Ever Wanted To Make Your Own Sofa ? The guide - Stage 1 of 2.

Now before we begin I must explain this isn't for everyone, a number of different skills are needed and these vary by the choice of sofa as explained below.

• Part 1. Choose a style of Sofa

A vintage leather sofa (a traditional chesterfield sofa) requires a buttoning technique known as deep buttoning and can be considered advanced upholstery for even skilled upholsterers. This skill is primarily a trait that has been mastered by many Northern Furniture Manufacturers partly due to the North of England being the primary location and home of the industrial revolution and historically a centre for the UK textiles movement of generations past. Whilst grand in nature the Chesterfield sofa a pinnacle skill to master for all upholsterers, a simple ‘boxy’ or compact sofa is a better starting point for beginners.

• Part 2. Choose a Material

The choice of material i.e. leather or fabric will impact on the way the sofa is cut, sewn and upholstered, with each stage requiring unique skills applied to the choice of material used. The difference in production affect the amount of material needed, and this can be dramatically increased or reduced with experience. Cutting yields on leather can affect the cost of production by up to 25%. An experienced leather cutter must work around natural hide variations, scars and marks, whilst minimising waste from the irregular shapes of the hides the only way to create real leather sofas.

Different constraints affect a fabric cutter. It is suggested that if you are learning how to cut fabric you should start with a decent weight fabric with a width of approx. 140cm. A large area to roll our the cloth is required, and patterns for the furniture should be worked into the roll, again in efforts to minimise waste. A plain fabric whilst easier to use that a patterned fabric (no pattern match) will still need to be cut appropriately with considerations to the direction of the pile. The pile is often referred to as the direction of the fabric, and should be consistent. To find the direction of the pile of the fabric run your hand over the cover and then reverse the direction. By brushing the pile, you will see a change in colour, and this is also achieved when fabric pieces are sown together with the piles in different directions. This should be avoided especially with fabrics of a heavy pile as the effect and result is the creation of a multi shaded piece of furniture.

To cut leather for your sofa you will require a sharp knife and for a fabric sofa a good pair of scissors.

• Part 3. Choose your stitch preference.

Not only is there differences in how the material is cut, but also the way the material is sewn also differs as leather is often twinned or double stitched requiring a unique sewing machine known as a twinner (twin needle). Fabric sofas can be twinned but are more commonly made with a top stitch or standard stitch more akin to the finish you would expect to see on a well made pair of curtains.

STAGE 2 CONTINUED HERE - HOW TO MAKE A SOFA STAGE 2