Core Upholstery Techniques
This guide helps you understand how upholstery really works. At this stage, you stop following a single project and start understanding the logic behind each technical step.
Use this page as a map. When you’re unsure what comes next, or where to look for a specific technique, this is where you come back.
Coming from the basics? Start with simple upholstery projects: Upholstery for Beginners: Guide 1.
Jump to a step:
Strip & Prepare ·
Webbing ·
Springs ·
Padding ·
Covering & Finishing
Step 0 — Strip & Prepare
Every upholstery project starts here. Before rebuilding a seat, you need to understand how it was originally made.
This stage teaches you how to strip an upholstered piece properly, how to read the layers, and how to assess the structure underneath.
It’s also where you learn to slow down, observe, and document what you remove.
Good preparation avoids mistakes later and helps you rebuild a seat the right way, not just a way that “works”.
Step 1 – Webbing
Webbing is the foundation of any upholstered seat. It supports everything that comes next and plays a major role in long-term comfort.
Here, you learn how different webbing methods work, when to use them, and how tension affects durability.
This is also where many beginner mistakes happen, often without being noticed until much later.
Understanding webbing properly changes the way you approach the entire seat.
Step 2 – Springs
Springs bring structure, support, and resilience. They are not just about bounce, but about balance and stability.
In this section, you learn how different spring systems work, how placement affects comfort, and why tying is not decorative but functional.
Once this logic clicks, springs stop being intimidating and start making sense.
Step 3 – Padding
Padding is where comfort and shape are built. It’s also where upholstery becomes very personal.
At this stage, you explore both traditional padding techniques using natural materials such as horsehair and vegetal fibres,
and modern approaches using foam and contemporary materials. You learn how each method behaves, what kind of comfort it creates,
and when one approach makes more sense than the other.
This section helps you understand how to build layers, manage volume, and prepare a seat properly before covering.
Traditional and modern techniques are not opposites here.
Step 4 — Covering & Finishing
This is where all previous work becomes visible. Covering is not about pulling fabric tight, it’s about method, order, and precision.
Here, you learn how to approach covering step by step, how to manage corners and curves, and how small details such as piping, alignment, and tension affect the final result. This is often the stage that separates a homemade look from a professional finish.
What comes next?
Once these steps are clear, following full chair projects becomes much easier. Everything connects,
and each technique finally has a place and a purpose.
If you still feel unsure at the very beginning, go back to
Upholstery for Beginners: Guide 1.