Reupholster a Very Old Footstool

You have to treat a little antique footstool just like an old person, gentleness and kindness.
It turns out, after a little local research, this stool belonged to a prominent Indianapolis physician in the early 1920's and it cost $5.00 to make.  A little TLC updated, refreshed and turned this old, tattered stool into a sparkling  gem. Notice the snazzy flat welt cord made out of fabric, adhesive and cardboard tack strip. If you'd like this little stool for your home, you can buy it right here at my etsy shop, FliptStudio.

Step 1: Take Stock

This covering is just too threadbare to try to salvage.

Comments

[rjohnson thorne]

Don't be silly. This was the perfect project. I googled "how to reupholster an old foot stool". Voila there you were. I found one in an antique mall for $25.00 but worn like yours. Now I have the courage. Thank You.

[adidame]

I like the flat welt!  I just recovered a rectangular footstool and I wish I had seen this first!

[modhomeecteacher]

Now you need to find another one to re-do!

[canida]

Wow, awesome project and great pictures!
I'm inspired to try it out myself.

BTW, you should put the link to your Etsy shop in the intro so people know where to go to buy it.  That's totally OK. ;)

[modhomeecteacher]

OK. I will. I kind of hate for this little stool to leave Indianapolis but I'll just think of it as a little message in a bottle.

[LittleWolf]

Very nice instructable!

That fabric is beautiful, you have good taste to not only revive that senior footstool, but to give it character. Is it printed on aida cloth? Where did you find the fabric and the footstool? :D

[modhomeecteacher]

The footstool was given to me years ago by a lady in my neighborhood who wanted to have it re-covered but could never find fabric. She finally gave up and let me keep it. The fabric is a Suzani print on cotton. I got it at Calico Corner.
The stool was made in the early 1920's for a prominent physician here in Indianapolis. It cost $5.00 to make. It's for sale on my etsy shop FLIPT STUDIO.

[Monty^]

What a wonderful project. I picked up a nearly identical footstool on the curb 2 years ago and it needs reupholstering. Now I know how. Thanks for the effort!

[modhomeecteacher]

I am so happy it helps. I have this for sale on etsy but I kind of want to keep it.

[kelseymh]

Just so you know...it looks like you (cleverly!) uploaded all of your pictures in one shot, when you wrote the Introduction.  Unfortunately, that had the side effect of attaching all of your pictures to the Intro, which is probably not what you intended.  You might want to Edit your I'ble and remove all but the final-product image from the Intro.  They'll stay attached to all of the other steps (and stay in your library).

[modhomeecteacher]

Is this better?

[kelseymh]

Very nice.  This is a great Instructable, with enough detail that even a scissors-impaired engineer can follow along.  Thanks for putting it together!

[modhomeecteacher]

Wow! You're so brilliant, you could probably turn it into a rocket. I feel like a numskull even posting such a simple project.

[modhomeecteacher]

Thanks so much. I'll try.