Expert: Mark H. Miller - 9/5/2006

Question
Great, quick, reply Mark. It is a bit confusing but I will try. A diagram will help if you can send one along - my email address is: cpulis1@cogeco.ca. I really appreciate your quick response and I am going to go back upstairs with your instructions to try to figure it out!
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Followup To

Question -
Hi Mark = hope you can help me. I am doing my first upholstery project and am stuck at the flexible tacking strip. I can't figure out how to install it. It looks like I staple the side with the one hole to the furniture, but I can't figure out the rest of it. Can you give me an easy explanation? Thanx
Carolyn

Answer -
Hi,  sure,  the product you are refering to is called ply grip strip.  The side with the round holes goes against the surface of the chair, on the outside.  So that the side with the little teeth sticks straight up with the teeth facing toward the outside of the chair.  The ply grip is best stapled on with one leg of the staple going through the round hole and the other into the wedge shaped cutout.

Make certain that the ply grip is installed very firm, when you grab it you should not be able to wigle it.

Now bend the part with the teeth at a 45 degree angle toward the outer edge of the chair so that goes over the part where you just stapled.   Now place your batting material over the chair making certain that it does not cover the plygrip.

Now lay your upholstery material over the whole thing and with large pins hold it in place so that it can not move.  Do not stretch it tight.

Starting in the center of the top trim your material slightly less than 1/2 inch beyong the plygrip.  A section about 4 inches wide.  With a large needle push the material over the edge so that the little teeth firmly grab the material,  you should just be able to get the tips of your fingers in there to feel the teeth.  Now push the plygrip down with your thumb so that it is flat against the chair,  continue doing that working 4 to 5 inch sections from the center alternating left and right.

when you are about 5 inches from the corner do the sides the same way, starting in the center working toward the top and the bottom.  Do NOT trim the fabric all at once, it will not fit if you do that,  work only small sections at a time.

When you are 4 to 5 inches from the corner, you may want to place a very small bradd nail in  the corner itself to hold the fabric in place there.

After you have done all that take a hammer and firmly but not hard tap the plygrip ever more against the chair, doing that will close the teeth so that they grab the fabric even more and hold it in place.  

Putting on plygrip is not easy, however if you are at the point where that needs to be done tells me that you have already done the inside of the chair which is more difficult.

If you use a welt / piping around the perimiter of the chair, put the welt on first and push the edge of the plygrip against the welt so that it covers the sewing machine thread.

The most common mistake people make with plygrip is that they put it on backward.  Look at the metal edge that has the round holes.  There are pieces that are cut out that look like they are pie shapes.  The wide end of the pie, not the point, but the wide end goes again the outer edge of the chair about 1/8 of an inch inside of the edge, it should not hang over the edge of the chair.

Unfortunately I can not send you a diagram over this website, that would have been much easier.  If my discription is confusing then I am sorry, if you need a diagram send me your email adress and I will send a diagram on how to install it.

Good luck, have fun,  please don't hesitate to contact me if you have further questions or concerns.

Mark Miller.

Answer
HI,  I will wait a few days to see if you can do the job without a diagram.  It is really more difficult to discribe than to actually do.  The only thing I can send a diagram of would be how to place the plygrip.  Please let me know after you give it a try if you can't figure it out and I'll send a drawing.

Good luck,  have fun.  Also, if you write back please let me know what kind of stapler you are using.

Mark.