The Skills of an Upholsterer

In theory, to cover a piece of furniture with new fabric all the you need to do is to take the old cover off and to put the new cover on. Simple, right? Not Quite. Many of the seeming simple .... of upholstery can only be done after years of training and practice. For example, to apply the fabrics that takes some very precise hand movements and application of a specific amount of tension at just the right angles. A master upholster can combine all those precise hand movements at just the right angle with seeming ease. Someone watching the upholsterer would think that it is simple, anyone should be able to do it.

Applying Fabric

And experience professional upholsterer must be able to take a flat fabric of almost any stiffness or softness, both pliable and not and apply it to almost any shape in an elegant and beautify appearance - OR - the upholsterer must know when to tell the client, "no, that is not possible, or no, I won't do that, But, here is what I can do......  If you think there's not much to that, then take a piece of butcher paper and wrap it neatly (with no wrinkles) around a basketball. Show that to me when you are finished.