Learn to Upholster is a free, in-depth upholstery reference, written from real workshop experience and shared so that anyone can learn the craft.
Who’s behind it
The site is written and run by Shaun Greenwood, a master upholsterer with more than thirty years in the trade and AMUSF accreditation (the Association of Master Upholsterers and Soft Furnishers). Shaun runs Greenwood Upholstery, a working upholstery workshop in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, alongside his wife Pat. Everything here comes out of real, daily commercial work — re-upholstering chairs, sofas and antiques for customers — rather than theory.
What this site is
Learn to Upholster is the free companion to the book The Working Upholsterer’s Bible. It’s a growing reference covering both traditional and modern upholstery: stripping and frame repair, webbing and springing, stuffing and stitched edges, foam construction, top covers, buttoning, trimming and loose covers, alongside the history of the craft and a working glossary. There are also free, practical tools — a fabric calculator, a reupholstery cost estimator, a deep-buttoning calculator and a foam selector — the kind of sums an upholsterer does at the bench.
Why it’s free
Upholstery is a craft that’s easy to lose and hard to learn from scratch. Good information is scattered, and much of the real know-how stays inside workshops. This site gathers as much of it as possible in one place, for nothing, so that anyone — a beginner re-covering their first dining chair, or a working upholsterer checking a detail — can use it. The adverts and occasional affiliate links help cover the cost of running it.
How the content is made
The chapters and tools are written from hands-on experience in a live workshop, then illustrated and tested. Where we recommend a tool or material, it’s something we would actually use. We aim to be accurate and practical; if you spot something that could be better, we’d like to hear about it.
The book
The Working Upholsterer’s Bible is a complete, illustrated course covering the same ground in depth, from first principles to finished projects. This site mirrors and extends it.
Get in touch
Questions, corrections, or just want to say hello? See the contact page. If you have a piece you’d like re-upholstered, that’s what Greenwood Upholstery is for — visit greenwoodupholstery.com.