Guide 2 · Step 3 · Padding
Padding: where comfort and shape begin
In short: padding gives a seat its shape and its comfort. There are two families: modern padding with foam, wrapped in Dacron, and traditional padding, built in layers of natural fibres (coir, tow, horsehair, cotton felt) held with twine and stitched edges. Foam is faster, more accessible and the best place to start. Traditional padding is for the more daring, and for period chairs restored the way they were made.
The webbing and the springs were structure. Padding is where the eye starts to see the shape, and where the hand of the upholsterer becomes truly visible.
Find your tutorial
Which padding for your project?
Modern · Start here
Foam padding
Drop-in seats, small chairs, edge rolls, front edges and arms.
Modern · Projects
Foam pouffes
Round pouffes, with or without a wooden structure.
Traditional · For the daring
Natural fibres
Stitched seats, square angles, horsehair arms and well backs.
Cushions
Cushion interiors
Feather and down, simple fibre interiors and 3-layer seat cushions.
| Foam padding | Traditional padding | |
|---|---|---|
| Materials | Foam, Dacron, edge roll, wadding | Coir, tow, horsehair, cotton felt, hessian, twine |
| Best for | Modern pieces, drop-in seats, pouffes, seats under a loose cushion | Period chairs, stitched edges, restorations that respect the original |
| Look | From sharp and graphic to soft and generous, depending on the layers | Domed seat, crisp stitched edges |
| Skill | More accessible, but cutting and layering take care | Takes practice: stuffing, regulating, stitching |
| Time | Faster | Longer |
Quick guide by piece
- Dining chair with a drop-in seat: Foam: start with, changing the foam on a dining chair.
- Small chair or flat wooden back: Foam on a wooden frame, or fibres the easy way, see the tutorial.
- Cabriolet or Voltaire armchair: A built-up stuffed seat, traditional or in foam with edge roll, see the tutorial.
- Bergère, sofa or seat with a loose cushion: A front foam edge, then a well-made cushion interior, the bergère guide.
- Pouffe: Foam, with or without a wooden structure, see the projects.
Before you start: the padding can only be as good as what sits underneath. Not done yet? Webbing and springs. On a sprung seat, the padding refines the shape over an already resilient base; without springs, it must create both the support and the comfort, directly on the webbing, so it is built thicker.
Modern · The best place to start
Modern padding with foam
Foam is not one single thing: density, firmness, thickness and the way layers are combined give very different results. A single dense block gives a firm, graphic seat; softer foam on top with Dacron around reads as a deep, generous cushion. Learn how to choose it in which foam for upholstery, and see every material in the materials guide.
Tools for foam padding
- Electric carving knife or foam cutter: a sharp blade makes all the difference on thick blocks.
- Contact or foam spray glue: to bond foam layers and fix foam to the frame or edge roll.
- Edge roll: for a firm, defined perimeter, needed when the foam is higher than 5 cm (2 in).
- A staple gun: to fix Dacron and calico to the frame.
- Scissors and a long ruler: always take a template of the seat first, so the foam fits from the first cut.
Changing the foam on a dining chair
The most common foam job, and the one most people attempt first. Remove the old foam cleanly, choose the right density for daily use, cut it to the frame and finish with Dacron: a simple project that transforms a chair.
How to reupholster a dining chair seat for beginners (drop-in seat)
Padding a wooden frame with foam
A simple, efficient method for a small chair, a back or any flat wooden surface: foam selection, cutting, fixing and finishing with Dacron. A great first foam project.
How to cover a chair with a solid wooden seat
A foam seat with edge roll on an armchair
The complete process on a cabriolet, with or without springs: the edge roll creates a clean perimeter before the foam goes on, for a firm seat with edges that hold their line.
How to do a foam seat with edgeroll
A front foam edge for seats with a loose cushion
On sofas, bergères and deep armchairs, the front edge of the seat needs its own foam build to support the cushion and give the piece its shape.
How to create a front edge platform
Arms with foam
The easiest way to pad the arms of a cabriolet or a bergère.
The easiest way to upholster arms with foam
A round foam pouffe
No frame, no springs, no webbing: just foam, cut and assembled into a solid form, then wrapped and covered. One of the most satisfying projects to make from scratch.
How to make a foam pouf
A round pouffe on a wooden structure
When the pouffe has a wooden base, the foam works with the structure rather than replacing it: how to pad and shape the curves for a smooth result.
