If you wish to makeover or renovate your vintage sofa or update an old fossil in your storage or garage, reupholstering a couch surely is an exciting and challenging project that will make your old couch just as brand new.

In this blog, we will be talking about upholstering a sofa and telling you step by step how to do things. Before you start buying supplies, remove all or any fabric attached to the sofa making it bare so that you can now take proper measurements and buy stuff according to your blank canvas. If you are unsure as to how much you should buy then here’s a tip: always buy stuff more than required so that you may not have to make any unexpected trips to the markets. Take pictures before removing the fabric for references.

Upholstery is defined as the process of replacing old fabric with new fabric. Below is a list of the essential tools and materials you’ll need:

Staple remover

Staple gun and staples

Flathead screwdriver

Pliers

Strong scissors

New fabric

Notebook and pen

Sewing machine

Trim or cord

Fabric glue

• The first step is to understand the furniture you’ll be remaking so that you can easily reconstruct it. Take notes and photos for future references.

• Remove the dust cover. By using a staple remover remove the staples around the dust cover and set them aside. Either use needle-nose pliers or a flathead screwdriver.

• Remove the pieces of upholstery fabric.

• Take notes and photos as you remove each piece of upholstery so that you have no issue piecing them back together. You’ll need to know the order of removal, where the pieces fit, how they were fixed on the couch, how the fabric was stretched and attached, and where there are any special considerations when removing.

• When attaching your new fabric, you’ll need to recreate those features.

• Buy and cut the new fabric, always use the measurements from the old fabric on the sofa in order to purchase yards of fabric in the suitable form and size.

• Attach the new fabric to the couch. Using the notes as a guide, attach the new upholstery fabric in the reverse order in which you removed the old fabric—the piece you removed last should be attached first.

• Staple the cloth back to the frame with a staple gun.

• Reattach the dust cover.

• Finally, staple the dust cover back to the bottom of the couch. The dust cover will hide the staple work behind it and give the couch a tidy look.

• Add trim as needed.

• To give your sofa a polished look, use fabric adhesive to attach it.

• Sew pillow covers.

• If the couch had back or seat cushions.

• Follow the same steps which were used when deconstructing the upholstery of the sofa. Cut or unzip the covers and use them as a reference to cut the new fabric.

• This step will require a sewing machine—follow the stitching pattern of the old cushions to make similar ones.