Yes to what @chispa says - that puckering is pretty bad.

I am not sure what you are seeing. I would want less puckering, but I am also seeing the the cushions on the back are not uniform - did she simply recover old cushions or are they new? If they are worn and have some indents puckering is tough to avoid.

What I dislike is the seam on the arms. Seams wear more quickly due to the thicker, higher fabric and arms wear faster than seats. I would have used a single piece of fabric from the back of the arm to the bottom front corner.

I usually go visit the showroom or workshop of the person/company I plan to do business with, so you might consider visiting the top 3 best rated upholsterers, and then deciding based on your meeting with them and the work you can see at their shop.

If the other pieces in their photo portfolio look first rate, then I'd chalk this one up to poor fabric and trim choices. It can be difficult to get reupholstered pieces' new fabric to look as taut, precisely installed and well-pressed as new pieces. A good Baker sofa is worth the search of finding a good upholsterer.

I was seeing the puckering particularly on the right back cushion at the bottom. Thanks for your great insight about the seams @Jennifer Hogan. These will all be good things for me to ask about:

1. How will you avoid puckering,

2. Where you will you place the seams,

3. ????

What else should I ask for or specify?

- I want solid black fabric, tight back with a single row of buttons across the back. (Though my husband popped a button off maybe I should get it without buttons to longevity of wear???)

- Same black welting on the three seat cushions.

- Want the seats and back solid as rock - the absolutely most firm foam they have. They need to take it down to the frame and replace ALL of the foam and padding in the entire sofa. I guess I need to make sure they don't add too much foam to the width so I can still get it through the door!

(I had it recovered about 10 years ago using some 100% natural latex foam because of my chemical allergies. It was great until about a year ago when the latex started breaking down and off gassing and now smells horrible. Won't be doing that again!)

@chispa - I hadn't thought about how certain weights of fabric could contribute to more or less puckering and that clients selection could drive that factor.

I got this on eBay 10 years ago for $300. This will be my second time recovering it. It is a tank!

It is this sofa with the pink arrow that I am recovering. I used organic natural fabric and seats are terribly faded. I don't love how the arms were done but it was how the original baker sofa was done. I'm open to any other ideas of how to make it look.

The other black sofa was recovered 17 years ago and is still going strong. Black upholstery fabric from JoAnn's on sale for $9.99 a yard!

No, not too picky. I am curious, I wonder what the upholsterer would say caused this? I had a similar style sofa reupholstered years ago, came out perfect. Like you, I prefer firm sofas (& matresses ).

Kendrah, if the location of the sofa will make it prone to fading, then you should consider indoor/outdoor fabric. But it will be a lot more that $9.99/yard!

Not too picky at all. I have not reupholstered myself, but have sewn about 8 box cushions for window seats. It is not just the puckering, which is bad, but the seam placement on the arms isn’t symmetrical and the corners aren’t even - inside corners are sharper than outside corners.

Smart thought about indoor/outdoor fabric for fade resistance. I think of it as a bit thick or somewhat rough. Do they make indoor outdoor that you’d really want to sit on as your primary sofa?

Yes, I’m sure it will be more than $9.99! I presume fabric and upholstery together will near $5k.

I would go downtown to where the fabrics are purchased by designers and ask the owners which black fabric is best for reupholstering. Bring a photo of the couch and ask THEM for recommendations of who does this kind of work well. The cost will definitely be high, but good reupholstering lets you keep your high quality sofa and not force you to buy a lesser quality new one.
I reupholstered two antique wingback chairs a couple of years ago. They do pucker at the edge of the seats, even though I added more batting. Hard to avoid if you actually sit on them.

While I agree the puckering looks awful, the cording fabric and the cushion fabric might be two very different types of fabric (not just same fabric in a different color). They might be of different weights and stretch differently and are just not compatible in this situation. Whatever the reason, if I did that reupholstering job I would not showcase it as one of my best works.

I do have to disagree about the seam on the arms. Just having one strip of fabric, as suggested above, is the least durable option. Stretching fabric over a pressure point or curve leads to early fabric breakdown. The most durable edges of the arms have either double seams or reinforcement material on the underside.

Yes, the indoor/outdoor fabrics can be soft and comfortable. Also look at Crypton fabrics.

My new sofas being delivered this week are upholstered in a FibreGuard fabric from JF Fabrics, but FibreGuard makes fabrics for other fabric design companies too.

https://fibreguard.com/

Also environmentally friendly ... I think that aspect is important to you, right?

From their website, "FibreGuard is STANDARD 100 certified by OEKO-TEX®. This means that our draperies and upholstery fabrics do not release harmful chemicals or finishes into the world."

