[iamama]

I have never seen upholstery mentioned around here...I am an upholsterer and it is a great WAHB. I do upholstery and teach classes too. I stumbled across this feild and really enjoy it. I had a shop but near the end of my pregnancy I moved it to my garage and get jobs through word of mouth. I feel like upholstery is a dying craft. It is a lot of work but it is environmentally friendly and folks love being able to reclaim a tresured piece of furniture.

As strange as this may seem. I feel upholstery has choosen me to help others. I am not sure how but I always think of $$$ making ideas (all natural reclaimed furniture store, uphostery parties, classes, schools,co ops) I know there are so many struggling familiies out there . If this message as sparked any curiosity in you let me know.

 

[sarahbay]

Hey that's a great idea!!

I have thought about it, I redid my couch top to bottom, and although it was a daunting project, the finished outcome was fabulous!

I got some really great green velour type upholstery fabric from a garge sale, and had just barely enough. I bought some super pretty red toned floral print in a really cool textured upholstery fabric for the piping. I had to use a similar shade to do the bottoms of my couch cusions as I only had enough green for the tops, but it looks great, and matches, and the red pulls it all together.
If someone can PM me and let me know how to put a pic up here, I will of my cool couch.

My mom helped a lot as she does lots of this kind of work, so that made it a lot easier.

How much do you charge? Per peice of per hour?

Any other info about it would be great! Thanks!

 

[iamama]

The money to be made is pretty good. I bid each piece. I do a upholstered arm chair for 500 dollars in labor maybe 20 hours or so. A couch like the one you described for 700 or so, that labor only. A simple dining room cahir can bring in 25-50 depending on what needs to be done. When I had my shop I sold the fabric too and that brought in more money. Upholstery rates vary depending where you live but a good upholsterer can make 35$ an hour! To start out a good sewing machine and pneumatic staple gun are the most pricey items to buy. Then a collection of hand tools and wala your ready. I think you are very brave to tackle a couch right off the bat...way to go! Let me know if you have more ??