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hi everybody welcome back to Bentley
House
I'm era and today is another subscriber
requested video on my 1000 subscriber
giveaway video I asked for suggestions
and Yesenia Cascio I hope I'm saying
that right suggested vintage accent
chairs or armchairs now I have done
upholstery in the past I haven't done it
recently but I decided to make a
tutorial showing you how I started out
using upholstery in my miniatures I
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tried to make this tutorial super easy
super fast I made both of these within
three days all while working and taking
care of two monkeys this video also
marks the first time I have provided a
free download for you guys while this
may not be the correct way or the
professional way to upholster it is a
very fun way to get started here we go
the first thing you want to do is print
off your template and make sure the one
inch mark is actually one inch so you
can make a twelfth scale miniature for
your supplies you'll need some scrap
foam board and some thick paper this is
watercolor paper but you can use any
kind of thick paper you'll need a fabric
design of your choice
you'll need some quilt batting you can
get this at any fabric store you will
also need dowel rod or something that
you want to make the furniture legs with
you need something to cut the wood legs
some scissors and an exacto knife and a
pencil and you will also need hot glue
and tacky glue I will be going back and
forth between these two glues but you
can do the whole thing with tacky glue
if that's all you have you will want to
cut your template in half the bottom
half of the template has pieces that
need to be put on foam board and the top
half need to be put on thick paper I go
ahead and cut them all out as carefully
as I can and then start transferring
them onto the foam board using a pencil
after they've been transferred you can
use an exacto knife to cut them all out
make sure that your x-acto knife is
straight up and down otherwise you'll
get beveled edges and this will make it
harder to put your miniature together I
always try to make sure I get even and
correct cuts on my phone board as this
is the base of my whole project and I
want it to be done well I'm using hot
glue to put the foam pieces together but
you can also use tacky glue you just
have to allow for more dry time I'm
going to put the hot glue on the side L
piece and then butt it up against the
side of my back piece you can look at
the template if you're confused on where
you need to put the glue do this for
both sides
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after that is complete you're going to
put the piece marked D which is the
bottom of the chair and you actually
have two pieces that are marked with the
letter D and that is because you are
going to be doubling them up so we have
an extra thick base to the chair
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if you feel like any of your pieces came
out uneven you can add a little bit of
hot glue and smooth it out with the nose
of the hot glue gun or you can choose to
use an exacto knife to even up the edges
I like to use the glue gun because no
one will see it and it's a little bit
easier after the foam board base is
complete you're ready to start the
upholstery part you're going to take
some tacky glue put it on the outside
edge of one of the L pieces and lay down
a piece of batting across the glue after
that you want to flip it over and you're
going to cut off any pieces that are
over the edge of the L piece you want to
cut right up to the edge
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do this for both sides of the chair
after both L pieces are covered
you can then cover the back following
the same procedure make sure you cut off
any overlapping pieces now we need to
cover the edges you want to cover the
front bottom edge with the quilt bedding
and then cut off any overlapping pieces
you're also going to want to do this on
the sides of the arms so this is going
to be a long thin piece that creates
kind of an S shape going down or up the
side of the chair let that glue for a
little bit before you start cutting it
off or else it may start to come off of
the miniature while you're cutting it
after you've done this a few times you
may find that there are some steps that
you want to do differently or omit or
things you want to add this is really a
very versatile tutorial and you can kind
of change it to your needs lastly we
want to cover the top so you're going to
do the same thing with a thin piece you
should have several thin pieces left
over from the process of covering the
edges previously so you just glue that
on and you should be done covering the
outside edges of the chair
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now it's on to the exciting part the
fabric always make sure you know the
right side of your fabric and the wrong
side you always want the wrong side to
face in to the quilt batting and the
right side to face out because that's
the finished side you want people to see
you're going to cut a shape that is just
a little bit bigger than the back of
your chair enough so that it can wrap
around and glue onto the side you're
going to glue the sides down first
pushing them on to the quilt batting and
then when you get to the top you're
