Re-upholstery the sofa

Make it comfortable inside
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okaynagan
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Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by okaynagan »

Surprisingly only two bolts on each side in the back holds the sofa in place. They were easily removed with the socket wrench allowing removal of the couch from the van. From the comfort of the dining table we reupholstered the couch.
bottom section of the sofa
bottom section of the sofa
wilbur 01.jpg (302.9 KiB) Viewed 8538 times
We replaced upholstery fabric from our sister's 190. This was entertaining as a group project. I don't believe I would've enjoyed it half as much if I had to do it on my own. While it wasn't difficult it took three times as long as I thought it might. The project was pretty straightforward, no specialized equipment/tools other than the sewing machine was needed.

In Tempe Arizona, the next town over, there is a fabric upholstery store that sells mill ends, discontinued fabrics, fabrics from liquidated factories (everything from golf bag manufacturers to companions making office cubicle walls to hospital mattresses)… If you ever find yourself in Phoenix you owe yourself a visit to this hole in the wall. They have a room full of a hundreds upholstery fabrics for three dollars a yard. The hardest thing to do is select the fabric for somebody else with the instructions: She likes " blues and grays and neutral colors". She tells me "you know what goes with the B190." I selected a most conservative upholstery fabric for her B190 I would like to have gone bolder. She was pleased with my selection and at less than $25 I really couldn't go too wrong, could I?
textured fabric of soft stripes
textured fabric of soft stripes
wilbur 02x.jpg (80.8 KiB) Viewed 8538 times
Those of us who couldn't sew were delegated the task of removing the couch from the van, peeling the fabric off the frame, seam ripping, sterilizing and de-greasing the foam rubber cushions,washing the zipper casements, reassembly of the cushions on the frame, placing hog rings and re-installing the sofa back in the van. Those of us that could sew cut fabric, pinned seams, ran the sewing machine and drank hot cocoa.
re-upholstered sofa
re-upholstered sofa
wilbur 03.jpg (403.36 KiB) Viewed 8538 times
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skater
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by skater »

Looks great!
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

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Jersey747
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by Jersey747 »

Super Job, did you do front seats as well ???im about to pull mine out and give it the old college try !!! If I screw up too badly then I’ll pay the $500a seat which seems to be a number that gets thrown at you immediately upon asking about a van seat !
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okaynagan
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by okaynagan »

Jersey747 wrote:Super Job, did you do front seats as well ???im about to pull mine out and give it the old college try !!! If I screw up too badly then I’ll pay the $500a seat which seems to be a number that gets thrown at you immediately upon asking about a van seat !
we only have a back view of the front seats until Sis's 92 b visits with us again.
we only have a back view of the front seats until Sis's 92 b visits with us again.
wilbur 04 seats.jpg (195.66 KiB) Viewed 8514 times

A local firm made our seat covers for the front seats. Their website is here http://www.seatcoversunlimited.com/. They did a lot of custom measuring as we recall. Ask for Jason, he keeps measurments for the 92' b190 on file. While we can not remember exactly what we paid it wasn't anywhere near $500 for them both, it was more like half that. Seatcovers Unlimited also make great dash mats that hold up to the desert sun for years.

Our van is a 95, we can take that in for measurements if you wish. That is if we have the same seats as you.
Last edited by okaynagan on Thu Mar 15, 2018 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jersey747
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by Jersey747 »

That’s great , will check out website and give him a buzz tomorrow , front seats look great ,and appear to be exact same size
Cheers
Paul
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okaynagan
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by okaynagan »

Even after diligent measuring and precise drawings (on the back of the Wendy's bag) we still managed to come up short on the amount of fabric necessary.
planing out the re-upholstery project
planing out the re-upholstery project
wilbur 02.jpg (45.57 KiB) Viewed 8468 times
Our saving grace was that the zipper casing side was washed and reused; we just put it through a gentle machine cycle with bleach and detergent. line dried. Still in great shape after 25 years of use the fabric was, it cleaned up just super.
Should you recover your couch we recommend buying a yard or two more of the fabric than you think you need. On the other hand this miscalculation did mean that we didn't have to install the zippers. With that serendipitous result we can say 6 yards of a 54 inch wide fabric was adequate for our job.
We noticed that the original manufacturer of the couch cushions used odds pieces of fabrics for the zipper casings; ironically the underside scrap fabric held up better than the expensive upholstery material on the top side.
most of the zipper panels the makers used different scrap fabrics for
most of the zipper panels the makers used different scrap fabrics for
wilbur 07.jpg (309.07 KiB) Viewed 8468 times
sofa after replacing fabric
sofa after replacing fabric
wilbur 03x.jpg (41.57 KiB) Viewed 7976 times
Last edited by okaynagan on Wed May 30, 2018 6:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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okaynagan
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by okaynagan »

This is a detailed image of the bolts that hold the couch in the van, there are 4 bolts in total, 2 on either side, you can see how simple it is to remove the sofa.
One can see in this pix how badly the sofa needed re-upholstering.
One can see in this pix how badly the sofa needed re-upholstering.
wilbur 05.jpg (24.38 KiB) Viewed 8399 times
Nothing but hog rings securing the fabric to the metal frame. They held for 25 years, so they mostly likely will hold work for another 25 years.
The hog rings look cheap, but they work.  They sure are easier than hand sewing.
The hog rings look cheap, but they work. They sure are easier than hand sewing.
wilbur 08x.jpg (28.18 KiB) Viewed 8399 times
reused the hog rings and the zipper from the old sofa.  they may hold up yet another 20 years.
reused the hog rings and the zipper from the old sofa. they may hold up yet another 20 years.
wilbur23.jpg (52.28 KiB) Viewed 7976 times
kstills
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by kstills »

This will be very helpful. :D
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okaynagan
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by okaynagan »

Made this post so long ago that I'm most pleased to find it still is read. I recall the most of the seams were chained stitched together; meaning that If you pull the right end of the thread the seam all pulls apart like a feed sack. Therefore, the old fabric can be used for the pattern to cut the new cloth.
Take lot of photos, that will help in the long run when putting the couch back together. It will also let you report back on you progress and help others with re-upholstery five years down the line. :D
kstills
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Re: Re-upholstery the sofa

Post by kstills »

okaynagan wrote:
Thu Jun 02, 2022 6:26 pm
Made this post so long ago that I'm most pleased to find it still is read. I recall the most of the seams were chained stitched together; meaning that If you pull the right end of the thread the seam all pulls apart like a feed sack. Therefore, the old fabric can be used for the pattern to cut the new cloth.
Take lot of photos, that will help in the long run when putting the couch back together. It will also let you report back on you progress and help others with re-upholstery five years down the line. :D
Well, I'm certainly happy you took the time to detail your work!. The missus and I had just about decided on a new sofa entirely when I came across this, so now with a little bit of effort it looks like we can keep the original. Thank you for taking the time to record your work.
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