Hi. I have reupholstered a few things before, but in the past the projects were always square. I am now trying to recover a late 1800s "gentleman's" chair. The chair has a round seat that is about 4 or 5 inches high at the edges (it's deeper in the center). The chair also has a roundish back, arms, and queen ann type legs. Here is the problem: How in the world do you take a piece of fabric, lay it on a round seat and have it lay smoothly everywhere? The original fabric did not have any gathering or pleats, no seams, etc. This has me totally baffled. This is not the type of chair (like a dining chair) where you fold the fabric under the seat and tack it; it's a carved wood chair where you tack the fabric to the wood on the outside and cover the edges with gimp. Any help would be tremendously appreciated. Thanks! ~kls2

What kind of fabric is it that you are going to use, please? Also, when I re-upholster antique chairs, I like to leave as much of the original material as possible in order to retain the integrity of the piece as being an antique.

I am using a damask fabric, medium weight. I understand trying to keep the piece as authentic as possible, and though I'm using the same horse hair and the decorative tacks over the gimp, I have decided to staple the fabric on instead of using the old tacks/nails. Does the type of fabric used matter as far as putting it over a round seat? The original fabric was thicker.