Ways to Learn How to Upholster
There are several ways to learn how to upholster. One way might be better for you than another. Some factors that might influence your decision are where you live, time you have to devote to learning the skill, your finances and may be even transportation available to take you to a class or where upholstery is being taught or demonstrated.
The first source that comes to mind is a class at a community college. Throughout this country many of the community colleges have continuing adult education classes. As a general rule, these classes meet once or twice a week for a few hours, over a period of several weeks or months.
In these classes you would be learning the very basics of upholstery while working on your own project. The instructor would be there to guide you and answer your questions. He or she would discuss the various tools and how they are used in upholstering. They would also demonstrate how to use the tools. Some locations even have a few upholstery sewing machines to be used by the students.
When we taught these classes, the persons having the most difficulty using these commercial machines were the ladies who were very accomplished seamstresses. Time and time again a student who had no knowledge of the finer points of sewing had the least problems learning to sew on these larger upholstery machines. People who do a lot of sewing on lighter weight machines seemed to have more difficulty sewing on a commercial upholstery machine
Another way to learn how to upholster is purchasing a book on the basics of upholstery. You will always use the basics in upholstering your simple projects as well as your more complicated pieces. You will be building on the basics as you gain experience doing your furniture. It sure is helpful to have pictures illustrating what the text is telling you to do. Also, being able to email (contact) the author with your questions is a plus.
Caution! You want a book using the modern materials that are used today, not a book that has been rehashed using the materials and techniques of a hundred years ago. We saw a sales page for an upholstery book that sounded like you could redo a piece of furniture in a matter of hours, even if you had never used a tack hammer and tacks before. We ordered it. What we received was a copy of a hundred year old upholstery reference book on antiques. In fact, about 20 years ago we were reupholstering an unusual antique chair. We needed a reference manual and finally located this same reference book at a regional library.
We don't know of any upholsterer who would allow you to apprentice under them. But some will answer your questions or give you pointers.
This is just a sampling of ways to learn to upholster. Undoubtedly, there others ways to learn how to upholster that we haven't mentioned.
As you seek ways to learn how to upholster, a helpful resource to consider is a book, How To Upholster Furniture. Even if you do know how to reupholster furniture, this book will offer some valuable tips you probably never thought of.
