Hello,
I have a lovely rocking chair I would really like to have a go at reupholstering for my mother.

I really just want to put a nice, super thick, comfy pad on the seat piece, but I want it to look like it is meant to be there, part of the chair, rather than just buy a pad and throw it on.

But my question is, do I need to have access to a sewing machine, or is there a way to pin it neatly. When you look under commercial padded furniture etc, I have noticed often it is just stapled. So I was thinking I could get some nice pads and some nice fabric and just pin or nail it.

Across the top I can get some of those pins with the domed heads. I don't know if they are pins or nails, hopefully you know what I mean.

And then maybe go around the front and pin it underneath too. I think I can make it look nice, but I wanted to know if there is a person reading this who has some upholstering experience. If this is a reasonable idea. Or are even small pads usually sewn in some way before attaching, even if they are nailed/pinned. My sister once upholstered a chair and it was really uncomfortable afterwards, sorry sis, lol.

I think upholstering is one of those things that looks simple, but I'm sure there is probably a lot more to it.

I'm trying to plan it as I don't really want to start putting nail holes in the seat area if it is not a good idea. If it better to just get a pad made, I suppose that would be ok, but I wanted it to be a bit more personal and tell my mom that I had made it for her.

Just thinking right now, if it was a piece of leather, I mean the seat pad was leather. It probably couldn't be sewn right. My grandpa had one with a leather seat with the nails around. Maybe I should go for this, but I kind of wanted it to be more fun and leather can be cold in the winter.

Maybe I am overthinking this, but any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks
Joe