Upholster Loveseat 101: How Much Material Is Needed?

As an aspiring upholstery artist, you may be wondering how much material you need to reupholster your loveseat. This lesson is for you. We’ll start with the basics on a couch so you can see what you’re up against.

What is a Loveseat?

As a larger version of the armchair, the loveseat is a compact two-seat couch. In a living room or family room, a loveseat, also known as a double chair, is usually placed next to a larger sofa.

These chairs have a variety of modern uses, such as small area seating, informal office break-out areas, and comfortable reading nooks in libraries and coffee shops, among others.

What is the length of a loveseat?

Due to the variety of sizes available, the length of a loveseat is not specified. However, the basic range of a loveseat, measured from armrest to armrest, is 48 to 72 inches.

How much material is needed to upholster a loveseat?

Now, on average, 11 to 15 yards of cloth or leather are needed to cover a loveseat. We’ll go over the various sorts of loveseats and the amount of cloth they require to cover them.

The reupholstery estimates below include the furniture’s outside backs. As always, be sure to contact your upholsterer for exact proportions. As a general guideline, one yard of fabric equals 18 square feet of leather.

It takes the same quantity of fabric to make a love seat as it does to make a larger sofa.

A 45-inch wide by 60-inch deep loveseat may be covered with 34 of a yard of upholstery fabric, which is equal to 36 inches. To account for the selvage, always purchase a yard or two more of fabric than you think you’ll need. A local upholstery shop can advise you if you’re unsure about what you want.

Picking Fabric to Upholster Loveseat

In order to choose the proper fabric for your loveseat, you will need to think about what style, design or feeling it should convey. Reupholstering traditional furniture may be done with subtlety and flair when you choose the right color and pattern for the upholstery. Look for textured patterns or solid colors if your couch is more contemporary in style.

For how much should I budget to purchase upholstery material?

Type of Fabric Pricing Range ($)

Solid Loveseat Upholstery

• Jeans in the 60s and 70s
• 55-75 Corduroy
• Jeans in the 65-70 age range
• 70-80 thread count linen
• Polyester 55 to 65
• Suede ranging from 70 to 90
• Wool ranging from 80 to 100
• Upholstery Fabric with a Pattern
• Plaids and Brocades 60-70 years old.
• Aims for 50-60
• 85 to 100+ Tapestries

How to Replace the Cushion Fabric on a Loveseat?

Loveseats with wooden frames, webbed bottoms, and springs will need to be changed if they are in use. However, if only the cushion fabric is the problem, you may always replace it! When working on this project, you’ll need a variety of equipment: a sewing kit for the living room

• needle
• thread
• nails/staples for upholstery
• with a tape measure

It is likely that the cushions of the loveseat have cotton batting wrapped in ticking cloth over them if you need to reupholster them. Without the assistance of a seasoned reupholsterer, this style of upholstery can easily take on a worn-out appearance. You may notice that your sofa is worn or has loose threads now, rather than when it was new. Remove the cushion panels from the couch frame before you can reupholster them.

Upholster Loveseat: Removing Cushions From Loveseat Frame

Having cardboard boxes on available to stack cushions for extra protection when they are heavy is a must when reupholstering a loveseat, couch, or chair. You can remove cushion fabric from an upholstered couch by pulling it through the place where your elbows would rest if you were sitting in it.

A flathead screwdriver can be found at the bottom edge of each seat panel if an open region isn’t available. If not, utilize that. Pull the fabric up and to the sides if there is room. The staples or tacks holding your cushion fabric in place can be removed with a flathead screwdriver..

Upholster a Loveseat: Reupholstering Cushion Panels

You can use the existing cushion panels as templates for measuring where adhesive Velcro strips should be placed (if necessary) and how far apart your tacks/staples should be placed before attaching the armless side of the frame first, so you don’t staple through the fabric by mistake.

How to determine yardage using repeats?

To acquire the correct yardage, multiply the vertical repetition by the horizontal repeat when it varies from half an inch to 27 inches. Example: A repeat length of 24 inches is achieved by weaving a textile with 10 inch vertical and 14 inch horizontal repeats. When you’re sewing cushions or a loveseat, keep these things in mind.

