FAQ: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
About thegirlwithahammer.com
What is thegirlwithahammer.com?
Thegirlwithahammer.com is a website 100% focused on upholstery. It helps self-learning and is a useful e-learning resource for upholsterers who can’t find open workshops to keep learning on site. It offers a community upholstery forum, blog articles and project posts available to all, and a premium membership giving full access to 80+ step-by-step video tutorials.
Where can I find your upholstery tutorials?
All tutorials are exclusively available to members on thegirlwithahammer.com. If someone elsewhere is claiming to offer Céline Vanier’s video tutorials, it is not me. I am also occasionally on YouTube but the full library lives here, behind membership.
How often do you publish tutorials?
Every week. Thanks to your monthly subscription you collectively allow me to spend real time on tutorials. Members get at least 4 tutorials and tips videos every week, plus a major video tutorial on a special technique every month. If something interesting is happening in my workshop, I share it.
Can I download your content?
No, the content on this website is not downloadable. The price is affordable so you can stay as long as you need and come back whenever a project requires it.
Do you give upholstery classes outside France?
It is not in my immediate plans but if a great opportunity comes up I could definitely export myself to teach outside France. In the meantime the online tutorial library is the best way to learn from me wherever you are in the world.
Do you have an upholstery book?
Not yet, but maybe one day. For now everything is in video format on this website. I am an avid collector of upholstery books and love sharing my feedback on the best ones. See my professional upholstery books recommendations and upholstery books for beginners.
About Céline Vanier
How did you become an upholsterer?
I became an upholsterer after 4 years as an apprentice working in an upholstery workshop while going to school at the same time. Then I opened my own upholstery shop, Le Boudoir des Etoffes, in Annecy, France in 2012.
What makes a good upholsterer?
A good upholsterer is able to create or restore any kind of upholstered furniture: sofas, armchairs, dining chairs, headboards, cushions and more. Beyond technique, a good upholsterer has an eye for shape, proportion and fabric, and understands the history of the furniture they are working on.
Where do you find your fabrics?
I run two businesses of my own so I am my own fabric dealer, always chasing new designs among my favourite suppliers. See the list of my favourite fabric brands to work with.
Learning Upholstery: Where to Start
Is upholstery hard to learn?
It depends entirely on the project and where you start. Some upholstery tasks are very accessible for a complete beginner: a drop-in seat, a simple stool, a foam pouf. Others, like a bergère chair or a club chair with sheepskin leather, require years of practice to do well. The key is starting with the right project for your level and building skills in the right order. That is exactly what Guide 1 is designed for.
I want to reupholster my first chair. Where do I even start?
Start with a drop-in seat or a simple stool. These projects teach you the full upholstery sequence without the complexity of arms, backs or curved frames. Once you have completed one project cleanly and understand why each step matters, everything else becomes much more readable. Guide 1 walks you through exactly this, in the right order.
What is the first upholstery project I should do as a complete beginner?
A foam pouf or a drop-in dining chair seat. Both teach you the fundamentals without overwhelming you. A foam pouf has no frame to wrestle with and teaches you how to get a taut, even finish. A drop-in seat introduces you to fabric tension, staple alignment and the correct sequence professionals use on every seat they build.
How long does it take to reupholster a dining chair as a beginner?
A drop-in dining chair seat takes most beginners between 1 and 3 hours for their first attempt. The time drops significantly once you understand the sequence and have done it a couple of times. A full armchair with arms and back is a different matter entirely and is not a beginner project.
Can I learn upholstery at home?
Yes, for a large part of it. You do not need a professional workshop to start learning upholstery. A table, basic tools, and good tutorials are enough for beginner and intermediate projects. What you cannot fully replicate at home is the physical experience of working on large pieces like sofas, or the feedback of a professional eye. That is where the forum and community come in.
Is it better to take an upholstery class or learn online?
Both have their place. An in-person class gives you immediate feedback and physical guidance that is hard to replicate online. But good online tutorials let you learn at your own pace, pause and rewind, and come back to a technique whenever you need it on a real project. The best approach is a combination. Start with structured online tutorials to understand the logic, and take a class if you have access to one for hands-on correction.
How long does it take to become a professional upholsterer?
Studies that lead to a professional qualification can be completed in one to three years. But do not expect to work at a real professional level until you have had at least 4 full years of practice. No one can teach or learn how to become an upholsterer in a short time. Give this craft the time it deserves.
What skills do you need to be an upholsterer?
- Detail-oriented with an eye for shape and proportion
- Knowledge of design and furniture history
- Ability to work with foam, horsehair and natural fibres
- Ability to cover cleanly with fabric across three-dimensional shapes
- Ability to sew by hand and machine
- Knowledge of upholstery tools including staple guns and manual tools
- Knowledge of upholstery materials including fabrics, foams, springs and natural fibres
- Ability to read and interpret furniture structure
- Physical stamina for standing, kneeling and lifting heavy pieces
Upholstery Tools and Materials
What tools do I need to start upholstery?
To start upholstery you need a staple gun, a tack lifter, a mallet, a pair of fabric shears, upholstery pins and a webbing stretcher. A sewing machine becomes essential as soon as you work with piping or cushion covers. See the full basic manual tools guide for details.
Do I really need an air compressor or can I just use a manual staple gun?
A manual staple gun is fine for occasional projects but becomes tiring very quickly on anything larger than a drop-in seat. A pneumatic staple gun powered by an air compressor is the professional standard: faster, more consistent, and much less effort on heavy fabric or thick frames. If you are planning to do more than one or two projects, the compressor is worth the investment. Read the full air compressor guide.
My staples keep falling out. What am I doing wrong?
