Off Topic non-knife leather question reupholstering a chair

nydude

nydude

Joined
Jun 10, 2009
Messages
1,203
Hi All,

Please let me know if this is too far off topic. Posting here because I trust the crew here implicitly. :).

I've got my father's old leather recliner which is pretty beat up. It's the chair I watched Saturday morning cartoons in back in the early eighties. I also have this beautiful piece of leather that I want to reupholster it in which is really the only way my wife will let me keep it.

I live in Manhattan so all professional services are crazy expensive, but know a lot of people here have experience with leather. I understand that both leather work and reapolsetry is a skill and an art. Does it make sense for me to try and do this? I'm handy but have no experience.

Any idea what a reasonable price would be for someone to do the work? Any chance I can make it my own project and not do terribly?

Thanks for any thoughts/opinions.

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With all the action in the Swamp and the Yard... The Busse forum has really gone down hill. :confused:
 
Ok so if your handy and wanna give it a go yourself, it’s possible. First the hard part will be making patterns for cutting the new leather. Then comes assembly for this you’ll need to be able to sew the pieces together. It can be done by hand, slow process but can be done. You’ll also probably need to source some new foam padding. If it was me, I’d take my time to disassemble and photo along the way. You might even be able to pattern from the original pieces :-)
I’m sure there has to be plenty of vids online for this. Plus I can’t see where you’d need any expensive tools. I’ve never done furniture but I’ve done plenty of car seats.
 
I have a friend that does upholstery work and he uses the old piece as a pattern. On something that big I would start with an arm rest or the foot stool first but doing that without a machine is going to take a long time.
 
ok, so I used the recommended vendor section on yelp and and got four different quotes based on the pics and description of work. All came back around $800-900 for the work and $200-300 for pickup/delivery. New versions range from $600-$1,200. So I guess I'm going to do it myself. Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, tools, materials would be appreciated. Will continue to watch youtube tutorials.

I see I can get new leather buttons on Etsy that are a close match. Also, have a bunch of super tough kevlar thread. Would that be too strong and cut the leather after a while?

Thanks Hogs!
 
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I would start with locating a Used Sewing Machine Preferably one capable of stitching leather. Hand stitching this project and keeping the seams straight and tight will be a ridiculous challenge. A decent size work bench to lay out the hide to mark and cut patterns with a straight edge is a help.
Once the project is completed you can resell the sewing machine.

 
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If you are able to improvise and adapt, this shouldn't too hard a project to tackle... IMO (I did redress my MIL's 3 seater sofa & 2 armchairs, and dining chairs to match with a stapler and stanley knife) you'd be best off going for suede instead of full grain (???) leather - it'll be more comfortable, probably more durable (when looks are concern) and not that difficult to do.
And you can just do without having to stitch/sew anything at all. (As long as you don't have to show the back side to anyone...)
New foam will be a must!
 
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