Did you cause the tear? R&B has great customer service and a great return/exchange policy. Even if the tear is your fault, you might be able to have them fix it inexpensively.

This may be covered by the warranty on your couch. I had a tear in an upholstered bench I purchased, and the manufacturer sent me a whole new bench. If you can't get it repaired, you can buy patches in various colors at a fabric/craft store that you can iron on. That would be my first choice. Any stitching will not hold.

You could do this yourself, but the fabric will have to be reinforced. Buy 1/4 yard of denim or twill fabric, as close to the color of your couch that you can find. You should be able to find some twill that is pretty close in color. Buy some thread too, a cotton wrapped polyester is nice and strong and won't tangle easily. Cut a square of the twill larger than the slit (2" longer and 2" wider) and then slide it into the slit, laying it on top of the foam cushion and underneath the tear. Center it so that there's an inch all the way around the tear. Even now, the tear should be much less obvious. Now, take about 8-10 straight pins and pin the square underneath to the couch fabric on top, making sure the edges of the tear are very close to one another, to make sure it doesn't move when you start sewing. Thread the needle and use one strand of thread, and use small stitches to sew each edge of the tear to the underneath twill, one side at a time. Finally, sew the torn edges together with small stitches, being sure to catch the underneath twill too. That should make it nice and strong while also making it much less obvious. If the cushion cover comes off, it would be much easier. Make sense?

This happened to me. I called Room and Board and ordered the amount of fabric I needed to reupholster the back of the sofa (3 yards). You'd have to pay shipping both ways to have them fix it, so you're better off having it repaired locally.

Really nice space you have there! I like your taste!

If the tear is on a seam, then likely it will continue to open up-5 months should be covered by warranty-
This is one of the negatives on buying a tight seat sofa, repairs can be expensive

PS -- is that Vance fabric in Cloud? that's what my sofa is. The fabric was about $40/yd. Very reasonable.

My cats pretty much tore up a chair that had been in perfect condition. Stuffing was hanging out in a bunch of places. This was slightly different because the fabric is patterned, but I got out my sewing kit and sewed up the ripped places, after I stuffed the stuffing back in, matching the thread as best I could to the different colors. At a glance (which is all I needed), it looks much better. And I spray it frequently with cat repellent now.

I can't see that you'd be any worse if you tried to fix it yourself.

I'm terrible at gleaning information from the posted photos, but it looks to me like the seating area is not a cushion that can be removed, right? So any repair has to be done right there, on the couch.

My first thought was how about those iron-on patches or fusible interfacing. Cut a small piece of one of those, insert it into the tear, and iron it so that the two sides of the cut are now bridged by the patch? Does that make sense? Seems like it would support the fabric, preventing more tearing, while being invisible.

I feel your pain--I would do anything to save myself from a re-upholstery expense if I was in your situation.

Upholstery shops simply don't do patches and don't mend fabric the way your grandma would darn your grandfather's socks - They're not going to have the fabric to match and there's no money in it for them for all the effort.

If the furniture company won't do a repair and you want to do a mend on the tear, I'd get out your needle and thread and do it yourself. There's also an AT post a few months ago about doing decorative patches on old upholstered furniture...

If the couch is really less than 5 months old, it should be under a warranty! Geez!

Also, it might be helpful to have a close-up picture of the tear to see how "bad" it actually is.

Lindsay, I have the same sofa from R&B. Recently an upholstery staple worked its way out to create a sharp spot that I did not know how to remove. One call to R&B customer service, and they paid for and sent out a local repair person. I recognize this is a different issue, but I would call Customer Service first, they are great to work with.

Room & Board customer service should be your first call. They usually can fix it or point you in the right direction of who can.

I can't sew, either (believe me I've tried). Iron-on patches might do the trick.

The first thing should be to contact R&B.

On a side note, is this partment featured previously here in AT? It looks very familiar.

