Home upholstery: a bad idea, or the worst idea?

November 11, 2010 6:44 AM

Our new couch has a tear along the seam of the seat. How can we fix this ourselves?

We bought a new couch in August of this year. Totally enjoying it! Enjoying it enough that it has developed a tear along the seam of the seat.

The tear about 4 inches long (image here). We'd like to fix this ourselves as we are unclear if it is covered under warranty (not sure if it qualifies as a manufacturing defect).

The seat is attached to the couch, and the rest of the tweed-like fabric is fairly taught. What should we do to fix this?

posted by tip120 to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Best answer: If the couch is 3 months old and you bought it new, I can't fathom that it is not covered under warranty. 1 year is pretty standard for furniture upholstery, and usually longer on the frame and internals. I'd find your receipt and call the place you bought it from. They will likely send out an upholsterer to fix it under warranty.
posted by COD at 6:52 AM on November 11, 2010

Best answer: Probably under warranty. You might want to check that first.

It's an easy fix, though. Directions.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:09 AM on November 11, 2010

I've had the cheapest couch from Ikea last for ten years without any issues like this (y'know, except for a corner that the cats scratched, and even then it was 8 years before *that* looked too bad). I would be very angry if they didn't consider it a manufacturers defect.
posted by MeiraV at 8:07 AM on November 11, 2010

Response by poster: Well howdy-do, we asked about the warranty. We're getting a new couch! Crazy.

Thanks for all your help :)
posted by tip120 at 9:04 AM on November 11, 2010

Yay for new couch!

For future reference, (or if you ever want to make/fix a teddy bear!) a slip stitch would fix this perfectly. It's a bit tricky, but you sew the two folded edges together, from the outside, but the stitches wind up tucked inside the seam.
posted by fontophilic at 9:12 AM on November 11, 2010