Before & After: Little Miss Muffet Reupholstered, Like, a Million Tuffets
This once grande dame of a sofa had good bones, she just needed a little refresh. In swoops Ashley’s mom, Janie, newly(ish) minted upholsterer and true tuffet champion. After three weeks and, like, a million buttons, this beauty was ready for her second act.
From Ashley: This 1970s pea green sofa was certainly lovely in its time, but the velvet was worn and stained and its skirt wasn’t doing it any favors.
We knew it had potential with its deep tufting, gentle curves and solid wood frame. It’s a satisfying feeling to update a vintage piece with a history all its own so it will continue to live well and in style for many years to come.
My mom Janie did the work. She quit her day job and started doing reupholstery a couple of years ago. This project took her about three weeks to complete. She says the tufting took the most time and patience — there were 46 buttons total she had to make and attach! However, we think the tufting is the best part of the sofa.
The new look accentuated its beautiful shape —the slope of its back, the curves of its arms, and the deep, dramatic tufts. With a fresh, beautiful upholstery job atop its already sturdy bones, the sofa is now truly stunning and will live in a beautiful home for years to come.
Ashley’s words of wisdom: If you’d like to try out reupholstery, look into taking a class at a local technical school. My mom took the reupholstery class twice at Tulsa Tech and acquired the skills needed to move forward. If you don’t have a lot of practice with sewing or reupholstery, we would recommend to hire a professional for a project as large as this. However, even someone new to the skill could easily take on smaller projects like dining chairs or foot stools! Practice, practice, practice!
Thank you, Ashley! You can see more on Ashley’s blog Retro Den.