Attaching the fabric

Attaching the Fabric

The Deck

The Inside Arms

The inside Back

If the IB has a welt sewn around the edges, then, at the inside bottom corners (if needed) cut the fabric off the covered welting. You want the welting (including the covering fabric) to be loose from the other fabric enough so that you can stick it through the frame slot at the bottom of the IA. The welting should stick out so that you can grab hold of it at the outside arm.

The Cushion

The best time to fit the cushion is after the inside arms and inside back have been attached, and BEFORE the outside arms are attached. This will give you the ability to adjust the size of the seat area, if needed. For example, if the cushion is a little too big you can put the bottom of the inside arm tighter to increase the distance in between the arms. You can also pull the bottom of the inside back a little tighter, which increases the front to back measurement of the cushion area.

If the cushion is a little too small, then you can take the bottom IB and IA loose and let the fabric out a little. You can also stuff some cotton (neatly and straight) in back of the IA & IB padding from the outside bottom. This will decrease the width and depth of the seat cushion area.

If the old cushion is good enough condition, put it onto the deck to see how it fits. If it fits fairly well, you can take apart the cushion cover and use it as a pattern for the new cushion. If the cushion is too big or too small, make marks on the old cushion to show how much will need to be added to or cut off the old cushion cover.

The Outside Arms

If you are adding a skirt, and if you need to add wood to the area where the inside arms pull through, this is the time to add that wood.

Attach the top of the OA fabric first. Lay the OA fabric inside out over the inside arm. Attach both ends first, then straighten the top edge of the fabric as you put a few staples across the top. Now attach a cardboard strip across the top, keeping it straight. Put the staples near the upper edge of the cardboard strip.

To add padding, use burlap or other strong fabric and staple to outide arm. Add layer of cotton or bonded dacron over the burlap. (If the padding is thick, you can often split it and only use a half thickness to pad the outside arm. Also, if the sofa has a skirt, only pad the area above the skirt. The staples used to attach the skirt will hold better if you don' t have the additional thickness of the cotton

Now unfold  the OA fabric down from over the IA. Line up the weave of the OA fabric with the frame at the front of the arm, then staple the center bottom under the sofa. If the sofa has a facing staple the bottom of the OA fabric around the front of the arm. Alternatively, if the sofa uses a tack strip at the front edge, put that in now. Next pull and staple the OA rear bottom fabric, tacking up all the slack at the back and bottom of the OA..

The Outside Back

The Skirt