Name: Recovering the Ikea Tullsta Chair
Brand: sewwoodsy.com
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Recovering the Ikea Tullsta Chair

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This post may contain affiliate links.This project has been a labor of love for sadly over two and a half years now! I finally finished the chair in September before we left for our vacation. I was determined to finish it because frankly I’m tired of hearing Mr. Woodsy complain about it not being done. We bought this chair used from a friend who was moving out of town for a whopping $25! The Tullsta chair retails at ikea for new for $200! I knew how good of deal we got; however, our friend had cats and the chair was a little beat up. I had been looking for a chair for the craft room for a while and figured we could easily recover this chair with a fabric that matched the color scheme I had planned in the craft room. Shortly, after buying the chair I fell in love with inexpensive canvas fabric for a whopping $3 a yard. I bought 5 yards praying that it would be enough to cover the chair. Thankfully, it was!Please keep in mind that these pictures were taken over 2 years ago. My photography has improved immensely since then.Supplies:5 yards of fabricInvisible Ink PenRulerSewing MachinePins/Pin CushionScissorsStaple Gun / HammerThe first thing we did was remove the existing clawed-up covering from the chair. We used the covering as our pattern to recreate the new cover. I would like to make note that I think the chair sat like this in our pool table room for a good 6 months!We laid out the fabric I chose and began tracing around each panel. This was Mr. Woodsy’s job in the project. I have no patience for this and got confused in less than a second. He did an amazing job tracing/cutting out to ensure all pieces fit together.Mr. Woodsy would trace around the existing cover, and would cut out each piece as he drew it.This is what it would like after he traced around the existing cover.The first piece of fabric was cut! He would lay each piece of fabric on the chair where it belonged.Then he cut out the two front arm pieces.Next up, it was my turn to finally start sewing some of the chair. Mr. Woodsy traced, cut, and placed the fabric where I needed to sew it.Almost, one year later and I finally began to sew the actual cover together.Pins galore… I found myself constantly stopping and checking where I needed to sew next.This is what it looked like as I sewed each part of the cover.We semi-completed the chair back in May. That was until I attempted to finish off the last part of the chair. The cushion. Mr. Woodsy left it to me to cut out the cloth and sew it. MAJOR FAIL on my behalf. I put the zipper on the flat slide not the curved side and well… the rest was history. This is the only picture I’m showing of the cushion because I had made an epic fail. So I tucked in slip cover for the cushion into the chair and left it like that for a few months. In August/September, I finally tackled my fears. Well, Mr. Woodsy took apart what I needed to fix and well, it actually came out pretty good. Including the zipper on the curved back end.Going back to the chair cover. This is what it looked like before we began stapling it to the frame.Not gonna lie. I’ve impressed myself with this complex re-upholstering job!The first thing we did was staple the cover to the bottom of the chair frame.Next up, staple the inside of the cover to the inside of the chair.This is how it looked almost complete.Adding the bottom half to the chair made it almost complete!Close up of all the staples. It was after this project when we wished we had a pneumatic staple gun.Mr. Woodsy added the backing to the bottom of the chair. This is one thing we salvaged from the old chair.Last of the staples!We found that for some reason the staples were not going all the way into the chair. So after every few staples, Mr. Woodsy would use a hammer to push them down into the chair.Place the legs on the chair.So, what do you think? I don’t think most people who see the chair even realize that we re-upholstered it.Have you ever re-upholstered a piece of furniture? Did it take you over 2 years like us?&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you so much Katie for sharing how you guys did this! Awesome!Replyyes! i had a small upholstering business for a long time. people around our small town would send me a lot of work. just wanted to let you know that i know upholstering and that chair looks greaaaaat. i love the fabric [where did you get it?], even tho it took 2 loooong years you did a wonderful job. looks professional, beautiful fabric, beautiful chair, you did one great job here..ReplyWow, I don’t think I would ever take a project like this one, but you did a magnificent job! Congrats!!ReplyIt looks great! Great motivation to get me going 🙂ReplyWow! You guys did an incredible job on this. I am very interested in upholstery but have never attempted it.I love that you and your husband work together on projects. My husband and I do the same thing and it’s so much fun!ReplyMr. Sew Woodsy is a great sport! 