I would repair the tear using one of the previously posted techniques. But realistically you will most likely not be able to completely hide the fact that there was a tear. I would consider adding an additional detail to the sofa to camouflage the repair and add an additional design detail. You have red and navy accents within the room. Maybe adding a "racing stripe" to the sofa could be interesting. Run a hand stitched red, navy or even white satin tape trim or ribbon vertically over the tear and maybe up the back (depending on where the tear falls in relation to the tufting). You could take this idea and play with it any number of ways, but it could turn a nice sofa with a tear in it into a custom show piece!

I agree with the above who say check to see if the company will replace the sofa. :-)
However, as for patching, I am a little skeptical. I've worked with torn velveteen cushions before, and the trouble is that is unravels if you don't have a hefty seam allowance.
I think if you absolutely must mend it yourself, AND if the upholstery is cotton, you can manage a pretty good mend- not invisible, but sturdy and not-too-obvious: Buy a large "iron on" denim patch from the fabric store that's large enough to fit under the tear, a pack of upholstery needles and heavy-duty thread matching the couch.
Slide the fusible patch under the tear, fusible side up.
If the cushion is so tightly upholstered that the tear gapes, thread a large needle and, starting at 1" away from the tear, make two parallel lines of stitches to pull the edges of the tear together (like lacing up a shoe). The wide spacing will prevent the fabric from raveling. Gently tighten to pull the edges together smoothly and evenly.
Then, smooth the nap of the velveteen down the right way, and covering the upholstery with a smooth, clean cotton dishcloth (or pillowcase) press the spot with a hot iron to fuse the patch in place from underneath. Practice on a hidden spot first, of course. The trick is to PLACE the iron down, and hold it on one spot for a count of 30 seconds, not slide it around. Do this for the entire area, then let it cool for 5 minutes. Hand stitch line of straight stitches around the tear 1/8 from the raw edge. This will help transfer the strain to the patch and away from the torn fabric. Trim the basting (lacing threads) and then using a curved needle, sew a line of satin stitching over the raw edges of the tear. http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/11/satin-stitch-video-tutorial.html. This will cover the raw edges and help prevent the tear from raveling.
Hope this helps, and good luck!

I would contact RnB's Customer Service, also. I had a similar problem with ripped seams (3 times) on the Petrie sofa I'd purchased from Crate & Barrel. Twice they sent me a new sofa. The third time I asked to have an upholsterer come to the house because I was tired of moving furniture around. I'd bet RnB would replace your sofa - wouldn't hurt to call them.

Hi,

I worked for Room&Board and I would suggest you give them a call. They have a service department that can guide you in the right direction. I use to do service for R&B and trust me and have most of my furniture from them because they stand behind their product.

I don't think you will need the entire sofa recovered. They most likely will have to get you the part you need and someone has to install it. Call R&B today !

Joining the chorus to say, call R&B. They've been very helpful to me even for pieces that are out of warranty.

What kind of mirrors are those above your bed? Where did you get them from?

If R&B can't help, and that would surprise me, another thing to maybe try is asking a carpeting repair service if they could use their special iron and tape to fix the tear. Similar to the suggestions above, they'd put a strip of heat-activated tape meant for carpets (and therefore probably up to dealing with the texture and the heavy wear of upholstery fabric) under the tear and use their iron to melt the glue and secure the sides of the tear together.

We had a couple of cat-created holes in berber carpet repaired (much more involved than your project) for under $100. The house call part is what makes it cost that much, even...

Good luck!

if you are going to make a patch, you might as well make a design statement, otherwise it's just another mistake. my vote is for a wide velvet stripe across the entire length of the couch (across the width stands a better chance at avoiding interference with the buttons, but from top to button--you have yourself a 'racing stripe!'). Velvet ribbon is very expensive, but if you buy the yard of velvet, cut a strip, hem the edges and then hand stitch it on your couch, it's more affordable. Color choice can range from muted to vibrant. [wait, i CANT believe someone else also said 'racing stripe!!!']

Room & Board should fix it. Two friends bought sofas from them, and the company sent people to their apartment and fixed it on the spot. Before you spend any money and try to fix it yourself, call customer service and see what they can do.

So what happened???