Need advice on upholstering dining chairs

[Chris Daigh]

I am starting to plan the upholstering for some dining chairs I am slowly building. Not sure what foam and material I really need. Would like to know anyones preferences and what has worked. Thanks. I would like to use leather, if someone has a supplier that would be great.

[Mark Singer]

The plywood seats should have a large hole cut in them. Strapping then goes over the hole. Then foam and finally dacron. I have it done professionally, I just prepare the plywood and the chair frame. Leather is available through fabric suppliers or the upolsterer.

[Carl Eyman]

FWW had a very good article in 2002 (I think). I made some chairs about then and while I had an upolsterer do the work, I asked her to follow their procedure. What Mark says about plywood is important, though there may be more than one way to skin that cat. If you need chapter an verse on which issue, I'll look it up. Send me an e-mail or pm.

[Earl Kelly]

Chris, Mark gives good advice. But, if you want a firmer seat, do not cut out the center of the ply seat. Just place a good firm grade of upholstery foam on the ply 1 1/2" -2" thick and cover. I would not put poly dacon over foam while using leather.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Chris, find an upholstery supplier near you, he can be a big help. There are cheap foams and expensive foams--go with the expensive, it doesn't cost much more and feels better because its denser. I've done chairs with open seats and webbing and plywood seats. I don't really have a preference, but the plywood looked better on mission style chairs that had fairly thick upholstered seats. The webbing worked better on thinner seats. It depnds on the look of the chair and how you are upholstering them. No matter which type you choose, put cotton batting on top of the foam to break up the square shape and add density to the top of the seat. Also a good air stapler goes a long way toward making the job easy, or at least easier.

[Andrew Ault]

A popular supplier of leather is Tandy Leather (either stores or on the Internet). They offer upholstery leather.