhere from $30 to $90 for a tool you may not use that often. They are beautiful things, and nice to have around, but I chose to fashion a stretcher-like-device out of a 2X4 and some nails. It's basically a simple tool that has sharp points on one surface to grab the end of the webbing, and then it acts as a lever which presses against the frame to pull the webbing tight so you can attach it under tension.
- A damn good Tack Puller is absolutely essential to your sanity. You may have to pull out what seems like ten thousand tacks, so having a good tool here makes all the difference. I tried everything from precision needle nose plyers, to the cheap tack puller from the local fabric store. The best tool I found for the job is the Great Neck tack puller.
- You may possibly need a roll or two of Burlap, and you will definitely need an Underlayer Fabric to cover any springs before you add the padding. A big fabric store will sell specific types of material for underlayers in upholstery, but I found it to cost more per yard than actual upholstery fabric laying on the remnant table. So I choose to just use another upholstery fabric for the underlayer, nothing fancy, just a simple white upholstery fabric from the scrap table that is usually a few dollars cheaper per yard than other options.
- New finishing Upholstery Fabric, obviously.
- The Padding, which can be Coir, horsehair, Cotton, wool, foam, down, and I suppose anything soft for that matter. Modern sofas use foam, and foam is an easy way to go. You'll get much better results however with the traditional style using coir to build up the padding from the springs, and then cotton or wool (or down) to build out the actual cushions. I went with Coir and Cotton, and it took one large bag of cotton, and two bags of coir to do this sofa.
- Staples or tacks, and the device for attaching them like a Staple Gun or Upholstery Hammer. I should say at least a manual staple gun and upholstery hammer, but really what you want is a nice pneumatic brad nailer. After taking this particular sofa apart I decided to use modern staples throughout. And since my small compressor and brad gun was stolen last year when I left them in the backyard (ah District life), I borrowed one from a friend who always has the best tools.
The Cost
Now I am sure you have your own sources, and can find much better deals than I can, but just in case it helps to give you an idea of what you are getting into, the overall cost for me was around $250. That was a lot less than I expected. We found the fabrics we wanted on remnant tables which saved quite a bit (I found that upholstery fabrics we wanted ranged from $75-$8 per yard, which was a huge range, we ended up finding exactly what we wanted for $8 a yard). The cost for us was pretty well spread out over the: webbing, padding, and of course final fabric.
The Time
No bullshit here- this took me forever, I'd say 16 hours or so (spread out over a long time of course). If you really put the effort in, it may go quickly, but it took a lot more labor than I initially guessed. A tremendous amount of time was spent carefully pulling out all of the old tacks and cleaning the frame. The second most consuming task was tacking on the webbing tightly, and sewing all the springs back in. Once the springs were tied, the cushioning and actual upholstering came together relatively quickly (in about an hour). Each step took a few hours for me. Plan on the sofa being out-of-commission for a while.
Is It Worth It?
I would say that unless you are sentimentally attached to the piece (which we are) probably not.
Of course if the piece is of some significance, has a valuable frame, or is historic, then of course it's worth it. Otherwise I'm not sure if I'd put the time in again. However, with that being said, it's great fun to dissect an old piece of furniture, and to really see how it was built (most are unique I find). It's a satisfying job if you love the piece, taking off the old filthy fabric, and covering it with a fresh layer. Not to mention it feels pretty damn good to sit on that finished sofa since you've essentially built it back up yourself.
There is also a massive benefit to custom upholstery for the obvious reasons, it's likely you love the piece, but need a different fabric for the room. You can customize the seating feel to your own taste (some pieces I want to sink into, others I want support from, etc.).
Part 2 (Coming Next) Removing the old Upholstery
