How Do You Reupholster a Dining Room Chair Seat and Back?

What the Job Involves

Reupholstering a dining chair with both a padded seat and a padded back is roughly three times the work of a seat alone, not twice. The seat comes off as a pad and is straightforward. The back stays attached to the frame, involves curved edges, and usually needs an inner panel fitted first and an outer panel applied over the top with the raw edges turned under and concealed. Allow two to three hours per chair for a first attempt.

The order matters: do the seat first to build confidence and establish your fabric tension, then the inner back, then the outer back last. Working in that sequence means every raw edge is covered by the piece that follows it.

Assessing the Chair

Turn the chair over and look carefully before buying anything. You are trying to answer three questions.

First, is the seat a drop in pad or fixed to the frame? A pad held by four screws is far easier than a seat stapled directly to the rails.

Second, how is the back constructed? Some chairs have a fully upholstered back with padding on both faces. Others have a padded inner face and a plain timber outer. A few have a separate removable back panel, which is by far the easiest arrangement.

Third, is there decorative trim? Gimp braid, piping or studwork all need replacing or reusing, and each adds a stage to the job.

Check the joints while you are there. Hold the seat and try to rock the back. Any movement means a loose joint, and that must be reglued before upholstery goes on, since a wobbling frame will loosen the new fabric within months.

Materials and Quantities

A seat and back combination needs considerably more fabric than a seat alone. For a single chair, allow around 1m of 140cm wide fabric. For six chairs, budget 4m to 5m plain, or 6m if there is a pattern repeat to match.

Use upholstery weight fabric rated at least 25,000 Martindale. Choose high resilience foam at 30kg per cubic metre for the seat, at 4cm to 6cm thick, and a thinner 2cm to 3cm foam for the back, which needs support rather than cushioning.

You also need polyester wadding, calico if the fabric is pale, and possibly hessian or a webbing base if the back is sprung or webbed rather than solid.

Tools are the same as for a seat: staple gun with 8mm to 10mm staples, staple remover, pliers, sharp shears, screwdriver and a measuring tape. Add a curved upholstery needle and strong thread if you plan to slipstitch the outer back panel rather than staple it, and gimp adhesive if the chair uses braid.

Stripping the Chair

Photograph the chair from every angle, then photograph each layer as it comes off. On a seat and back chair there are enough components that memory alone will not serve.

Remove the seat pad first and set it aside. Then work on the back, starting with the outer panel. If there is gimp braid, ease it off carefully with a blunt knife, since it often reveals the staple line beneath. Peel the outer fabric away and note whether it was stapled, tacked or slipstitched.

Remove the inner back fabric next, taking out every staple. Keep all the old pieces flat and labelled: inner back, outer back, seat. They are the best cutting templates available and they show exactly how the original was shaped.

Inspect the padding on the back. Older chairs may have horsehair, coir or cotton felt rather than foam. If it is intact and evenly distributed, it can often be retained with a fresh layer of wadding over the top. If it has shifted or compacted into lumps, replace it.

Doing the Seat

Cut the seat fabric using the old piece as a template, adding a small margin. Lay it face down, centre the pad on top foam side down, and place four anchor staples at the centre of each edge, tensioning firmly between each one.

Work outwards from the centres towards the corners, alternating sides so the tension stays balanced, with staples every 3cm to 4cm. Leave the corners until the straight runs are complete, then fold them as two neat pleats and staple.

Trim the excess to 2cm beyond the staple line. Set the seat aside and do not refit it yet, because you will want clear access to the frame while working on the back.

The Inner Back

The inner back is the face people see and lean against, so it takes the most care.

Cut the new foam to the shape of the back panel and glue it in place with spray adhesive, since there is no gravity holding it as there is on a seat. Add a layer of wadding over the foam, wrapping it around the frame edges.

Cut the fabric using the old inner back as a template, adding 6cm to 8cm all round. Position it centrally and check any pattern is aligned with the seat, which is where mismatches are most visible.

Staple in the same sequence as the seat: centre top, centre bottom, then the two sides, then outwards. The difference is that back panels are usually curved, so the tension across the curve needs to be even or the fabric will pull into diagonal creases. Work in small increments and check the face constantly.

Where the back meets the seat rail, pull the fabric through the gap between the frame and staple it on the reverse or underside so no raw edge is visible from the front.

The Outer Back

The outer back covers all the staple lines from the inner back and gives the chair its finished appearance.

Cut the panel to the shape of the back frame plus 3cm all round for turning under. Press or fold the edges under so you have a clean folded edge on all four sides, matching the exact outline of the frame.

There are two ways to attach it. Stapling is faster: position the panel, staple through the folded edge close to the fold, then cover the staple line with gimp braid glued in place. Slipstitching is neater and needs no braid: use a curved needle and strong thread to stitch the folded edge to the inner back fabric with small invisible stitches, working around the whole perimeter.

Slipstitching takes considerably longer, perhaps 30 minutes per chair, but it produces the finish that distinguishes proper upholstery work. If the chair backs are visible in the room, which they usually are, it is worth the time.

Whichever method you choose, add a thin layer of wadding behind the outer panel first. It stops the frame timber showing as ridges through the fabric.

Reassembly and Checking

Refit the seat pad and check it sits level. If the new fabric and foam have added thickness, you may need slightly longer screws or a few millimetres shaved from the foam edge.

Sit in the chair. Check that nothing catches, that the back feels supported rather than hard, and that the fabric has not pulled into creases anywhere under load. Small tension problems become obvious the first time someone sits down.

Look at the chair from behind and from the side, not just the front. These are the angles where an inexperienced outer back shows.

Should You Do It Yourself?

Be honest about the outcome you want. A seat and back chair is a real upholstery project, not a beginner exercise. The seat is manageable for anyone; the outer back is where the finish either works or does not.

Professionally, six seat and back chairs typically cost £600 to £900. As a home project, materials for six run £150 to £300 and the labour is perhaps 15 to 18 hours across a couple of weekends.

If the frames are solid hardwood with tight joints and the shape is one you like, the investment makes sense. If the frames are soft, loose or a style you have grown tired of, replacement is usually the better use of both money and time. Our fabric dining chairs UK sale range covers upholstered seat and back designs ready made, and the wider modern dining chairs UK sale category shows the alternatives across leather, velvet and wood. Where a whole room is being refreshed, our dining table and chairs sets UK resolve the proportions between table and seating in one decision.

At Furniture in Fashion we publish full dimensions and material details for everything we stock, with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes and returns available up to 30 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to reupholster a chair with a seat and back?
Two to three hours per chair for a first attempt, reducing to around 90 minutes once the method becomes familiar. Slipstitching the outer back adds roughly 30 minutes each.

How much fabric does a seat and back dining chair need?
Around 1m of 140cm wide fabric per chair, so 4m to 5m for a set of six plain, or up to 6m if the pattern needs matching.

Which order should I work in?
Seat first, then the inner back, then the outer back last. Each stage covers the raw edges of the one before it.

Do I need to slipstitch the outer back panel?
Not necessarily. Stapling and covering the line with gimp braid is quicker and perfectly acceptable. Slipstitching gives a cleaner result where chair backs are visible in the room.

Is a seat and back chair suitable for a first upholstery project?
The seat is, but the padded back is a genuine step up. Practising on a drop in seat pad first is worthwhile before tackling a full chair.