Last week I shared the first of the two part series on How To Upholster a Bench Cushion + Tufting the first of many post to come on our Master Bedroom Revamp Project. Today, I’m going to share how we got to the finished product.
At the end of last week’s post I mentioned that we decided to tuft the bench. That meant a trip to the store to purchase 7/8 inch 2 Half Ball Cover Buttons. These are metal buttons that you can cover. We took a small strip of our fabric for the bench and began tracing around the circle template provided. I’ll be sharing a video later this week on how to easily create fabric cover buttons.
Once our buttons were covered we were ready to get on to the bulk of the bench project.
Mr. Woodsy took out the roll of fabric and began measuring around the sides to see how much we would need. Then he boldly cut the fabric.
Then brainstormed on how to thread the buttons through the bench!
Thats when he tackled it head on! Use the hole already formed at the bottom and bring the upholstery needle through the top. Hold on to the fabric because at this point you don’t want your fabric to move.
Carefully bring the upholstery needle and twine through the fabric.
This is what the twine & upholstery needle will look like through the fabric.
Once the twine is through the fabric; remove the upholstery needle and thread the button.
Then place the upholstery needle back on to the twine so you can bring the twine back through the fabric.
Carefully, bring the twine and upholstery needle back through the bottom of the bench.
Your first button is complete! Now, repeat however many times you need to in order to complete your bench.
This is what your bench should look like. We did not fasten the button at this point nor did we attach the fabric to the bench. The first goal was to get all the buttons through the fabric.
He then repeated the step multiple times.
Feeding the twine and upholstery needle through the thick foam and fabric.
This is what it looked like before the buttons were pulled and secured. You can see a little bit of the twine peaking underneath the beige fabric.
This is what it looked like once the buttons/twine were pulled through.
Carefully roll the bench over.
Begin stapling each set of twined buttons.
1 staple worked just fine for each of our tufted buttons.
*Make sure that you pull your buttons evenly or else some of your buttons will be shallow and others will be deep into the cushion.
Next, hammer the staples down making sure that they are securing the twine as best as possible.
Now, we can begin wrapping the fabric around the bench!
Which ever way you decide to wrap the corners make sure you keep it consistent on all four corners!
Once the end fabric was stapled in place it was time to cut the excess fabric from the corner and pull the corner piece of fabric in place.
This is what our finished corners looked like. Each one looked exactly the same.
Once the fabric was finished being secured its time to take the interfacing and make a bottom to your bench so you can’t see the 5 million and 1 staples!
We kept the old bottom so Mr. W just traced the new piece of interfacing.
Then, once again, began shooting staples into the interfacing/bench. Pulling tightly as he worked his way around the bench.
This is how the bottom of the bench looked.
And here is what our “brand new” bench looks like now!
A world of a difference from the old bench. I’m still debating about rubbing a little blue on to the legs!
I’m so thankful that we can keep this bench in the family! I’m sure this won’t be the benchs’ last time it will be recovered!
Comments & Reviews
martha says
question: my sister helped me make a beautiful yellow damask cover for my 3″ thick 72″x24″ foam cushion for our large bay window seat. We have it velcroed closure. I am thinking of the tufted buttons that I made and unsure how to pull the buttons through just the fabric without causing damage to the seams already sewed in place. Any suggestions are surely welcomed because this will be my first attempt at tufted buttons. The only reason I am nervous is that all tutuorials online are shown with some wood backing.
Katie says
Hi Martha, thank you for stopping by Sew Woodsy. Not sure how to tuft with out securing the twine to a piece of plywood. You may want to consider adding a thin piece of plywood to the bottom of your cushion and then securing tufts that way. OR maybe try adding a toggle like closure to the bottom of the cushion to secure the twine; however, I’m not sure how you could get a tight “tuft” with that style of method. Good luck!
Jane says
I know this post is old, but thought I’d reply anyway:) you can use a regular button on the under side part of the tuft on a window seat cushion. The button helps the twine/thread stay tight when you don’t have a board to staple it to. My tufted chair is like this and I’ve fixed popped tufted buttons this way and it works!
Katie says
Jane thank you so much for the tip! Great to know for future tufting projects!
Laurel says
LOVE the fabric! Where did you get it?
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Hi Laurel, thank you for the kind comments. I got the fabric at a whole sale fabric store here in Orlando Florida. It’s called Home Fabric & Decor. Not sure if they are a national whole sale chain. I got it for $9.99 a yard–if I would have went to a big box store I would have paid $20+ per yard!
Mugsy42 says
I am upholstering a bench that has a wooden top. I’d like to tuft the fabric as well. Before I cover the top with foam and batting I guess I would go ahead and drill the holes in the wood before having to drill through all of the layers. Who wants to drill through foam?
Didn’t the old buttons get in the way? I would have removed those.
Love all the pictures. Easy to read and understand.
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Hi Laura,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, you will want to drill through the wood first, then the foam. We ended up removing all of the old buttons from the bench prior to re-tuffting. Glad you found our tutorial useful.
Amy says
That’s just lovely! I’ve only ever tufted a memo board but this is great inspiration!
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Thanks Amy! It’s not too difficult if you put your mind too it!
carolyn - homework says
Fantastic! I love seeing the pics of Mr. Woodsy with the needle and thread. Wonderful bench transformation.
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
lol… at least it’s a manly thick needle and thick twine! lol. He’s a pretty good sport. He knows how to use my cricut and he has hopped on my sewing machine before to get something mended. He is all around amazing.
Claire says
Wow! The bench redo looks amazing and SO professional! I have a blanket box that I would like to add a cushion top to but I don’t think it’s the right style for tufting : ) Great tutorial!
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Thanks Claire! I know it looks like we bought it–yet we did it ourself!
Bridgette says
Wow, I love that! Great pics of the process too!! Visiting from Sew Much Ado’s WDIW link up. Love your blog! 🙂
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Thanks Brdigette for the kind comments!