The Upholsterer’s Craft has been produced by Björn Hårdstedt. This book was originally published in 1988 by the Swedish Association of Master Upholsterers (STM) and long sold out, and rare at second-hand bookshops. Björn took on the challenge to recreate the book, supported and endorsed by STM, and subsequently to translate to English.

The book includes 240 pages and almost 400 photos and explanatory illustrations, perhaps the most thorough collection of foundational elements of the upholsterer’s craft ever published. The Upholsterer’s Craft is not a basic introductory course for beginners, but a complete reference work for the professional upholsterer.

The content covers the following sections:

Seats

Drop-in seat • Stitched stuff-over seat • Round stitched stuff-over seat • Sprung seat with a firm edge • Sprung edge seat with a mock cushion • Sprung edge seat with “English” front border

Backs

Stuff-over chair back on cardboard • Armchair back with springs

Arms

Padded arm rest • Curved scroll arm • Firm stuffed arm • Straight scroll arm • Sprung arm

Deep buttoning - tufting

Deep-buttoned stool • Curved deep-buttoned armchair back • Polyurethane seat with deep buttoning

Cushions

Horsehair squab cushion • Feather and down cushion for armchair seat

Semimanufacture

Seat with sinuous springs • Spring-interior cushion

Tools