To make an identical chair, you’d need about 9.5 yards of 54-inch repeat-printed fabric in addition to the 8 yards needed for plain 54-inch cloth.

How much fabric do you need for slipcovers?

Consider the quantity of cushions when choosing a covering for a sofa. You will need 13 yards of cloth for a loveseat with two cushions. Get 17 yards of cloth for a loveseat with four cushions.

How to Choose the Right Fabric for Upholstery

Jewel: For my chair project, I wanted to test out Spoonflower’s new Performance Velvet and this fabric design from peacoquettedesigns. During the upholstering process, it was a breeze to work with. You may buy it in a width of 54 inches (137 centimeters), it has some flexibility, and it’s really soft.

How to Upholster a Chair

DIY upholstery can be empowering, as well as fun. If you have a few upholstery skills, you can give an old chair a new lease on life by reupholstering it. The capacity to personalize furnishings means that each home may be a work of art in and of itself.

Drop-seat chairs are the simplest upholstery tasks. In most cases, this involves a dining room chair with a replaceable seat. To make things even better, all of the staples are hidden beneath the frame. Three sections of upholstery had to be removed, lining up the fabric and stapling BEHIND each one. This may appear to be more sophisticated, but it’s actually just the same principle at work here.

Materials List

• Stapling tool
• Scissors
• Pliers and a staple remover or a normal screwdriver
• Anodized Aluminum (optional)
• a new foam and batting (optional)

Beginner

Pro Tip:

A manual staple gun is the cheapest alternative for your staple gun. It’s a good idea to use a pneumatic stapler and pancake air compressor for larger operations.

Having the correct tools for the job is usually a good idea. Making your own upholstery is no different. These are the tools I use most frequently for simple projects like this one.

Steps to Transform Your Chair

Figure Out How Much Fabric You Need

Two yards of fabric were needed to cover my chair. Using my chair’s widest part as a guide, I was able to figure out how much money I had left over. I figured out how much extra cloth I would need for stapling and compared that to the fabric’s breadth. Upholstering more than one large chair necessitates extra fabric because of the increased weight.

Dissect and Tear Down

You should take images as soon as you begin dismantling any upholstery project, since this will be the finest tip I can provide you. In the end, you’ll reassemble the new fabric in the exact opposite manner from which you disassembled it initially. Many times, especially when working on more intricate tasks, I felt confident that my brain would automatically recall the correct order in which to reattach the fabric. Unfortunately, I had several slip-ups in my judgment..

Only remembering which way to attach the legs on my Mid-Century Modern office chair’s frame proved to be a challenge. To remove the screws from the bottom, I opted to use a socket wrench. My next step was to get under the rubber banding with a screwdriver. Hidden screws have to be removed from behind this banding. The plastic backing of the front upholstery piece was easily removed by unscrewing the screws.

Because I wanted to keep things as simple as possible, I chose not to remove the existing fabric. Professional upholsterers remove all old fabric and typically replace the old foam and batting used in chair projects, but technically this is what they do. The old fabric must be removed if your drop seat is to be installed inside an old wooden chair frame. Fabric that is too heavy on the chair’s joints causes it to become shaky and unstable.

Straighten and Cut Your Fabric

It’s time to plan the fabric after you’ve dismantled the chair. Make a mental note of the fabric’s pattern. If you don’t want your upholstery to appear asymmetrical, locate a central point on the cloth. In this location, you should align the middle of the upholstery piece….

Using your old fabric as a pattern, or draping the new fabric over the upholstery piece, straighten, and cutting, is an option if you are satisfied that you have a plan for where each piece has to be cut from. Measure twice and cut once as the saying goes!

Staple the Fabric

Now it’s time to have some fun! One to two staples should be inserted into either side of the upholstery piece in the center of the chair’s fabric. Use your hand to smooth up any slack in the fabric once you’ve pulled it snug. Double-check that you are still centered from front to back and side to side with each staple.

It’s time to start working towards the corners once you’ve got a few of staples on all four sides. Stapling down one side of a piece results in off-centered fabric, which is a common mistake for beginners. Instead, it is preferable to insert two staples on each side, check for centering, and then proceed to the opposite side. When you arrive to the corners, keep going with this rotation technique.

