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HOW TO DO BUTTON TUFTING

Here's a simple how-to for button tufting. We usually think of "Victorian" or "Antique" furniture when we see buttons and pleats in a piece of furniture, but it's also a good way to dress up a simple piece of furniture like the rocker below. Besides its decorative worth, button tufting has a practical use, particularly with leather. The pleats let the upholsterer use up small pieces of material that otherwise would have to be thrown away. This back could be done with as many as 8 separate pieces.

1. Webbing

2. Foam glued, cotton on seat

3. Seat Done

The foam takes the place of the cotton, hair and straw that would have stuffed this late 19th/ early 20th century rocker. We're using it because we're starting from scratch. It's best to save and re-use the original stuffing on your piece if you're wanting to duplicate the tufting it had. Ignore the foam. We'll cover it with cotton in a minute. The back foam's soft (low density), the seat foam firm (high density). Thickness for the back and seat were determined by trial & error (i.e., sitting in the chair). The diamond shapes drawn on the back mark where the buttons will be and where the pleats between the buttons will fall. Remember, I'm making this up as I go along. There may never have been any buttons in the rocker. Most tufting patterns look like this- the diamonds are taller than they are wide. I started with a diamond 7" or 8" high and 5" wide  and then adjusted the size to fit. 5x7 is a good ratio of width to height; it looks right.  If you're re-doing a piece, you'll see the lines of the pleats impressed in the top layer of cotton. I made holes in the foam for the buttons; those are the circles at the points of the diamonds.  The holes don't have to be round. They should be about 3/4" wide for a small (#22) button. If your old chair has hair and/or straw stuffing, there might not be any "holes" per se, but there will be spaces between the pieces of stuffing (often almost square, called biscuits) where the buttons go.

About Buttons

Here's a closeup of the buttons (left). These are #22s, about 1/2" in diameter, the smallest common size. We make them with a hand-powered button press at the shop. You wouldn't want to spend the money for the press, the dies, etc. for a one-time project. A fabric shop or upholsterer might charge you 25-40 cents each to make them from your fabric. The loop's for the button twine that'll hold the button down. As you can see, sometimes you have to trim threads. On the right are the buttons again, with a spool of tufting twine and a 12" tufting needle. The needles are really inexpensive ($2 ?) so buy 1; the twine is tough, smooth, and not prone to tangle: buy a yard or so for each button.

Keeping the Fabric Straight

Below, on the left, we've covered the back foam with cotton and started poking holes where the buttons are going to go. The cotton sticks to the foam without any glue. I like cotton because it hides the feel of the foam. You could cover the foam with dacron, or not cover it at all. If you're working with the old stuffing, you might want to put a new layer of cotton over it. If the chair's been upholstered a bunch of times, you might want to take an old layer of cotton off and replace it with a new one.

Above, button #1 is close to the bottom and to the left of the twine. Button 2 is pulled through and tied. It's to the left of the needle. The tufting needle is pushed through the fabric where the 3rd button's going to go. The button's hanging at the bottom of the loop of twine; both ends of the twine are going through the eye of the needle on the top and out the bottom. The pleats running up from buttons 2 & 3 are heading towards a staple in the center of the top of the back. That staple is temporary; it helps to keep the fabric straight, as I talked about above. You can follow the line of the weave from the needle on the right to the center of the button on the left. That's the way it has to be if you want a good looking job.

MAKING PLEATS

The process is the same for all the remaining buttons. Below, the buttons are numbered in the order they were inserted.

All the buttons are in. The pleats between the buttons make a double diamond pattern centered on the middle button. When you're tufting, you want to make a pleat every time you add a button. That means moving, as I did, from row-to-row: from the center row (#1) to the top row (#2 & #3); back to the center row for the next 2 buttons, and then to the 2 buttons on the bottom row. To put it another way, don't put in all the buttons in one row ( like 4, 1, 5), and then move to another row. You'll tend to pull the fabric too tight. Also notice that, at this point, there are only 2 staples holding  the fabric (centers top & bottom). That's all we need so far.

Top Pleats

Above, we're going to make the pleats from buttons 2 & 3 to the top of the back. Start with a staple on each side of the fabric a little lower than the top row of buttons (lower arrows). Keep the pattern (weave) straight. Sometimes I draw a line with the dustless chalk (it'll blow off with air) to help with this. You should be able to lay a straight edge across the center of the top row of buttons and follow the same thread all the way from the left staple to the right staple. Then, staple up the side towards the top. A wise upholsterer only puts in as small and as many staples as he/she would be willing to pull, so use 3/8" staples if you can, and as few as possible. I was able to get up the side and onto the top edge of the back without making a pleat in the corner. You might not have the same luck. My line of staples ends about 1 staple (1/2"-1") further towards the center of the top than the button ( 2 or 3) directly below ( the two arrows on the top).

In the picture below, I've pulled the center top staple (it was too tight) and made the 2 pleats in their proper place as marked by the arrows. Keep the weave running straight up. Fold the excess fabric from the center over the fabric coming in from the sides. That's the rule- the fabric closest to the center is folded over the fabric from the side.

Side Pleats

Below, making the side pleats starts with stapling up the sides from about the height of the bottom row of buttons, and going about a staple or 2 higher than the line of the center row of buttons (4, 1, 5). Then, the pleat is formed by folding the fabric above over the fabric below. That's the way side pleats are always done-facing down.

Bottom Pleats

Below, the 2 pleats on the bottom are done the same way the top pleats are done. Start stapling the sides at the height of the bottom row of buttons, and move down and onto the bottom, the last staple on each side a little closer to the center of the bottom than the button above it (6 or 7). The pleats on the bottom are formed the same way as on the top-center fabric over sides.

Above, all the buttons are marked with numbers, all the pleats with arrows. As you're trimming off the fabric, you might need to add a staple here and there to get the edge down all the way around. Below is how it looks from the back with all the buttons in. The buttons need tied off so the twine won't slip. I pull each button tight, and tie a square not with the 2 ends of its twine.  Then, I trim the twine so it won't sneak out while putting on the outside back.

Finished

I like to use double-welt instead of gimp or deco tacks to cover the raw edges on pieces like this. It's something an upholsterer can make up for you out of your own fabric. It's applied  with hot glue. I also like to use a layer of burlap and a layer of dacron to pad out the outside back. So that's all there is to it. Just keep these 5 things in mind, and your project will go just fine.

5 Important Points

1. Keep your fabric straight: keep the weave running up and down, and side to side. 2. Make sure your pleats will fall before the buttons go in-don't pull the fabric too tight! 3. Make a pleat with every new button- don't put all the buttons in one row before putting any in the rows above and/or below. 4. Don't get carried away with stapling, and don't tie off any buttons, until all the buttons are in and all the pleats are made. 5. Remember- all pleats run down-that is, upper folded over lower- or out-center fabric over fabric from the sides. Good luck and have fun!

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