Wingback chair refurbishment

My daughter brought this wingback recliner to me to do something with it. I never did a fully covered chair before. I could tell you this. It is a huge job.

First thing I suggest is to do it in sections because there is sewing involved. Detach the back then the seat.

I decided to start with the ottoman.

There were so many staples to remove on the black cover then under it more. I recovered each piece right away before moving on to the seat.

Another tip I suggest is taking a photo so you know where each piece goes. I made that mistake when I removed the recliner ottoman pieces and didn’t know which side the inner flap went back on.

The wingback and the arms had these spikes that I reused.

The hole on each tooth is where one part of the staple goes. I found it tricky lining the staple.

The arm of the chair also had spiked clamps, as you can see in the photo above, that get stapled back on then the material folds in and you just hammer it closed. These teeth-like spikes were used because it’s bendable and shapes a nice curve down the front side of the arm. Each piece has to be opened. It’s easy to open using pliers or your thumb. The pliers help straighten each tooth because as you can see I misshaped them from prying them off.

There is sewing involved. Reuse as much as you can. I reused the cording from the old chair because I hadn’t bought any for the chair. All I spent was for new fabric and coat thread. The cheaper the better.

I lined the spikes back in place on the new fabric so that it matched the original then I pinned it in place and set it aside until I was ready to reattach it. Should you do this, make sure that the pins are on the face and not on the inside because you want to leave the pins on until the it’s hammered back on. The pins will keep the fabric in place.

Once I put the fitted part on I put the side covering back. Starting at the top, I stapled it on with a new cardboard strip folded in with the fabric, then hammered the spikes in at the back side. I folded in the fabric on the front stapled spikes and clamped it closed.

I pulled the fabric tightly then folded it in as I closed it. I actually just used my thumb to close each tooth. It’s very flexible. Then I hammered to reinforce.

The cardboard stapled at the top gives a crisp fold.

The last stapling is under the arm, wrapping nicely around the legs.

Here is the finished look. It is very important that you pay attention to the steps of each piece including any cardboard pieces that might be used because you’ll need to make anything that you damage when removing the old fabric.

*I used cardboard from the back of a large colouring book. It was used on the side and back covering. It gives it a crisp fold.

*You will know where to start when putting back pieces that have additional parts like the spikes because the fabric that was stapled directly to the chair is your starting point.