A Sprung Footstool

Why a footstool

The Montana Extension Service chose a sprung footstool to teach upholstery because it contains every fundamental step of upholstering a sprung piece, is small enough to carry, inexpensive, and can be finished in a day ¹. It’s still the ideal first sprung project.

Frame and materials

From the bulletin ¹:

• Frame: 18 inches long, 12 inches wide, 3 inches deep (outside), of 1 1/8-inch white pine - thick enough to hold many tacks - with corner blocks (no more than 1 inch on a side) or metal plates inside the corners.
• Legs: turned or tapered, 6 to 8 inches, glued and screwed on (or built into the corners).
• Webbing: about 2 1/4 yards of 3 1/2-inch webbing.
• Springs: six, strong, the same size top and bottom, about twice the frame depth.
• Tacks: 3-, 8-, and 12-ounce, plus gimp tacks.
• Twine: flax mattress twine and spring twine.
• Burlap: about 24 x 30 inches.
• Padding: a pound or more of curled hair (or moss or tow), plus cotton batting.
• Muslin: about 30 x 36 inches.
• Cover: 26 inches of 36-inch fabric, or a yard of 50-inch fabric covers two stools; cording for welt; black cambric for the bottom.

The steps

1. Finish exposed wood and legs first, if the frame will show ¹.
2. Web the bottom: three strips crosswise, two lengthwise, interlaced, stretched tight, tacked and folded back (see Jute Webbing) ¹.
3. Set and sew the six springs at the webbing intersections, three stitches each (see Coil Springs) ¹.
4. Tie eight ways with spring twine and clove hitches, center row first, into a slight crown ¹.
5. Burlap over the springs, tacked inside the rails and sewn to the coils ¹.
6. Edge rolls: hair rolled tightly in the burlap edge and tacked, mitered at the corners ¹.
7. Stuffing: teased hair just covering the rolls, sewn down; then a layer of cotton ¹.
8. Muslin: tacked centers first with 3-ounce tacks, pulled tight, fullness worked out at the corners, trimmed below the tacks ¹.
9. Cover, one of two ways ¹: - Exposed frame: cover tacked just below the muslin tacks, finished with gimp or decorative nails. - Covered frame: top cover tacked; welt sewn around the top edge just above the rail; a band of fabric (2 inches wider than the frame depth) tacked face-down under the welt with a cardboard strip behind it for a crisp line; a thin layer of cotton laid over the frame side; the band turned down, slit and folded around the legs, and tacked underneath.
10. Legs attached, and cambric tacked on the bottom with edges turned under ¹.

Variations

• Needlepoint top: bring the needlework down over the sides in one piece and miter the corners ¹ - a fine way to use a stitched piece.
• No springs: a solid top with burlap, hair, cotton, muslin, and cover - quicker but much less comfortable ¹.
• Modern: elastic webbing and foam on the same frame.

What to take from this

The Montana bulletin’s sprung footstool - an 18 × 12 × 3-inch white pine frame, six springs on interlaced webbing tied eight ways, edge rolls, hair and cotton, muslin, and a cover finished with gimp or a welted, back-tacked band, then cambric underneath - teaches every step of sprung upholstery in one day.