going to use just a dab of hot glue to
firmly get that very top piece to push
down and then you want this to be a very
tight curve and so slowly go around and
you might even have to fold the fabric a
little bit to get it to go around the
curve at the top of the chair a lot of
upholstery is just going to be tugging
and pulling on the fabric until it moves
into the shape that you want it to be on
the bottom you're gonna fold the ends in
just like you would kind of on the end
of a present that you're wrapping
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next we want to do the front of the
chair you're gonna make a piece that is
a little bit wider and I'll just a
little bit higher than the seat of the
chair and then you want to make sure
that it is firmly glued to the front
face of the chair after that's firmly in
place you can start manipulating the
fabric so it looks like a smooth
transition in this instance I'm just
pushing it back with my fingers so that
it makes a fold into the armchair I'm
going to put that in place with tacky
glue also I want to make sure after I
have glued that down that any of the
loose edges are glued down as well so
they don't later pop up or make a fold
underneath my final layer of fabric
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for the sides of the chair I need to cut
a large piece and then make a hem on one
end I'm just using tacky glue and then
folding over to make a straight line
this line is going to line up with the
back of my chair
I'm just going to line it up carefully
make sure that there's a little extra
fabric at the top and the bottom of the
chair I want to put glue all around
remember when you're gluing you do not
want gigantic globs if your fabric is
thin enough the glue will seep through
your fabric and make a stain on the
other side so always thin out your glue
after you've put it on after I've glued
it down to my L shape on the side of the
chair I'm going to use scissors and cut
closely to the L shape but not all the
way to the edge I need this fabric to
fold over the side of the L shape so I
need some leeway in the fabric wherever
the fabric is going to be going around a
curve I need to take my scissors and put
small cuts into the fabric that are
radiating from the curve this is going
to help the fabric flow more easily over
the curve without having to do a lot of
bending or folding in the fabric you
will be using this technique several
times in this tutorial so if it
frustrates you make sure to practice it
a few times after you've done all your
snips you want to carefully and slowly
tacky glue all the edges down go slow
make sure you've got a shape that you
like check the outside check the inside
make sure it's going the way you want it
to
you want to do this for both sides of
the chair after you've done this you
have a chair that is completely covered
on the outside and you are ready to work
on the inside now you need to find the
half of the template that you haven't
used yet this is the part of the
template that you're going to put on to
thick paper you can also use the thin
cardboard from a cereal box
I'm using watercolor paper you can also
use cardstock although it might be a
little bit too thin to be able to hold
its shape you're gonna follow the same
steps you did with the foam board by
tracing it on to the thick paper and
then cutting them out next you want to
glue the pieces on to the quilt batting
and then cut them out this is going to
leave each piece with quilt batting on
only one side this is where you can
start getting creative by building up
your quilt batting a lot of chairs have
puffs in certain places are a little bit
thicker in some places you can do this
on the seat you can do it on the back
you can even do it on the outside even
though I didn't but I did want to show
you that you can layer this quilt
batting to get different effects I'll be
putting three layers on the back of this
chair so that it puffs out a little bit
at the top once it's finished I suggest
you use tacky glue for gluing down the
quilt batting to itself if you use hot
glue you run the chance of it forming
hard nodules wherever it dries after
that's complete you can now cover it
with the fabric just like we did on the
back of the chair you want to leave a
little on the edges so that you're able
to fold it over you can do the sides
first the part that you want to pay
attention to is the top the sides in the
bottom will kind of be nestled into the
back of the chair but you will be able
to see the top very well so go slowly
manipulate that fabric so that you have
a smooth curve over the top of the back
piece
next you can go ahead and glue that
piece in and we're starting to have
something resembling an armchair you're
going to follow the same steps for the
inside side pieces the L shapes remember
when you're doing this to use the
minimal amount of glue and to also cut
those radial slits around the round
around the curved edges so that you can
carefully pull those over so that they
make a smooth transition all around the
edge of the L piece you're going to want
to do this for both of the inside L
pieces after you finish that glue them
in make sure you push them back a little
bit against the back piece you don't
want there to be any gaps between the
back of the L piece and the back piece
of the chair and I really really hope