Usually one of three things: the staple leg is too short for the thickness of fabric and frame, the pressure on your compressor is too low, or the staples are cheap and not matched to your gun. Using the right staple gauge and leg length for the material you are working with makes an enormous difference. See the staple gun guide for specifications.
What is a regulator and what is it used for in upholstery?
A regulator is a long metal spike used in traditional upholstery to redistribute natural fibre filling through the burlap without removing it. It is how you correct lumps, adjust density and refine the shape of a seat before stitching the edge roll. There is no substitute for it in traditional work. Learn how to use a regulator.
What size tacks should I use for upholstery?
Tack sizes vary by application: 10mm and 12mm for fabric, 14mm for spring twine, and 16mm for heavy-duty fixing. Using the wrong size is a common beginner mistake with real consequences for the durability of the finished piece. Read the full tacks guide.
What foam density do I need for a dining chair seat?
For a dining chair seat, you typically need a medium to high density foam, around 35 to 45 kg/m³, firm enough to support sitting without collapsing but comfortable enough for long meals. The thickness depends on the chair design, usually between 4 and 6 cm. Choosing the wrong density is one of the most common reasons a seat goes flat within months.
My seat cushion goes flat after a few months. What did I do wrong?
Almost always a foam density problem. Low-density foam looks identical to professional foam but collapses under regular use within months. Always buy foam from a specialist upholstery supplier and ask for the density specification before purchasing. General craft store foam is rarely appropriate for seating.
Is there a difference between upholstery fabric and normal fabric?
Yes, a significant one. Upholstery fabric is woven to withstand tension, friction and repeated use. It has a higher rub count (measured in Martindale cycles) than decorative fabric. Using fashion or curtain fabric on a seat that sees daily use will result in premature wear, fraying and pulling. Always check the rub count before buying fabric for a chair or sofa.
Where can I buy professional upholstery tools and supplies?
The best source is always a specialist upholstery supplier, not a general hardware or craft store. Specialist suppliers stock professional-grade products and can advise on the right specifications for your project. See the suppliers guide for recommendations.
What are the best upholstery fabric brands?
Here is the list of my favourite fabric brands to work with, from high-end French houses to reliable everyday suppliers.
Upholstery Techniques
What is the difference between traditional and modern upholstery?
Traditional upholstery uses natural materials: jute webbing, coil springs tied by hand, natural fibre padding like horsehair or coir, hessian, and calico. It is time-intensive but produces results that last for decades. Modern upholstery uses foam, elastic webbing, sinuous springs and synthetic materials. It is faster and more accessible for beginners. Many professional upholsterers, including myself, combine both approaches depending on the piece and the client. See Guide 2 for a full breakdown of both methods.
How do I get fabric corners to look clean?
Clean corners come from cutting correctly before you fold, not from trying to force the fabric into shape after. The technique varies depending on whether the corner is square, rounded or angled. Mitered corners, pleated corners and folded corners each have a specific method. See the mitered corner tutorial for the professional method.
Why does my fabric keep pulling on one side?
Uneven pulling almost always comes from stapling in the wrong order or losing the grain of the fabric during tensioning. The professional method is to work from the centre of each side outward, alternating sides as you go, never stapling one full side before the opposite. Keeping the grain straight from the very first staple is essential.
How do you get piping to go around curves without puckering?
Piping puckers on curves when the bias cut is wrong or the cord is too thick for the curve radius. Cutting your piping fabric on the true bias gives it the stretch it needs to ease around curves. For very tight curves, notching the seam allowance helps. See the piping guide for the full technique.
My chair is saggy. Is it the springs or the padding?
It can be either, but the quickest way to tell is to press down firmly on the seat. If it feels like there is nothing underneath and goes flat immediately, the padding has collapsed. If you can feel movement or hear creaking, the springs or webbing have failed. In traditional upholstery, a saggy seat almost always starts with the webbing, which is the foundation everything else sits on.
What is the right way to tie coil springs?
Coil springs are tied in a figure-8 pattern using spring twine, in both directions across the seat, so each spring is secured at four points. The tension must be even across all springs so the seat has a consistent height and feel. An unevenly tied spring deck will rock, squeak or collapse over time. See the springs tutorials for the full method.
How do I strip a chair without breaking it?
Work in reverse order: remove fabric first, then padding, then any foundation layers like hessian or webbing. Use a tack lifter and mallet rather than brute force. Old tacks can be stubborn but prying at an angle rather than straight up avoids splitting the wood. Stripping carefully also tells you exactly how the chair was originally built, which is invaluable information before you rebuild it.
Membership and Tutorials
What is free access on thegirlwithahammer.com?
As a guest, you can read all blog articles, project posts and technique overviews on the site. You can also register for free to participate in the community forum, ask questions, share your work and leave comments. Tutorials are exclusively available to paying members.
What is premium membership?
A monthly subscription giving you full access to the complete tutorial library: 80+ step-by-step video tutorials covering beginner to advanced upholstery, tools and materials guides, supplier recommendations, and complete chair projects from start to finish. Everything a working upholsterer actually uses, explained clearly and in the right order.
How much does membership cost?
€9.99 per month. No commitment, cancel anytime. See the full membership details here.
Will you do sofa tutorials?
Possibly, depending on commissions coming through the workshop. Sofas are complex pieces that require solid experience with chairs first. Let’s start with chairs and armchairs for now. If you have a specific request, leave it in the forum and I will take it into account.
Is upholstery difficult?
It depends on your project and your physical condition. Upholstery can be peaceful and meditative on simple projects, but physically demanding on large pieces. At a professional level it requires the ability to kneel, stand and walk for up to 8 hours a day, and to pull, manipulate and lift heavy objects like armchairs and sofas. If you have existing problems with your back or hands, start gently and check with your doctor before tackling traditional upholstery.