How to Re-upholster 1:12 Scale Furniture

Change the fabric on the furniture to suit your decor

Do you like the shape and style of some 1:12 scale furniture you have bought, but the colour or fabric doesn't suit? It is easy enough to reupholster the piece to fit in with your miniature decor.

 This lounge suite, which I have in my Edwardian dolls house, started life as a cheap, mass-produced, miniature upholstered in dull red velvet. I quite liked the style with the carved details; I hated the fabric.

 My daughter was living in London at the time and she sent me a piece of William Morris fabric, designed in 1877, called 'Wilton Bough'. As my husband's surname is Wilton, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to personalise the furniture. And the fabric also suited the muted green colour scheme of the room.

  To re-upholster furniture you will need:

• fabric
• embroidery cotton or braid for edging
• fabric glue
• scissors
• toothpick

The secret is to take your time and work carefully.

1. Gently prise off the old upholstery, taking care not to tear it. You will find that inside the fabric is a cardboard template.
2. Lay the cardboard template on your new fabric and cut around it, leaving a quarter inch extra all around.
3. Put glue on one side of the cardboard. Smooth the fabric over it and fold the edges to the underside. Glue these place. Leave to dry. (If the piece is circular you may need to cut nicks into the edges so the fabric will fold under neatly without bunching.)
4. Glue the new fabric piece onto the furniture.
5. Use a toothpick to glue a fine braid or embroidery cotton in a coordinating colour around the edges to neaten them off. 

This is another way you can transform furniture and personalise your dolls house to make it unique to you.