apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

It probably is possible - but I'd only have a professional who is experienced w/ Mid-Century pieces do it...
...and rather than a pattern (I've seen it done, and the results are tragic) I'd stick with a brightly colored solid - say a Lime Green or Coral colored Wool or Felt.

You may not want to reupholster, as even the knockoffs can be fairly valuable if they're in decent condition. Just reconditioning the leather might be fine.

Either way I do recommend a specialist in mid-century furniture. Try HumeModern.com, and try googling "Eames chair restoration" for a ton of links.

Oonly a professional could do this type of upholstery work.

These chairs by Plycraft or Selig are easy to reupholster. I've done five so far, plus ottomans. Remove the inner shells, which are made of thin plywood, by taking out the screws on the outside and gently prying the shells loose. Remove the old vinyl or leather and welt. Use them for patterns when cutting the new material.

I have always used leather that I get on Ebay for around $90-150 per hide including shipping. Kysonleather is the best seller that I know of. Fabric just doesn't look right to me on these chairs. A 50-sq-ft hide is enough for the chair and ottoman if you lay out the pieces carefully. Don't forget to allow for long strips for the welt.

Replace any foam that is detiorated. Cut leather pieces about 2 inches bigger in each direction than the original pieces. Stretch them over the foam and inner shell and staple to the shell. I use an electric staple gun and 3/8" staples.

Make welt by cutting 2 1/4" wide strips of leather, then wrap it around welt cord from any fabric store. Glue with rubber cement or sew by machine with a zipper foot and a leather needle. Staple to the edge of the inner shell so that the welt sticks out just past the shell edge. It is meant to cover any gap between the inner and outer shell.

For the armrests, just wrap the leather around to the underside and staple into place. The hardest part is getting the folds of leather even and neat.

I have developed a way to make covered buttons but it's a pain in the neck to do and I would recommend just having some made by an upholsterer. Thread venetian blind cord (or tufting twine if you can get it) through each button and onto a long upholstery needle. Poke the needle straight through the cushion to the hole in the inner shell and draw the cords through. Pull button to the desired depth and staple the cord ends onto the outside of the inner shell.

Finally, stick the inner shells into the outer shells and screw into place.

If you're looking for a professional to do the job, Retro Redo specialized in this kind of thing. Check out the Eames knockoff they did in purple vinyl! Grotesque, yes, but in the best possible way -- and well-done.

I've seen an Eames Lounge reupholstered in with floral print and it was NOT at all easy on the eye. Just my $.02.

On the TV show "House", Hugh Laurie's character has one in what appears to be an ivory, very wide wale corduroy. I covet the chair. Having seen it, I won’t consider the leather version anymore. I still love the shape of the piece, but I now think the black leather looks way too heavy and somber.

Yes, you can do this and you don't need to be an upholstery specialist.

My husband and I reupholstered the same sort of Eames knockoff chair and ottoman about 10 years ago. What spanky described is pretty much how we did it, except I didn't use any rubber cement or glue for the piping, just staples. The most tedious part for me was sewing a bazillion yards of piping to go around the edges of the upholstered part.

We used a geometric print. The set gets lots of compliments and most people assume that we paid a pro to do it.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if we wanted to change the look of the set. I know how to sew, but this was our first upholstery project.

Thanks, everyone! This is going to be my on-going project for a while, I suspect, but I'll send in results if they are sufficiently awesome.