Corner the Fabric

It is important to look at your original photos to see how the chair was originally upholstered because there are various different ways to staple down a corner. If you’d want to learn more about a few different types of corners and challenging locations, check out this page.

Reassemble the Chair

It’s time to put the pieces back together when you’ve finished stapling and trimming the excess fabric. Always keep in mind your previous images when taking new ones.

Enjoy it!

Congrats! The project is done! Take a moment to congratulate yourself and relax.

Tips and Tricks Upholstery 101

Tip #1 I do? Or I don’t…that is THE question

Let’s get down to the business of it. Today’s furniture isn’t worthy of reincarnation. Even the most expensive pieces of furniture might be shoddyly made, so it’s important to shop around. A couch that a client claims to have spent over $1000 for has cardboard and joints that were put together with screws, nails, or even glue when I break it apart. I’m afraid I’ll have to make some repairs to the piece. The only way to identify if you’re on the right track is to get to know the structure of your work. Take a peek if you’re doing your own work, which is what we’re discussing here. Invasive surgery is not necessary. If you decide to abandon the endeavor and keep or resell the piece, just removing the dust cover from the bottom will reveal the truth.

Why is reupholstering so expensive?

It’s a common topic of conversation. Reupholstery is commonly misunderstood to be solely a matter of selecting the right fabric. It’s not the case at all. That’s like to arguing that car repair is all about the individual parts. In order to master it, one must put in the time and effort. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Coil springs, zig-zag springs, padding repairs, and structural repairs all take time to complete. However, not every upholsterer is on board. Because the upholsterer didn’t want to be bothered with stripping the piece down, I’m sad to have to do a project that, like a roof, has multiple levels. Not only does it take a lot of time, but it may be quite difficult to remove hundreds of staples or tacks. OY! Once, my husband made the remark that my “hobby” was difficult. It’s possible. Unless I encounter a serious disaster like the one I just described, I will inform my clients that I do not charge for disassembly. Even if completing your own labor will save you a lot of money, it won’t always be simple. It’s always worth it to me when I consider the pride I get from completing my own work.

Tip #2 Take the teardown SERIOUSLY

Keep in mind that tearing something down entails more than just tearing it apart. It’s a crucial step that needs to be taken. When it comes to applying makeup, there’s a logical sequence that must be followed or you’ll end up looking like a hot mess!

EVERY…SINGLE…PIECE Organize from the bottom up. The last one out the door is always the first one in. Every piece should be labeled. As you go back in time, you’ll witness how the process works in action. Pay close attention. The smallest of details can make a big difference. It’s easy to see how skipping this step might be disastrous.

Is this clear to you now? Good.

Teardown is also the time to assess your piece for what needs replacing, repairing, etc. I recommend doing this BEFORE YOU ORDER FABRIC. You’ll thank me later if you discover the piece wasn’t even worth it in the first place. Also, you can use those pieces to help you estimate yardage.

Tip #3 Soft fabric, warm fabric, buy it by the yard. Happy fabric, pretty fabric, here’s my credit card!

During the teardown, you can evaluate your component to see what needs to be replaced, repaired, or otherwise improved. This should be done PRIOR TO PURCHASING ANY FABRIC. You’ll thank me later when you realize that the piece wasn’t even worth it to begin with. These components might also help you estimate yardage.

Having said that, mistakes do happen. So, especially if this is your first rodeo, bringing a few extra yards is a good idea. Make antimacassars (a $12 word for arm and head rest covers) or throw pillows, a valance, or anything with the extra length you’ll have. A spare cushion cover might even be made just in case. Estimating yards is easy with this easy-to-follow approach.

Tip #4 Remember Tip #2

Having established my seriousness about the breakdown, let me provide the next juicy detail.

You do NOT have to reinvent the wheel.

And that’s right. Half of the effort is already done by storing and categorizing your disassembly bits. Upholstery is a lot like putting together a giant puzzle (simple, we’re not talking about a significant job). It’s a good idea to take pictures of the project as you go and identify each item, much like it helps to have a picture on the box for reference.

An unfinished design awaits in every piece. A near-perfect fit is virtually guaranteed when you use your breakdown as a template for your design. To avoid cutting yourself short and having no room for pulling through and tacking, mark the edge of your piece with a note to add an additional X inches of fabric, as trimming occurs during the process of upholstering a piece.