😉 I love that fabric (I have some of it for my outdoor cushions) it is beautiful and a great tutorial!ReplyWOW. I am super impressed. I have never tackled a furniture reupholster. You actually made me feel like I can do it. Thanks for the inspiration!ReplyYou had me at paisley. Awesome job, both of you!suzyReplyYou all seriously did an amazing job on this! That fabric is beautiful!ReplyWhat a pretty and comfy looking chair!ReplyOh this looks so great! Beautiful fabric choice and great tutorial. Love it.ReplyAll good things come to those who wait and this is a GOOD Thing!! I love the paisley print and the step out photos are great. Mr. Woodsy is now a master of upholstery 🙂 I am showing this to my Mr. who has a hankering to “make” a couch that our animals can’t destroy…I’m banking on the fact that this project will take at least 2 years…you are not alone.TFS!Amy*ReplyWow – looks amazing guys! Love the fabric you chose too! You have waaayyy more patience than me! I have been thinking of making slipcovers for our wood kitchen chairs and I keep talking myself out of it – cause it seems way to hard and scary!ReplyI love, love, love what you have done with this chair!!!! I have been wanting to cover our tullsta but haven’t been brave enough. Did you happen to keep the pattern? and would you be willing to share?ReplyI’m so glad I came across this post, I found a Tullsta in the trash tonight and your post will definitely help with the reupholstering. It seems to be in pretty good shape, no funky smells but some stains. I had initially thought of covering the chair without removing the old fabric (didn’t know I could!) but now that I see how it’s done I’m definitely going to do it the right way. Thanks a bunch!ReplyWell done. It takes me a few years to do things, all on the back burner as any great procrastinator would do. This is why I keep everything, most things anyway. Your chair looks fab, like new. Great inspiration, though I’m not up to it right now, I want breakfast…ReplyI was so happy to see this article. We have a pair of original barrel style chairs (only the legs are different) that my daughter and I will be recovering when we locate the fabric we like at a reasonable price.ReplyI have this chair. Two actually. My husky mix adores one of them so much he has marked one in various ways. Thank you for documenting your love/hate relationship with the reupholster! It gives me hope!ReplyWow! Can I have your cutting table?! haha 🙂 I have so many projects that sit forever, too!ReplyI realise I am a couple of years late posting this, however you have inspired me. I have a chair that has been sitting in my lounge for two years waiting to be recovered (my husband is in despair) and I started on it a few weeks ago ………….. only to find it extremely daunting so have left it ripped apart in the same spot (my husband is now threatening to burn it). I just needed a little inspiration, thank you.ReplyHey! Thanks for posting your DIY! 2 of these chairs popped up on my local Kijiji, and I was searching to find out how hard they would be to recover (from what I gather, not too hard, just time-consuming :P). What type of fabric did you use? I am fairly new to sewing, so fabrics are still a mystery to me 😛 Thanks again for the inspiration! 😀ReplyYes, I have, long, long, ago; but it was more like two weeks, not two years. We desperately needed the chair! Thinking I’d like to do some more as I’m having trouble finding exactly what I want for a reasonable price for a couple of re-decorating projects. Why pay someone else when I can easily do it myself?ReplyWow! Your chair looks fantastic. Love that fabric. I purchased the same chair ($3.00) a year ago n I’veI’ve been trying to figure out how to rrecover it. I have never done this before so your info is just the incentive I needed. I did change out the legs and replaced with casters so the chair will roll. Hope mine turns out as nice.ReplyThis turned out amazing!!! I just purchased a used Tullsta and I’m excited to try this! One question- when tracing did you add extra room for seam allowance? Or is already accounted for since you are tracing from the inside of the pattern? I always get confused with this! lolthanks!-MIchelleReplyI just redid a very similar chair (after buying it a year ago from a barn sale for $5.00!!) I had a hard time getting the inside back of the chair smooth. How did you get it that way? I didn’t do too bad considering that it was my first try at upholstering. I have another chair on my project list…. a wingback. I have to admit that I’m a little nervous after the other one. Any tips??Replyhttp://pin.it/bLq9pDCIKEA Tullsta chair reupholstering project completed! I wrote you on December 28, 2015 asking for feedback on my project, and am glad to say it’s done. I can’t see how to attach images here, so I copied a link to it on Pinterest. Hope you like it! Sandy R.ReplyFantastic!! So you happen to have the measurements..I know it is a long shot but I am hopefulReplyMy name is Katie Jasiewicz,&nbsp;the author and owner of Sew Woodsy.I’m a busy mom of two children who loves to craft on the go! My mission is to create easy-to-make craft &amp; DIY home projects anyone can make.Let’s unleash your creativity,one project at a time.More About MeSubscribe for all the latest fun in your inbox.Subscribe for all the latest funSew Woodsy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Subscribe for all the latest fun in your inbox.

This post may contain affiliate links.This project has been a labor of love for sadly over two and a half years now! I finally finished the chair in September before we left for our vacation. I was determined to finish it because frankly I’m tired of hearing Mr. Woodsy complain about it not being done. We bought this chair used from a friend who was moving out of town for a whopping $25! The Tullsta chair retails at ikea for new for $200! I knew how good of deal we got; however, our friend had cats and the chair was a little beat up. I had been looking for a chair for the craft room for a...

Recovering the Ikea Tullsta Chair

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