My Little Black Book: The best places to buy your upholstery supplies

Over the years as an upholsterer, I’ve picked up a fair few tips on where to source and buy your essentials. Whether it’s fabrics and finishes or tools and fillings and foams, good suppliers are worth knowing about wherever you are in your upholstery journey.

These are my go-to places I know I can rely on to find the things I need when I’m on the lookout for essentials for a project – big or small. It’s my Little Black Book and I’m opening it up for you here today…

Fabrics

There are so many places you can source really lovely fabrics in a range of prices. The choice is vast, which can be overwhelming. The companies below are non-trade and totally reliable, so you can buy without an account – perfect for beginners. If you’re already in business, or as you get established, you can start to set up accounts and benefit from trade prices and discounts.

“Always make sure you are buying upholstery grade fabric and you are aware of the fire regulations for your project and your chosen fabric.”

It’s worth mentioning if you’re an upholstery student as you may get a small discount. Don’t forget to look at eBay and Etsy too. It’s possible to get high quality, affordable fabrics if you shop around. If you know a local upholsterer, they may also be willing to sell you small amounts of remnants or offcuts.

• Just Fabrics
• The Millshop
• J A Milton Upholstery
• Yorkshire Fabric Shop
• Timsmiths
• Ross Fabrics
• Camira Fabrics
• Fabrics & Papers
• Modelli Fabrics
• Britannia Rose
• My Fabrics

Sundries & Specialist Supplies

Upholstery supplies such as stuffings, fillings and foam, feet and castors, plus things like coverings and linings, webbing, hessian etc aren’t things you’ll find in a standard DIY store. You’re best off going to a good, specialist company. For smaller quantities of basics such as tacks and staples, eBay and Amazon are worth a shot too.

Here are the suppliers I really rate:

• J A Milton Upholstery
• Martins Upholstery
• The Foam Shop
• Glover Bros
• Heico Direct
• Southern Foam
• Heritage Components

Toolkit

Before I started out in upholstery, I didn’t have a tool kit. In fact, I couldn’t even wire a plug. These days, my tools are my pride and joy and I love every bit of kit I’ve collected over the years. As is so true in so many other crafts and professions, you are only as good as your tools. But you don’t necessarily have to choose the most expensive. For example, second-hand tools will often do just as good a job.

Basic hand tools are standard and if you’re just starting out, most upholstery classes will sell packs, but the following places are brilliant at providing top quality kit whether you’re a beginner or more established:

• J A Milton Upholstery
• Martins Upholstery
• H.Webber & Sons
• The Mills Shop

If you need help with a simple or perhaps more sophisticated upholstery project, drop me a line for an initial, no-obligation quote by filling in the online enquiry form. Alternatively, you can email me directly at sharon@vintiqueupholstery.com or call me on 07764 182 783.

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