Note!!! However, this does not apply to cushions, which need to be meticulously sized and sewed to avoid making them excessively big. To be clear, this only applies to cushions that are meant to be dragged or stretched across an area.

Tip #5 It’s okay to be a little biased…

And by cutting across the grain, or on the bias, from corner to corner, I mean that. Cutting your piping pieces on the bias can help you obtain a better turn around corners and avoid a bunchy look. An excellent guide from an archived blog will give you the lowdown on how to get started.

Hack #1

Pipes can be repurposed. Excellent work if you’re able to remove the piping intact. As long as it’s in good condition, you can re-cover it. If you haven’t already guessed, I’m a big admirer of reusing!

Hack #2

Fluff, are you out of things to do? As long as your foam isn’t decaying or collapsing, you can resurrect it with a little elbow grease. Drop it if that is the case. Steaming the foam (the yellow or white cell foam) is a simple way to bring back its former glory. You’ll be amazed to see how quickly it recovers. I wish I could do the same for my thighs.

Hack #3

It’s time to put in the cushions! Wait until the very end to construct the seat cushions. Extra filling can be added to the platform, sides, or back of a dish. As a result, the cushion will no longer fit in its original location. BEFORE you cut out the cushion template and begin making it, try out your cushion foam to see if it fits. You’ll save a lot of time and money by doing it this way.

Hack #4

A chair’s seat can be recovered without a formal order. There is no need to dismantle dining room chairs and hardwood armchairs with padded, covered seats. Cover the seat with a layer of fresh batting and pull the corners equally. As many times as you like, you can change your look! Double-sided carpet tape can be used as a temporary cover during the holidays. Voila!

Hack #5

…oh my god, what a hack… Button cover kits are unnecessary. Take a shank button of your choice. Double the diameter of the circle you just cut. Trim as necessary to keep the shank from becoming clumsy. Stitch the circle together using a durable thread and a gathering stitch. To gather the strands, gently pull them together. Using a pouch you prepared, put the button in there. Pull the stitches together securely and, if necessary, take additional stitches to ensure that the gather is tight and the top is smooth. Trim the ends after you’ve tied a tight knot.

You’re welcome, too.

Friends, let’s sew and piece!

FAQs

Can I provide my own fabric?

A few conditions apply.

Fabric must first be approved by us to ensure it is of suitable quality for upholstery. Any material provided by a client will not be covered under our warranty, as we do not know of the source or quality testing.

How do I get an estimate of the cost?

In order for us to provide you with an exact quote, please send us a few photos of your piece via email.

Is my piece worth reupholstering?

For the most part, pricing isn’t the most significant consideration when deciding whether to reupholster or replace a sofa.

The things that make the job worth it are more personal, such as the sofa’s sentimental value, its fit for your area, and the quality of the frame.

Why should I re-upholster, if it’s cheaper to buy something new from a box store?

Unfortunately, ours is a throwaway culture. Most retail furniture has a 5-year average life expectancy.

How much does upholstery cost?

This varies considerably from case to case. Basic dining room chairs start at $65-$175 while labor for a sofa can cost as much as $1295 and above.

Depending on the scope of the job and the amount of labor required, the ultimate cost will vary. The price of the fabric is also quite important.

Do you refinish wood furniture?

However, we do not offer full refinishing services for wood furnishings.

How long do I have to wait?

In the end, everything is up to you. For the most part, a smaller piece can be finished in a week or two at most.

Larger pieces will need more time. We generally advise a month turnaround to be on the safe side.

What fabric companies do you carry?

In an effort to find the greatest textile lines in the industry at a variety of price points, Pistolnik does its best.

• Romo
• Timorous Beasties
• TGI
• Fabricut
• Stout
• Woeller
• Sunbrella. in addition to countless others

Can you change the overall style of a piece?

When modifying the style of an item, we’d need to evaluate and make sure that your money was being spent wisely before we proceed.

Conclusion on How to Upholster a Loveseat

If you’re wondering how much fabric you’ll need to upholster a loveseat, look no further. We sincerely hope that you received the correct material dimension for your specific loveseat style. To help you find the perfect match, we’ve compiled a list of twenty-one different styles of loveseats.