Re-upholster an armchair

[bonniethomas06]

I am halfway through an armchair re-upholstering project, and have hit a bit of a stumbling block.

It is an 'easy chair' - so is basically padded all over with some kind of batting, with a removable seat cushion. I am on the bit which goes from the seat of the chair (underneath the cushion) over the arm. The end of the material which finishes underneath the arm (where there is a nice sound bit of wood for me to staple it) is not a problem. However, the original upholstery in this area was built in to the frame of the chair - so without taking the whole thing apart, I can't stable the seat-end to anything.

Heeeelp! Can I use spray adhesive instead? I can't really sew the fabric to the batting, because it is all fluffy, like cotton wool - so if it was pulled away from the batting, the batting would go with it!

Hope this inane rambling about upholstery makes sense to someone... thanks in advance for any clues.

[Davie Crockett]

Hi Bonnie,
The bad news is that the arm coverings should start at the frame under the inside of the arm or the side of the seat frame. You cannot do this effectively without taking the side panels off. (Although It is sometimes possible to reach these parts through the bottom of the chair).

By Batting, do you mean wadding? I assume that this is something called Dacron wadding (Synthetic cotton wool). Normally arm coverings would have a "Fly" sown into the bottom to save material. The fly would be tacked to the frame with the seam just hidden in the crease between the spring panel and the arm.

The fabric can then be brought up and over the arm, usually tacking it under the arm frame (This is the bit you can't do without removing the side panel).

If you could post a pic of the chair, I could tell you exactly what you need to do. (I used to be an upholsterer). Good luck

[Susie]

I would say, yes you can (you're not gluing it to the batting though are you?) - perhaps use superglue rather than spray adhesive? I'm not sure how strong spray adhesive is (it might be very strong though in which case take no notice of me).

Also I do tend to codge things up a bit so this may be the wrong answer.