HOW TO CREATE TUFTED FABRIC ON A SALVAGED FOOTSTOOL | EASY BEGINNERS DIY | YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL

Hi, sweet creative friends! Have you ever wondered how to get that gorgeous tufted upholstered look? I’ve always wanted to try tufting but as I’ve mentioned in a few of my other fabric-related posts, working with fabric intimidates me.  This was my sister’s footstool project and she reallllly wanted to tuft so we thought we’d give it a try together. It was our first time trying it and I have to admit it turned out pretty darn cute! So believe me, if we can do it, YOU can do it!

Here’s the salvaged foot stool we started with.  Andrea picked it up for $3.99 at our local Restore. It looks a little dated but the wood base was in great condition.

Before I get into the how-to details here are the two inspiration pics Andrea sent me. She wanted the base to be white, but the top to be yellow velvet and tufted.

Ya gotta love a girl who knows EXACTLY what she wants!

And here’s a sneak peek at the NEW look! I’ll share the close-up tufting details below. What do you think? Worth $3.99?

THIS POST IS SPONSORED/CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE.  YOU CAN SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.

SOURCE LIST

$3.99 Foot Stool – SALVAGED
Measuring Tape | Ruler
Fabric of Choice | Batting
Buttons of Choice
Upholstery Needles
Knife or Foam Cutter
Upholstery Thread
Scissors 
Spray Adhesive Glue
Upholstery Foam
Pneumatic Staple Gun
Screwdriver | Pliers
Knitting Needle
Cotton Chalk Mineral Paint

HOW TO CREATE AN UPHOLSTERED TUFTED FOOTSTOOL

Here’s how it all came together. I know some of my #sifamily are “REAL UPHOLSTERS” so if you have any tips you’d like to add feel free to chime in below. I’m all ears because I love to learn! 🙂

COVER BUTTONS W FABRIC

Andrea found these buttons on sale for 50% off and bought two packs. We didn’t use a button cover kit because covering buttons with fabric is really easy to do.

Cut a piece of fabric the size of the button top and glue it onto the top. This will add a little cushion and keep the top fabric from sliding around.

Cut a larger circle and slip stitch it about 1/4 of an inch around the button. Then pull the thread to create a small parachute pouch to enclose the button in. Once the button is fully covered in fabric, straight stitch it closed and double knot.

Cut off the excess fabric so the button eyelet is accessible. Now you have matching fabric-covered buttons!

DISASSEMBLE

We removed the top of the footstool from the base by unscrewing the hinges and removing the old fabric and foam.

CUT FOAM TO SIZE

Andrea laid the top of the stool on the foam and traced a line with a sharpie. Then using a bread knife (probably not the right knife for this application lol) she cut the foam to size.  To ‘round’ the edges she used scissors to cut off the sharp edge and create a 45 angle.

TIP – If you have a specialty FOAM store in your area, it’s way cheaper to buy from them rather than a fabric store.  Andrea picked up a package of foam from Fabricland and it was $18. She ended up returning it because we found these scrap pieces at our local foam store for ONE DOLLAR!

TIP – If you cut these foam pieces in squares, they are also amazing for applying streak-free stain!

MARK OUT TUFTED BUTTONS PLACEMENT

Using the sharpie we marked out where we wanted the button holes to be and drilled a hole into the MDF. Then we attached the foam to the MDF using this spray adhesive.

To add the tufted button holes to the foam, Andrea used a knitting needle. It was long enough to push through the drilled hole in the back of the MDF right through the foam. Then marking the hole with a sharpie we then took a pair of scissors and cut an X through the sharpie mark.

CUT OUT BATTING AND FABRIC 

Cut out the batting and fabric. Center the foam in the middle and make sure there is excess fabric. You will need enough to cover the front, and sides, and extra to attach to the back. As a safety measure, we cut out 6 inches overlaying the back in case we made a mistake. Probably overkill but it made us feel better.

ATTACH THE BUTTON TO CREATE THE ‘TUFT’

This took us two tries! The first time we used a regular needle instead of an upholstery needle and it didn’t turn out at all. So I would strongly recommend investing a few dollars in a long upholstery needle. It makes things so much easier.

1. Thread the upholstery needle with heavy-duty string/thread
2. Run the needle and string through the eyelet of your button
3. Tie a double knot onto the back of the button
4. Find the center of the tufting hole on the right side of your fabric
5. Insert the needle dead center of the hole through the fabric
6. Bring the needle and thread right through to the MDF drilled hole on the other side
7. Pull tight and using a staple gun staple the string in place 3x using a zigzag pattern for strength
8. Cut off any excess string/thread

ARRANGING YOUR TUFTED PLEATS  

Before we attached the fabric to the back we made sure we like the looks of the tufted pleating. We arranged the folds so they looked visually pleasing for Andrea. As a rule of thumb, we read online that it looks best when all the folds are facing the same direction.

ATTACHING THE FABRIC

Once our tufts were perfect we attached the fabric. As I mentioned this project took us two tries. The second time around we figured out attaching the fabric at the button tufts first was much easier than starting at the corners — which is what we did on the first try. Also, the first time around we pulled the fabric way too tight. The second time around we pulled it just enough to remove any wrinkles and keep it taunt.

CUT OFF EXTRA BATTING AND FABRIC 

To finish the piece off, Andrea cut off all the extra batting and fabric from the back of the bench seat.

PAINT THE BASE

The last thing we did was to paint the base in this crisp white Cotton paint. It looks so good against the yellow tufted top!

WHAT WE LEARNED DOING THIS TUFTING PROJECT

• Don’t buy foam that is too thick or too high density as it makes it harder to get a tufted look.
• Definitely buy a long tufting needle. It’s worth the $10 and will save a ton of time trying to McIver it!
• Make a deep button hole for the buttons to sit in. Not just a little X. This will ensure you don’t have to pull the fabric too tight to create the tufting look.
• Don’t overwork a certain area by pulling it too tight when attaching it to the backside.
• Have patience and don’t rush the process – especially if it’s your first time!
• When attaching the fabric to the back, start with the pleats, then the corners, then the rest of the project.

I’m really happy Andrea encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and try this!

Including the cost of the salvaged stool and all the supplies, this entire project came to $15 plus about 2 hours of our time.

YOUTUBE TUTORIAL

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on Youtube. If you have any problems viewing below, feel free to watch it on my Youtube Channel HERE. Our #siyoutubefamily has hit 14.8K so don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already! So exciting, thank YOU! 🙂

Here’s another look at this salvaged footstools’ before and after. I hope it’s inspired you and given you some new ideas for your projects!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS DIY TUFTED FOOTSTOOL MAKEOVER. FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE OR ADD ANY TIPS! I ALWAYS LOVE HEARING FROM YOU. IT MAKES MY DAY! 🙂

Happy furniture painting friends!

Denise x

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