Guide 2 · Step 1 · Webbing
Webbing: the foundation of every great seat
In short: webbing is an interlaced grid of strong straps tacked under a seat or behind a back. It creates the tensioned platform that carries the springs, the padding and the person sitting in the chair. Get it right and the seat lasts decades; get it wrong and it sags within a few years.
Restoring a bergère, redoing a drop-in seat or tackling a fully sprung armchair? Choosing the right webbing and the right technique is the first serious decision of your project.
Find your tutorial
What are you webbing today?
Traditional · Seat
Jute webbing on a seat
With or without springs. The technique every upholsterer must master.
Modern · Seat
Elastic webbing
For foam seats and contemporary pieces.
Back
Webbing a chair back
For large backs like a Voltaire, that must keep their shape.
Tips
Pro tricks
Plump a tired seat, and web a series of drop-in seats faster.
Jute or elastic?
Two families of webbing
The choice depends on your chair, your technique and the result you want.
The classic
Jute webbing
A firm, woven natural-fibre strap used for centuries: the backbone of traditional French and English upholstery, with or without springs.
The modern alternative
Elastic webbing
More forgiving and quicker to install, often found on contemporary pieces. Not a shortcut: another technique, with its own tools, tension logic and fixings.
Need more before you start? Webbing materials · Webbing stretchers · Suppliers
The tutorials
Webbing tutorials
Seat · Traditional
Traditional jute webbing on a chair seat
Best for traditional seats, sprung or not
The fundamental technique. The method stays the same whether your seat will have springs or not, but the position of the webbing changes with the answer: understanding why is the key to a solid foundation. The tutorial also covers frames with protruding legs, a common situation that trips up beginners without the right cut.
Jute webbing tutorial (with cuts to avoid legs)
Traditional webbing on a bergère chair
The bergère is a French classic, a deep, comfortable armchair with a fully enclosed frame. This tutorial webs a bergère without springs: a forgiving structure, with results you see immediately.
Traditional webbing a bergere chair
Seat · Modern
Elastic webbing
Best for foam seats and contemporary pieces
Different tools, different tension logic, different fixings. Used on the right project, elastic gives excellent support and a slightly softer feel. The tutorial covers choosing the right elastic, calculating the tension, and securing the ends so nothing shifts over time.
How to web with elastic webbing
Back
Webbing a chair back
Best for high backs: Voltaire, bergère, wing chairs
Large backs, like the iconic Voltaire armchair, need more than a taut hessian to hold their shape over the years. A webbed back gives the structural depth that thick padding alone cannot: firmer, more comfortable and far more durable. Lighter grid than a seat, same principle, adapted to a vertical surface.
Webbing on the back of a chair
Tips
Webbing tips and pro tricks
Two techniques that save hours at the workbench.
Plump a seat without redoing the padding
One of the most popular techniques in the membership. If a seat has lost its bounce but the padding is still decent, you do not always need to strip everything: a carefully retensioned webbing can restore the plump, lifted shape that makes a seat look new again, without touching the stuffing.
How to plump easily a seat with a new webbing
The drop-in seat series hack
Working on a set of chairs? This small trick saves a lot of time when webbing drop-in seats one after another. Once you know it, you will use it every time.
Webbing tip for drop-in seat serie
Premium Membership · Your webbing, checked
Not sure your tension is right? Show me
With the Premium Membership, you send me a photo or a short video of your webbing on WhatsApp, and I answer you personally, as if you were at my workbench.
Webbing: your questions
Jute or elastic webbing?
Jute for traditional seats, sprung or not; elastic for foam seats and contemporary pieces. It depends on the chair, the technique and the comfort you want.
Does the webbing change if the seat has springs?
The method stays the same, but the position of the webbing changes depending on whether the seat will have springs.
Do I need to web the back?
On large backs, yes: a webbed back holds its shape far better over the years than hessian alone.
Can I fix a saggy seat without stripping it?
Often, yes, if the padding is still in decent condition: retensioning the webbing can bring back its plump shape.
What comes next
Your foundation is solid. Two paths open up
Step 2
Springing techniques
If your chair is designed for springs, learn to position and tie them over your webbing: the mark of a truly traditional restoration.
Go to springs →
Step 3
Padding
For seats without springs, or once your springs are tied: the shape of the seat comes to life, layer by layer.
Go to padding →
The Hammer Club
Every technique, in full
Step-by-step photo tutorials, many with video, to follow at your own pace and come back to whenever you need a refresher.
Part of Guide 2: core upholstery techniques.
Written by Céline Vanier, professional upholsterer established since 2012 on the shores of Lake Annecy, in the French Alps.