Rounded stool tutorial (wooden structure)
Traditional · For the more daring
Traditional padding with natural materials
Slower, and it takes practice, but it is the way period chairs were made, and there is nothing like a hand-stitched seat. It is built in layers, each with its own role: coir or vegetable tow as a first stuffing for volume, horsehair as a second stuffing for refinement and resilience, then cotton felt or skin wadding to smooth everything before the fabric. Understanding why the layers exist lets you adapt them to any piece. All the fibres are explained in traditional stuffing with natural fibres.
Tools for traditional padding
- Curved and straight mattress needles: for bridle ties, edge rolls and through-stitching.
- The regulator: a long metal spike to redistribute and even out the filling through the hessian, to correct lumps and refine the shape before stitching.
- Upholstery twine: for bridle ties and edge stitching.
- Jute hessian: as the first layer over the springs or webbing.
- Pins and scissors: to hold layers while you work, and trim hessian, calico and wadding cleanly.
The traditional stitched seat
Built in stages. The first stuffing, anchored with bridle ties sewn into the hessian, creates the basic volume and dome: getting the density and the crown right here saves a lot of correction later. The stitched edge roll, built into the padding with a long mattress needle and twine, gives a firm edge that holds its shape under the fabric. The junctions between the front edge and the sides are the trickiest points to get clean.
First stuffing on a cabriolet chair
How to stitch a square angle
A perfectly crisp corner that holds its shape needs a specific stitching sequence and a precise use of the regulator, broken down step by step.
Arms with horsehair
Arms are smaller and more curved than seats, and the padding must stay in place without bulk. This tutorial builds the arms of a cabriolet with horsehair over a calico base, a technique that applies to many classic French and English chairs.
How to create arms with horsehair
The well back
The padded inner back of a fully upholstered armchair has its own logic: built evenly on a vertical surface, held securely, and shaped to receive the fabric without shifting. From the first layer to the finished calico.
Well back tutorial
Coming soon
Padding a small chair with fibres, the easy way
Not every chair needs the full traditional build. For small salon chairs and simple seats, a faster approach gives a clean, comfortable result: ideal for a first real piece.
Cushions
Cushion interiors: seat and scatter cushions
A loose cushion is only as good as what is inside it. The interior decides the shape, the feel, and whether the cushion still looks plump after months of use. You can make it yourself, or order a made-to-measure interior from a supplier.
Feather and down: a baffled interior
The most luxurious option, with a yielding feel foam cannot replicate. The key is the construction: internal walls called baffles keep the feathers evenly spread and stop the cushion going flat in the centre.
How to create a feather seat cushion
A simple fibre or feather interior
The most versatile interior: a fabric case filled with polyester fibre or feathers. How much filling, how to sew it, and how to get a plump look without overstuffing. For scatter cushions, back cushions and any soft, relaxed feel.
How to sew a simple inside cushion
A 3-layer seat cushion for comfort and shape
For seat cushions that must hold their shape under load, on a sofa, a deep armchair or a window seat: a firm foam core for support, a softer foam or fibre wrap for comfort, and a final Dacron layer for a generous, slightly rounded silhouette.
How to create a perfect 3 layers foam seat cushion
Premium Membership · Your padding, checked
Not sure your dome is even? Show me
With the Premium Membership, you send me a photo or a short video of your padding on WhatsApp, and I answer you personally, as if you were at my workbench.
Padding: your questions
Traditional padding or foam: which is better?
Neither is better in itself. Foam is faster, more accessible and the right choice for most projects, especially to start. Traditional padding respects period chairs and gives stitched, domed seats: keep it for when you want a challenge.
Can I pad a seat without springs?
Yes. The padding then sits directly on the webbing and must create both the support and the comfort, so it is built thicker.
When do I need an edge roll with foam?
When the foam padding is higher than 5 cm (2 in): the edge roll gives a firm, defined perimeter that keeps the seat’s line.
What is a regulator used for?
To move and even out the stuffing through the hessian, without taking it out: it corrects lumps and refines the shape before stitching. See how to use a regulator.
Which is the easiest padding project to start with?
Changing the foam on a dining chair seat, then a foam pouffe or a small chair. All beginner projects are in Guide 1.
What comes next
The seat has its shape. Now comes the part everyone sees
Step 4
Covering
Fabric placement, tension, cuts at the legs and arms, pleats and corners: where all the previous work becomes visible.
Covering tutorials →
Step 5
Finishing
Piping, braid, double piping and decorative nails: the details that define the quality of the final piece.
Finishing tutorials →
Not sure which foam density or natural fibre suits your project? See the upholstery materials guide.
The Hammer Club
Every technique, in full
Step-by-step photo tutorials, many with video, on real pieces from my atelier, to follow at your own pace.
Part of Guide 2: core upholstery techniques.
Written by Céline Vanier, running her own upholstery atelier by Lake Annecy for more than 15 years.
