Expert: Mark H. Miller - 4/18/2008

Question
Dear Mark, I am trying to upholster a 1952 chair.  The chair seat is shaped like a U...the back of the seat is straight with the other parts being rounded.  I am having difficulty getting the fabric worked in so their will be no wrinkles.  I have so much fabric that has to be worked in because of the shape.  I do have the old seat fabric from the chair, but am afraid to cut my new fabric that small and then it possibly will not fit the chair.  Any help would be appreciated!

Answer
Hi,

The fabric you select will be very important, it must be very soft and pliable,  if it is stiff and rigid it may be impossible to put it on without wrinkles.

Next you should pull you fabric on the inside of any curve first, up and down, front to back to push the fabric into the curve, at first it will appear that you are getting lots of wrinkles, don't worry, just keep pulling the fabric so that it lays into the curve as you start working it toward the sides the wrinkles will disappear.

Do not trim the fabric to the shape of what you removed,  measure the cut front to back and side to side and add a total of 5 inches,  that will give you fabric to hold on to.  Grabbing the fabric very firm and pulling at the square corners of your square piece of fabric will also remove wrinkles, another reason not to trim the fabric.

Unfortunately describing a project like this is very difficult, it is best demonstrated on a chair, which unfortunately I am not able to do via this site.  

Last, choose a fabric that will allow you to put staples or tacks temporarily, half way in, so that you can move the fabric around as you go.  Only after you are satisfied that you have the minimum number of wrinkles should you trim the excess fabric.  

Also choosing a fabric that has wool in it, placing it on the chair and then steaming the fabric will cause it to shrink and the wrinkles will disappear.

I hope this helps.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can give you further pointers.

Mark Miller.