DIY: Upholstering Perfect Corners

I recently made over some dining room chairs, which I plan to share with you next week. In the meantime, I want to show you an easy way to handle those tricky corners when reupholstering. The best way I found to handle corners is tri-fold. Before we get to the corners, I'll start from the beginning...

Project Time:  45 minutes
Project Cost: $20

Materials:

• FREE (came w/ chairs obviously!)- Old seat cushions
• $20 - 1 2/3 yds. fabric (for 4 chairs.. plenty of leftover)
• FREE (on hand) - Fabric scissors 
• FREE (on hand) - Staple gun

My winning fabric lived at Joann's. I picked out a beautiful beige linen, and did everything I could to find a coupon. Luckily, it was a holiday weekend, and I was able to get 40% off!


Step 1: MEASURE -  Place seat cushion face side down to determine the length to cut your fabric. Leave 4 inches extra on each side.
Step 2: STAPLE CENTERS - Once fabric is cut, center your cushion (still face side down). Fold over about 1/4-1/2" to create a nice even line, and staple the center of each side. PULL TIGHTLY.

Step 3: STAPLE SIDES - Continue to staple (and pulling tightly) leaving a little bit of room before reaching the corners.

Step 4: TRIM ACCESS - You will end up with access fabric once you reach your corners. Trim them down with fabric scissors, leaving roughly 3" left for you to work with. (Yes, I am in my PJ's.. it was a late night project!)

Step 5: CORNERS (TRI-FOLD) -

1. Smooth out fabric and staple horizontally
2. Smooth out fabric and staple at an upward angle
3. Smooth out fabric and staple vertically

Step 6: FILLERS - Fill in the extra spaces with your staple gun.