DIY Bench Makeover, Part 2: Tufting and New Frame/Legs

Friends, for my last makeover I revealed the transformation of this ugly thrift store bench and how I reupholstered it in new French script fabric:

Today I’ll explain how I re-tufted the bench and how my husband (Mr. GITG) built a new frame and attached the new legs.

Let’s start with the tufting…

These are the fabric covered buttons once I removed them:

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I opted to recover the buttons myself with the new fabric to save a little money.  (You can buy button cover kits, but I haven’t tried them before).

First, cut a circle larger than the button.  Sew a wide stitch around the edge, place the button in the middle (on the back side of the fabric), and then pull the thread and cinch the fabric up around the button.  Sew it around tightly, leaving the metal loop of the button out.

Mine don’t look great from the back, but since only the front will be seen on the tufted bench, that’s what’s most important.   🙂

You will need waxed button thread and a long upholstery needle (I only had these yarn needles, and the longest one worked fine for me).

Cut about 15-18 inches of waxed thread and fold it in half.  Slide the middle through the metal loop and tie a cow hitch knot.

Next, thread the needle with both ends.  Slide the needle to about the middle of the thread length (shown as an example below, but don’t move it so close to the button).

Since this bench already had six holes in the bottom board for the buttons, I just had to find the exact spot to insert the needle and then pull the thread all the way through.

Here’s the bottom once I had all the buttons in place:

Once your buttons are in, you need to secure the thread tightly in place with an upholstery staple gun.

This is what it originally looked like before I deconstructed the bench:

And this is how mine turned out.  Not so pretty, but the thread is super tight so I consider it a success!  (This is due to my upholstery stapler… but my new one will work much better.)

Here are the buttons on the finished bench:

Finally, the story of the new legs….

When I removed the old frame and legs, it looked like this underneath:

Well unfortunately the new legs were a little bit wider than the old legs, and it wasn’t as simple as I thought it would be to just switch them out.  Mr. GITG ended up building a new frame and finally got to use his Father’s Day present (an awesome Kreg Jig pocket hole tool).

He cut a 1×3 wood board and drilled pocket holes with his Dewalt cordless drill/driver and the Kreg Jig so that the screws would be hidden and to make the frame stronger.  Remember to always wear safety glasses when using power tools!

Here’s part of the frame assembled with new wooden legs:

Here’s the bottom of the bench (after this photo was taken, Mr. GITG added two more wood braces underneath for extra support):

The thrifted bench was $10.  Add the cost of the legs, fabric, and other small supplies and our total investment was about $60.

It got tons of attention at the market this past weekend and sold to one lucky lady.  🙂

I loved this project and can’t wait to do another bench.  If I can’t find another good one to redo then maybe we’ll have to build one from scratch!  To read Part One of this DIY bench makeover, click HERE.