DIY part III [reupholster bergere chairs]

Welcome to part III of my upholstery project. Check out Post I (prep and stripping) and II (reupholstery). Now we're on to the finishing touches, as in trim. Like I mentioned in the last post, once you cut your fabric down to the quick you're out of options, so make sure everything is in good shape before you do: pattern in line, fabric taut, etc.



Once it looks like this you can add trim. Yay! I bought your standard upholstery trim, but if I had been more talented i would have loved to do welting or double welting. Welting looks like this:

Double welting is twice as fun, and very classy looking. I almost didn't want to post this because I'm sad I couldn't do it myself...but someday. I already promised R and J an upgrade.



Anyway, I folded over the end piece with a dab of glue, since ya gotta start somewhere. I'd say start the trim somewhere discreet, and don't be afraid to lay the glue on thick...just make sure you're using clear glue to avoid any unsightly marks.



You've got to get some of these clamps before you get started. They're super necessary. Once you lay the trim, you've got to keep it tight, and these clamps do the job. By the way, I used Fabri-Tac, as you can obviously see below.



You're going to hit some tricky areas...like where the arm rests connect to the chair. Here's a close-up of my tactic, which was to just go around it. Again, glue and clamps are key, because there's some real tension there.



Once that's dry, all that's left is the back. Here I kept it simple, as there won't be much wear and tear to the back of a chair. Here I just went with some spray adhesive and a good ol' tuck. Without taking the entire frame apart, I didn't have too many options.



Here is the finished back, which more or less brings us to the finished project. Yippee!



Tomorrow though. This post has enough photos already.