How to make an upholstered sofa or couch
Making your own sofa or couch is quite an easy project and will cost you a fraction of what is costs to buy a new one. Plus, you get to choose your own fabric colour, pattern and texture for the upholstery.
Anyways, I came across this post that shows almost step-by-step how to make your own sofa or couch from scratch, and since I haven't yet got round to making one, I hope this inspires you to do-it-yourself. Oh, and don't forget to share with me if you do make one!
The frame for this sofa is made from 16mm SupaWood. It's nothing fancy, just rectangular boxes screwed together to make up the shape for the sofa. In fact, this sofa is probably far better manufactured than most of the lounge suites you find in the stores these days! You can buy 16mm SupaWood at your local Builders Warehouse and it costs around R700 per sheet - each sheet is 2700 x 1800mm, so you get quite a bit cut from a single sheet. The approximate cost of a sofa like this... around R3500 including board, foam and fabric.
The seat for the sofa is constructed using elastic webbing that you will find at most larger fabric stores. Elastic webbing is used in the majority of upholstered furniture and this is what gives the sofa its bounce.
The elastic straps are stretched taut horizontally and then stapled to the frame. Vertical straps are then added by weaving them through the horizontal straps, stretching taut and securing on the opposite side.
Before the basic framework is joined together, each section is wrapped and covered with thin layers of medium-density foam. You can have foam cut to size at Foam Factory. The seat and back of the sofa comprises large blocks of high-density foam. For a softer look you would add a layer of medium-weight batting over the foam before covering with fabric.
Each individual piece is measured for cutting and sewing together the fabric that will fit over the separate pieces. Once the fabric is added and stapled to the frame either underneath or where sections join together, the unit is then assembled and completed. Since the original frames do not have a base, joining the sections together is done underneath and out of sight.
smallemodern.blogspot.com
Anyone with a few basic DIY skills could make this sofa and it's simply a matter of working out the dimensions for your frame, having the board and foam cut, buying your fabric and fitting, and assembling.