Part 17 - Covering the inside back

Part 17- Covering the Inside Back

The back is now ready to cover with your fabric – and you'll be able to really see how your chair is coming together.

1. Now is a good time to check that your inside back cover still fits your frame.
2. If you find you require additional excess to be able to pull your fabric through, you can sew on a 'fly', which is just an extra section of fabric – this could be the fabric you've used for your liner cloth as it won't be visible on your final chair.
3. To begin attaching the inside back cover, place it onto your frame and pull the bottom edge through and under the frame to the back of the chair.
4. When positioning the top edge, place your seam facing towards the back to reduce bulk at the front, and ensure it's like this all the way along. You also want the seam to sit completely straight along the top edge, as this will be very visible.
5. Take your time to play around and ensure everything is straight and in the right position.
6. Once you're happy, you can begin to secure the top. Starting in the middle, use your staple gun to attach the fabric to the back of the frame. If you're feeling confident, you can use permanent staples; however, I would recommend doing this with temporary staples first.
7. When the middle is fixed, you can work on the corners. Do this by pulling the fabric down diagonally so that your cover fits snugly over the corner of the frame; secure with staples.
8. Repeat for the other corner.
9. You can now fill in the gaps along the rest of the top edge; smoothing, pulling and stapling as you go.
10. With the top edge fixed, you can now move to work on the bottom edge. You want the fabric to be really taut, so pull firmly and smooth as you go, ensuring it's straight and your seams remain in the right place.
11. Start securing at the back in the middle, pulling the fabric down and inserting permanent staples into the top edge of the frame.
12. Work your way along each side to secure with permanent staples, pulling the same amount of tension all the way along and continuing to smooth down the front. Make sure to leave yourself enough space and loose material to tackle the bottom corners and sides.
13. If you put temporary staples into the top edge of your chair, now is a good time to replace these with permanent staples once you're happy everything is tight and straight.