I just finished turning an old coffee table into a bench. I stapled the fabric and everything. But I realized it will look better tufted. Can I do that without starting over? Can I just thread the Twine through and pull? Everything I see online shows tuftig before stapling. :/ Thanks for the help!
The tufting that is done before stapling involves creating pleats which are sometimes called diamond pleats or French tucks. You can certainly sew buttons down to create a simpler tufted effect as long as you can get a needle through to the back and tie it off.
If the fabric is stapled around the top of the table you would need to get some holes in the table to be able to "tuft" the fabric top. You need some way to pull the button down into the fabric and access from the back (or bottom) of the cushion is key!
You could drill holes from the bottom side up into the padding after you decide where you want your buttons,use heavy cord to fasten the buttons and lay a nail on the underside of the bench across the drilled hole to fasten the cord on and pull tight and knot it. This should work. If you want it to look really neat when done glue some brown kraft paper on the bottom side of your bench or staple some black muslin on it.
