Leather Upholstery

For a woodworker, upholstery can be intimidating. It’s hard to know what you want, until you can clearly explain the finer points. Even if you have no intention of doing the actual upholstery work yourself, it’s helpful to familiarize yourself with upholstery styles and terms so you can order precisely what you want from an upholsterer. We’ll use the bow-arm rocker (page 28) as an example.

Frame and Foam

You’ll need a simple wooden seat frame, sized ¼" smaller in all directions that the chair opening. The frame is made from 2" wide x 7/8" thick hardwood and joined with half-laps. Round over the inside and outside edges of the seat frame with a ¼" router bit to protect the upholstery. Now add jute webbing to the seat frame. The only special tools you need for this step are a webbing stretcher, and magnetic tack hammer (or