How to Reupholster a Bench Seat

We chose a gorgeous velvet upholstery fabric from P/Kaufmann for our bench. The fabric's soft texture and plush appearance adds a sophisticated, high-end look to our project. Using the Sailrite^® Fabric Calculator takes the guesswork out of calculating your fabric yardage and orienting your panels. Our fabric has horizontal channels, and we wanted the stripes to run across the length of the plate and across the width of the boxing strips. The Fabric Calculator makes this customization easy and we show you how to use it in our tutorial.

With this type of bench design, the cushion is stapled to a backer board that is then attached to the bench's frame. That means we only need to cut one top panel and the four boxing strips. The easy sewing and assembly process makes this the ideal upholstery project for a first-time upholsterer and beginner DIYer. To add an extra element of style and interest to our bench, we're adding fabric tucks to our cushion. These tucks are created using straight stitches and adding fabric pulls to the cushion assembly.

We have hundreds of high-quality and stylish décor and upholstery fabrics for you to choose from. We carry brands like Sunbrella^®, Bella-Dura^®, Crypton^® and P/Kaufmann, which are top performers and popular choices for DIY sewing projects. And with solids, stripes, geometrics, florals, velvet and more to choose from, you're guaranteed to find exactly what you're looking for. Explore our selection of home upholstery fabrics and get started on this fun and easy bench upholstery project.