The Secret to doing Quality Work!

Would you like to know the "secret" of doing quality work, perhaps doing work that is a higher quality than your competition? Would you like your clients to give you high praise for your work. Would you like to feel the satisfaction of a job well done, day after day?

Well, the "secret" to doing astoundingly quality work is simple. it is basically just doing the fundamentals well.  The best upholsterers in the world just do the fundamentals extremely well. It involves taking a strong devotion to detail, of studying and practicing your craft, hard work, keeping aware of what you are doing, giving your best effort and taking apart sloppy work and doing it over again. And perseverance, never giving up, trying over and over again until you get it right..

Examine your work as you go along. It is extremely important that you correct your mistakes as soon as you see them: If you put aside correcting a mistake until later, then you'll have a lot more to take out and it will be a lot harder to correct (if you even decide to fix it.). You'll also be training yourself to overlook your mistakes. Consequently, the quality of your work will deteriorate.

However, if you do correct your mistake as soon as you see it, then you'll be training yourself to watch for mistakes and you'll seem them quicker and quicker. You will also be looking for and learning better ways to do your work. Eventually you may start catching yourself before you make the mistake and thus save yourself a lot of time. Over a period of time the quality of your work will begin to improve more and more.

One big principle of doing quality work is precision, to do it one step at a time. Check each step before going on to next Step. The quality of the whole job is no better than the quality of each part. If the part is not good, the whole will not be good. So, as you are working on each piece, whether taking it apart, preparing the frame and the padding, measuring, cutting and sewing the fabric, or attaching the fabric to the frame, stop at each piece. Check each piece to make sure that is is made right, it is square or round or well padded, etc. For instance, if you are trying to make a nice looking cushion where the corners all line up you have to make sure that you mark and cut the fabric square, sew it straight and even, having both the top and bottom fabrics pulling evenly. There is no short cut do doing quality work. You must give your full attention to each piece. AND, most importantly, if you see it now going together right, STOP and take it apart and do it better.

Before you start sewing or stapling something together, first line up the centers, make sure the grain in the fabric is straight. Pin the fabric together or tack the fabric lightly to the frame before proceeding.