Hi, I own an upholstery shop.  
I do as well, In fact the word "upholstery" comes from the English word "upholder",Which is used because tradesman who held up his goods.
There are so many uses for upholstery.
yes and most materials like coil springs, animal hair, coir, straw and hay, hessians, linen is all done by hand. Nowadays we do it by machine. 
I prefer the craftsmanship of doing it by hand but machines are so much more efficient.  When did upholstery start?
, but it appears to have a connotation of "repairing" furniture rather than creating new upholstered pieces from scratch (cobbler vs. cordwainer).
In 18th-century London, upholders frequently served as interior decorators responsible for all aspects of a room's decor. These individuals were members of the Worshipful Company of Upholders, whose traditional role, prior to the 18th century, was to provide upholstery and textiles and the fittings for funerals. In the great London furniture-making partnerships of the 18th century, a cabinet-maker
An apprentice upholsterer is sometimes called an "outsider" or "trimmer". Traditional upholstery uses materials like coil springs (post-1850), animal hair (horse, hog and cow), coir, straw and hay, hessians, linen scrims, wadding, etc., and is done by hand, building each layer up. In contrast, today's upholsterers employ synthetic materials like dacron and vinyl, serpentine springs, and so on.
History.
"Upholder" is an archaic term used for "upholsterer"