Easy Chair ReUpholster

I got this chair for $5 from a thrift store years ago and it had a nasty ugly green fabric. So I reupholstered it with this fabric...

It was a big change, but after a few years I started getting sick of it. Plus, it recently acquired these lovely grease stains, so it was about time for a quick re-upholster.

And it would've been a quick reupholster, had I had everything organized and ready to go. But, if you know me, you know that I usually just come up with these ideas and start ripping apart whatever it is and then realize I need to actually put it back together. Thus was the case with this chair.
But moving on...

Here's what you need to upholster a chair:
-a chair (!)
-staple gun
-screwdriver
-butter knife (or something similar)
-fabric
-marker

Step 1:
Flip the chair over and unscrew the screws that are holding the seat in place. My chair had four.

If you're redoing the whole chair, here is where you would sand and paint/stain the frame. But we're skipping that part for now.... I might finish it later.

Step 2:
With your butter knife or something similar, undo the staples that are holding the previous fabric on, being careful not to rip it too much.

Now normally I would be inclined to just rip the stuff off, but we need it for the next step.

Step 3:
Lay your new fabric out and place the old stuff on top. With a fabric marker (or just a sharpie), trace the old fabric onto the new fabric. If your fabric has lines in it like mine did, you may want to make sure they're straight. I had to cut mine twice. Which proves the saying that you should measure twice and cut once.

Don't really know why those corners are so different....

First attempt

Second attempt. Please excuse my crazy 2yr old's "helper's" feet.

Step 4: 
Lay the fabric right side down, and then place the seat (also right side down) on top of it, making sure it's where you want it in the end. Pick a side and pull the fabric slightly up and around to the bottom of the seat. Staple in place. Then from here on in, you can just staple it to the underside of the chair seat.

With my previous reupholster job I just left the edges raw, but for this one I wanted to be neater so I tucked the edges under and stapled.

I found the corners a little tricky, but if you just pull the fabric right at the corner, tuck your index finger underneath the fold, pull back and staple...

... and repeat...

...you end up with something like this, which works for me. I'm not sure how the professionals do it.

When you run out of staples, painters tape is a good option... 

Step 5:
I forgot to mention in the previous step not to cover the screw holes with fabric. Which I did, of course, but it was easy to pull back a bit...
Put your seat back on the frame of the chair, screw the screws back in place, pour yourself a glass of wine, and take a seat!

If you have any questions, concerns, or more wine, please leave a comment! Til next time,

-J