this is all making sense next we need to
cover the seam lines that you can see
going down the arms of the chair we're
going to do this very easily by cutting
a quarter inch thick piece of paper I'm
going to first measure and make sure the
size of the quarter inch piece that I
need and then I am going to cover it in
the matching fabric I'm just simply
doing this by adding some glue I'm gonna
cut a little bit closer because I don't
want the fabric overlapping on the back
making it thicker so I want it to just
fold over about halfway over the piece
of paper
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after that's finished
I can carefully start at the bottom of
the chair and then work my way up slowly
I want to keep eyeing the chair make
sure that it's centered on the arm piece
going up it's very easy to get this
off-center so make sure you're
constantly double-checking yourself
you also want to be pushing it down onto
the chair because the arm is curved it's
going to want to pop up if the glue is
not completely dry so continually push
down and check that it is in the center
once you get to the top this is where
you're going to start manipulating the
fabric again add some glue you're going
to turn the piece under and then just
move it around and fold it until you're
happy with the seam that it creates
follow this process for both sides of
your chair constantly checking that they
match
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now remember the foam piece labeled e we
haven't used that one yet that's going
to be the cushion of our chair you want
to cover that with the quilt batting and
one side needs to fold over that's going
to be the front of the cushion I'm going
to use the same process of building up
the quilt batting to make it just a
little bit squishier and then I'm going
to cover it just like I have the other
pieces on this one you want to pay close
attention to the front of the cushion
and make sure that it looks nice once
you've folded it there are probably
several different ways to fold fabric I
probably do not do it the right way
but as long as the front piece comes out
looking smooth then I think you know any
way you do it will probably work out so
you want the bottom of the cushion to be
flat after that just glue the cushion in
and we are almost there onto the feet
you want to mark off where the feet are
going
I usually do them about a quarter inch
in on all sides and I poke it with a pin
first and then scissors to get it a
little bit bigger and then finally I'm
gonna use my dowel that's going to
become the feet and make sure that those
foam board holes are big enough now I'm
going to cover it with a piece of fabric
I'm gonna make sure and get that glue
all the way around but not in the holes
for the feet I'm gonna glue the fabric
on and I want to make sure that it's a
little bit smaller than the base of the
chair so I don't have any unfinished
edges sticking out from underneath the
chair to create the feet I'm going to
just use a dowel rod and I'm going to
shave down one end of it just to give it
a little bit of shape of course you can
buy premade chair feet I sometimes just
make my own as long as they're simple
after that I'm going to measure how long
I want the feet to be cut it off with
just an extra eighth inch or so because
I know that part will be going into the
chair and I'm going to cut it with my
wood chopper I'm gonna make sure and
make four of these that are the exact
same length after that if you would like
to paint it or stain it do that before
you attach it to the chair so you don't
actually get accidentally get that on to
the fabric after that's done I need to
refined my holes make sure that the
fabric is dry before you do this I'm
going to take my exacto knife and I am
going to cut an X wherever I feel that
there is a hole in the foam board
underneath after I cut the X I'm going
to do that to all four spots and then I
am going to do the same process where I
use the end of a pair of scissors to
make the holes just a little bit bigger
and then I am finally going to use the
dowel to make the fabric holes just a
little bit bigger now I'm going to fill
each with tacky glue I do not suggest
that you do this with hot glue tacky
glue is going to give you way more
leeway in making sure that your feet are
all the same length and pointing in the
correct direction I make my feet point
slightly out but you of course can do
whatever you want to do but make sure
you're happy with it before the glue
dries always make sure that you leave it
to dry with all four feet on your mat
with the chair sitting straight check it
several times make sure it's not
lopsided and if it is you can either
pull one leg out or push another leg
back in
thank you guys so much for joining in
today thank you for watching this video
if you liked it make sure you leave a
like if you have another suggestion for
a future video leave it in the comments
I always write those down on a list and
it may just become a future video if you
make a miniature using this tutorial
please please PLEASE dag me on instagram
at bentley house minis i love to see
what you guys create i hope you have an
amazing week and i will see you in the
next video bye
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let's go
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