What will you use instead of latex? 10 years is the normal lifespan. Dunlop is preferred. Urethane deteriorates progressively getting less supportive over the same 10 years. Pocketed springs with wrapping can work.

@chispa You are correct. Intry to get low voc, low off gassing products whenever possible because I have a horrible immune system response to so many things.

My sofa has springs but not in the cushions.

I was just going to use the most firm foam the upholsterer offers. Are there various types of cushion foam to choose from that you recommend?

I have never dealt with an upholsterer that has any options other than the degrees of firmness. When I did this in latex I purchased the latex on my own from a supplier in - I forget where, Nebraska? Had it sent to the upholsterer. It was a challenging process for sure.

Yes, I can imagine needing to change the seat cushions after 10 years, but I’m used to getting a lot longer out of the upholstery job as a whole. I hope to not have to entirely reupholster in 10 years.

How often do you all reupholster your sofas? The other black one in this room was done 17 years ago and is fine. The seat cushions could use a more firm cushion though.

http://www.byrnawestupholstery.com. Byrna did a FANTASTIC job on my vintage (late 60s-early 70s) Eero Saarinen Womb Chair. She’s an artist.

Forgot to say: I’m on the UWS.

I agree with other posters - there's a good bit of puckering on the back cushions.

Lone woman out

"They have lots of very good looking portfolio pics and then I see something like this. Do you see what I see? Am I being too picky?"

Yes........because Kendrah, you are 100% percent perfect in every endeavor, every minute of the day, every task you approach... and an errant whatever..........

You are all crazy!

You are all being quite picky. None of you know the fabric content. You don't know if a railroad, or up the roll application. You never beg trouble, do a contrast welt unless possibly on the original order to a furniture venue and even then....a very dated concept! It's also no different than high contrast grout in tile setting - literally begging for a "black speck seen in snow effect". You don't even know if the owner of the piece gave the shop enough of that contrast fabric for bias cut of the welt strips, or what content the welt fabric.

As to "puckers"....?

If you have watched the process of filling seat or back cushions at a shop, from the vacuum compression of the cushions, to the final steam of those seats and backs? Watched, as corners get a yank, a tug, more yank... a bit of filler tucked into those corners...more adjustment and finally every speck of lose lint or thread vacuumed and ready to be wrapped / picked up / delivered? You'd know that in most shops, only one or two folks are dedicated to this task; highly skilled and practiced. It's their only job in the shop. It is a "process", and it doesn't happen in five minutes......a solid hour is more like it.

The arms are fine, standard practice application.

P.S

( It is ALSO why you are strongly advised, despite zippers, don't remove seat/back cushions from their casings.You will never successfully repeat the look of perfection . You won't. )

IMO poor choices by a client and yes there are puckers but too much missing info to really know . Sorry the pink welt and the fringe both needed to be gone IMO

No you are not being too picky imo. I would not want that sofa in my house. I am surprised the upholsterer chose to include that photo online. The puckering seams are not attractive. Doesn’t matter whether the puckering is due to poor sewing, poor fabric choice, underfilling or not steaming.

Kendrah, I reupholstered 4 chairs that were around 11 years old, when we moved to the new house, but only because I was moving them to different rooms and they needed different fabrics.

My new sofas are replacing 2 Cisco sofas that are 14 years old. I am only replacing them because they are a high backed tufted style and I wanted something a bit more streamlined for the new house. The Cisco sofas look fine after 14 years, but the single lower cushion is just a bit stretched out or flattened, so it was probably due to be re-filled and have the fabric tightened up. It doesn't look awful, so I probably could have gotten another 5 years out of those sofas before a full reupholster

I think who uses a sofa and how they use it, makes a big difference in how long something will last. My DH is a lot harder and less careful with upholstered furniture, than I am!

@amystoller - I'm thrilled to see your vote of confidence in Bryna West. I came across her website yesterday and her work seemed impressive. I will contact her.

I hope it works out for you both, Kendrah!

Well, she is certainly busy. Can’t get me an estimate until after the New Year. Has no way of knowing how long it would take until she would be able to reupholster it. But, a good job is worth the wait.

If you scroll for a bit in Byrna’s website gallery, you’ll see my Womb Chair and ottoman done in Kvidrat Sisu, replacing the original Knoll fabric, which had been damaged by careless movers. I do feel it was worth the wait in my case.

Fingers crossed for you!

She did a fanastic job on your Knoll chair. Stunning. I think I will hang in there and wait for her estimate at the beginning of the year. Upholstery is so expensive. It is worth it to pay a little more and wait a little longer to have it done right.