She Stripped the Floral Fabric From This Old Sofa and Reupholstered It in Navy Velvet
Orange floral fabric covered this camelback sofa before Tracy Laverty decided to reupholster it herself. Hiring an upholsterer wasn’t in the budget, and her previous upholstery experience was limited to one small chair, making an entire sofa a much bigger project.
Deep navy velvet replaced the floral print, while the carved wood legs, curved back, and rolled arms stayed. Solid fabric also avoided the extra work of matching a pattern across the frame, and she found the velvet on eBay for $12 per yard.
She saved the old upholstery before cutting the velvet
Stripping the sofa meant pulling out staples and removing the floral covering piece by piece. Rather than throw those sections away, she kept and labeled them for the next stage.
Each old fabric piece became a template for cutting its replacement from the navy velvet. Existing welting cord was saved as well, reducing the number of parts that had to be recreated from scratch.
Original fabric pieces provided the shapes she needed
Once removed, the floral sections show how much shaping goes into upholstery around a curved sofa. Arm openings, corners, and irregular edges were already built into the old pieces, giving her a guide for the new cuts.
Using those pieces also reduced the need to measure each curve from the bare frame. Solid navy fabric made this stage more forgiving because there were no stripes or motifs to line up from one section to another.
New velvet was cut from the old pattern
Navy velvet was laid over the removed upholstery before being cut to shape. Extra material around the edges provided room for pulling and fastening the fabric beneath or behind the visible portions of the sofa.
Velvet also changed how the traditional frame read once it went back on. Without the large floral pattern competing with the silhouette, the curved back and rolled arms became more prominent.
Most of the original padding stayed in place
Stripping off the outer fabric exposed the existing padding across the back, arms, and front rail. Much of it could stay, so the job centered on fitting the new covering rather than rebuilding the sofa from its wooden frame.
Staples secured broad sections of velvet, while scissors, adhesive, cardboard, and a curved needle handled areas where a staple gun alone wasn’t enough. An air compressor with upholstery staples helped speed up the fastening work.
Navy velvet started defining the old frame
Large pieces of velvet went across the back and arms before the exposed ends were finished. Pulling the material around the camelback curve preserved the sofa’s shape while removing the visual weight of the orange floral print.
Dark wood legs were left exposed below the upholstery. Their carved details still identify the sofa as an older piece even as the new fabric shifts its appearance.
Rolled arms needed their own solution
Curved arm fronts could not be finished like the broad sections across the back. Thin cardboard was cut to match each arm shape, then covered with velvet and attached over the exposed area.
This created a clean surface for the decorative trim without forcing the velvet around a tight curve. Brass nailheads could then follow the outline of each rolled arm.
Hand sewing handled a section the staple gun couldn’t
Front upholstery presented another problem because the seat covering was sewn over the springs. Taking it apart would have added another major stage to the project.
Instead, a curved needle was used to hand-sew the velvet along that section before the lower edge was stapled underneath.
Brass nailheads followed the arm curves
Rows of brass nailheads were added around the velvet-covered arm panels. Their placement follows the scroll shape from the top of each arm toward the carved front legs.
The warm metal also connects with the traditional details that remained on the sofa rather than hiding its age beneath the new upholstery.
Running short of velvet changed the back
Near the end of the project, there wasn’t enough fabric left for one uninterrupted piece across the rear. Two remaining sections were sewn together and attached to finish the back.
The seam was accepted because this side would sit against a wall for most of the time. It avoided buying more material for an area that would receive little attention.
Carved wood legs remained untouched
Original wood legs were kept rather than painted or wrapped. Their dark finish sits against the blue velvet while the carved details remain visible at each corner.
Keeping them also preserved a link to the sofa’s original construction. Most of the visual change came from replacing one fabric rather than altering every part of the furniture.
Curves became more visible without the floral print
Solid velvet makes the camelback profile and rolled arms easier to see than they were beneath the large floral pattern. Brass nailheads add another line around the arms without covering their shape.
Blue also works across the entire frame as one continuous surface, while the wood and metal provide the contrast.
Finished sofa looks far removed from its floral start
Deep navy velvet now covers the seat, back, arms, and lower frame, with brass nailheads tracing both sides. One friend helped sew the cushion because sections containing four layers of velvet and welting were too much for a basic sewing machine.
What began as an orange floral sofa kept its camelback frame, carved legs, and rolled arms, but the upholstery changed how those features read in the room.
Have you ever reupholstered a sofa yourself, and what part of the job gave you the most trouble?
Image credits go to @Tracy Laverty.