Change the stitch length back to its previous setting, and continue sewing the seam to the top of the fabric pieces. Close the zipper. Now, simply tuck your fabric and staple with your hand powered staple gun. Place the back left piece of fabric on top of the back right piece of fabric, right sides together. How to Make Padded Rocking Chair Cover Set, How to Sew a Slipcover for a Bench Cushion, How to Reupholster a Round Tufted Ottoman, How to Make Zippered Cushion Covers with Sides, Sewing a Comforter Cover With an Upholstery Fabric, How to Replace the Fabric on Tufted Cushions. This is such a great way to reupholster a couch without removing the fabric first. Staple the fabric to the … Trace around the shapes with a fabric marker or chalk, and mark the fabric with the name of the pattern piece. Measure the seam allowances -- the distance from the unpicked seam line to the raw edge of the fabric piece -- with a ruler and make a note of the measurement. [1] X Research source Pin the right-hand side of the zipper to the right-hand seam allowance. Place … … Feel through the fabric for the top and bottom of the zipper, and mark them with chalk or a marker. Pin and seam the back cushion piece to the remaining fabric pieces, reconstructing the way the original cushion cover was seamed together. Turn the cushion back over so the right side of the fabric is facing you, with the zipper on the reverse side. Put the cushion form or stuffing aside for now. Open the zipper. Choosing to reupholster a cushion with new fabric gives you many more options in terms of colors, patterns and textures than you could ever find in stores. Fit your sewing machine with a zipper foot for the best results. Carefully unpick the machine basted part of the seam between the two marks with embroidery scissors or a seam ripper to reveal the zipper. Place it right side down along the open seam, aligning the coil with the stitching and the top and bottom stops with the marks on the fabric. The Complete Photo Guide to Sewing; Singer; 2005. Take the sofa cushions from their place on the sofa to enable you to remove the covers effectively. Press the seam open with your iron. Unzip the covers before carefully removing them to reduce the risk of damage as these will be used as a pattern for the new covers. Insert the cushion form or stuffing into the new cushion cover through the zipper closure. Reupholstering a cushion with a zipper closure is a little more complicated than reupholstering a cushion without a zipper, but anyone with basic sewing skills can do it. Pin, then machine baste the left-hand side of the zipper to the left-hand seam allowance in the same manner. Find the right couch. Mark the fabric at the level of the top and bottom stops with a marker or chalk. This is especially the case where the cushion is of an unusual shape. As you do this, examine the seams and fabric pieces to learn how the cover was constructed -- you will be recreating the cover with new fabric by sewing new fabric pieces together like the original cover. Cut the paper pattern pieces out, and place them onto your new fabric. Bear in mind that the shapes of your old cushion fabric pieces might have become distorted over time, so make small adjustments to your paper patterns if necessary. The shapes will vary depending on the style of cushion you are reupholstering. Adjust the stitch length to the longest possible setting and continue sewing (machine basting) up to the mark indicating the level of the zipper’s top stop, then stop sewing. A writer of diverse interests, Joanne Thomas has penned pieces about road trips for Hyundai, children's craft projects for Disney and wine cocktails for Robert Mondavi. Place the zipper along the right-hand side of the fabric pieces, centering it so that the top stop and bottom stop are equidistant from the top and bottom of the fabric pieces. If the old zipper will match your new fabric, keep it aside; otherwise, you will need a new zipper that is the same length as the old one. There are riches to be found here. Sew from the bottom up to the mark indicating the level of the zipper’s bottom stop, then stop. Determine the Amount of Fabric. Press the old fabric pieces with an iron. Find the fabric you pushed inside the couch and lay it flat against the frame. Seam the right-hand side of the two fabric pieces, leaving the seam allowance you determined for the original cushion cover. Cut the fabric pieces out. You will use the same seam allowance when sewing your new fabric pieces together. There is no need to remove the old fabric. Place pins along the right-hand side of the fabric pieces. Note the name of the pattern piece, such as “front,” “back right,” “back left” and “boxing strip” on the paper shapes. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. I used a compressor and heavy duty staple gun with 1/4″ staples. Carefully unpick all of the seams in the cover, including the stitching that holds the zipper in place. Just because the fabric on an old couch has seen better days doesn't mean the couch needs to be consigned to the junk heap. Measure the dimensions of each fabric piece, and copy their shapes onto paper with a pencil and ruler. Place the back left piece of fabric on top of the back right piece of fabric, right sides together. She has lived on three continents and currently resides in Los Angeles, where she is co-owner and editor of a weekly newspaper. Machine baste the side of the zipper to the seam allowance. The benefit of keeping the zipper closure is that the new cushion cover will be easily removable for laundering or changing the cover. How to Re-Upholster a Sofa With Fixed Cushions Remove the Old Fabric. Topstitch 1/4 inch from the center seam on both sides of the seam from the top mark to the bottom mark. Believe it or not, most furniture is designed to be re-upholstered, just as cars are designed to be worked on. Thomas holds a BSc in politics from the University of Bristol, England. Remove the zippered cushion cover from the cushion.