Re-upholster settee's?

gatita

I have a fantastically comfortable 3 piece suite (Christie-Tyler) the quality is really superb and refuses to wear out, unfortunately the upholstery is getting very worn and a bit tatty, I would just love to get it re-upholstered. Does anyone know if this would be possible and indeed if it is worth it? any suggestions would be great. I live in the S. West UK.

in_my_wellies

I live in the Midlands and I had a 3 piece done about 6 months ago. It cost £1850 which sounds a lot but it is an excellent suit. We shopped around and to be honest we could have bought one cheaper but it would have been poorer quality and may not have lasted that long. The one we have is 22 years old (wedding ann tomorrow!) and stayed the same throughout its life except for the fabric. To buy one of the same quality would have been about £4000, so on that basis we saved 50%.
We went to a small local company. He was happy to show us examples of his work each time I popped in. He loaned us, for free of course, a small 3 piece whilst he was doing ours.

Did you find the same as us when looking for new - if you don't want leather and a low back then the choice is NIL!!

gatita

Hi Wellies,

Crikey that is expensive:eek: but there is a lot of work involved and of course the cost of the material. How I agree with you regarding :

"Did you find the same as us when looking for new - if you don't want leather and a low back then the choice is NIL!!"

My suite is also umpteen years old, but the seats, (foam)and back cushions (feather) haven't lost any of their shape at all, quite amazing. I have a friend that bought a sofa from Argos about 10 months ago, and it is ready to throw out! I would love to have it recovered, but don't think I can afford that, ah well, at least I tried.
Thank you for your reply.

in_my_wellies

Hi Gatita,
Don't be put off! Our suite really is very big and the fabric cost £25 a metre. It needed 30 metres, partly because the pattern we chose was large. Plain would have been 24 metres, so £150 less. So our fabric must have cost £750. He also replaced the seat cushions. I think foam Is expensive so you would save on that.
I'm sure someone would do an free estimate.

My mum worked as a soft furnisher for 50 years, so as you can imagine we were worried what she would think of the standard. I didn't want her to offer to loose cover it at her age! Loose covers cost about the same if they are done properly and I do appreciate the work that goes into them. (She had me making the piping cord when I was 5 and had to sit on a cushion to reach the machine - ha ha) Anyway she though it was brill.
I really must get the curtains finished

Julie

Jazzy_B

When I needed new covers, I got 2 reupholsterers to give me quotes. I was amazed at how much they wanted to charge. I ended up buying a good quality smaller new one for the same price, and put my old suite into an auction.
A friend of mine actually made covers herself, armed with a book from the library. They're brilliant, and don't look home made at all.