New Hampshire Upholstery Triplets

This set of three custom built chairs with wicker side arms were made quite a while ago.

The owner chose two fabrics from my fabric library.

 There was lots of staples to pull out of deeper channels on the inside back.

The foams were still in great shape.

 A stretch Seat webbing was developed for the upholstery industry 30 years ago or so.

The webbing only serves for 20 years and then tends to breakdown.

 Traditional jewt webbing is what's called for here.

 And a top coat of fabric.

 Steam brings upholstery foam back to its original shape after being set in place for 30 years.

Plenty of life left in this foam.

 The plates are ready now for a half coat of cotton on top of the foam.

And to tailor up this finished upholstery fabric.

All the buttons are tufted in place, and the plates are ready to go back on to the frames.

 Quite a bit of tailoring to put it away the fabric edges in place.

 The owner and I looked over the wood when she dropped off the pieces. The wood looked acceptable then, but after upholstering they sure needed a good touchup.

 These chairs sure are functionable. They have a great sitting height and depth.

Thanks for looking here.

Practical upholstery

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For north American upholstery shops

Wing Back & Sofas

This fabric was chosen from the fabric books I have in-house.
A nice classic design for a quality wingback.

I ordered 7 yards for this wingback. I thought it was a little much but I ended up using all 7 yards.

I have been estimating fabric amounts for well over 20 years. I basically just take a educated guess at it.

I ordered 20 yards from my supplier for this sofa and loveseat.

After all is said and done I had an extra 16 inches left.

Lots of advanced cuts on these flat topped arms.

The outsides backed and lined with a thin coat of cotton.

 Time for a new piece of 2635 foam.

This wingback is another great example of furniture designed to last many generations.

My guess is this has been in service for 30 years or so, the frame and the stuffings are in the same shape as they were on day one.

What nice character to this classic.

There is no better daily chair then a nice wingback with an Ottoman.

Custom cut, with surged edges arm covers 

will probably double the life of the fabric.

This piece goes in the same sitting area as the sofa and loveseat below.

This sofa and loveseat set have held up for probably 30 years also, because they were designed to do so. Unlike so much of todays home upholstered furniture.

Plenty of staples to pull out of this set,

 to remove the old fabric and keep the lines smooth and clean.

The exposed wood cleaned up real nice with the Howard's Restore a finish.

The owner chose Felt glides for this set

. As we all know the felts tend to fall off often.

I'm going to try a touch of this glue and hope to better the adhesion.

The front deck nosing hand sewn in place.

With some fresh cotton to help Tailor up nice and clean.

Rolled and seamed arms are always a challenge.

Quite a bit of tailoring and patterning to prepare for the upholstering of the arms.

Of course, the outsides are backed and lined with a thin coat of cotton.

Disposable furniture dust covers don't belong on these pieces

. A nice traditional woven fabric does the trick.

The quality existing foam is still in great shape. The outer batting had seen its day so I stripped and discarded it and steamed the foam back to its original shape.

The old cushions were tailored to long in the front and had a real overstuffed look to them for this style of the frame.

I trimmed to a better size.

 And glued on a fresh coat of poly wrap looking for more traditional looking cushion to fit the frame design.

 Of course the old snap rings and clips on the frames were replaced.

 A three thread surger I have in house is needed for a proper arm cover.

The arm covers patterned, surged, som over edges, and steamed.

This sofa and loveseat set is now ready to serve.

Thanks for looking here.

Practical upholstery

The number one blogIn all of blogdom

 for North American upholstery shops!

French Provincial Upholstery Restoration

Pairs of antique chairs are so nice.
It's been at least 50 years in service since any attention has been brought to them. The chair frames are very sturdy, there is no tightening up needed at all except for the broken Crown on one.

After removing at least two layers of Staples and tax it is clear that firmer springs are needed and to totally restore the spring base units.

Note the dark oxidization of the wood on the inside frame.

That's a sure sign that these sure have a lot of age.

The wood cleaned up well with Howard's Restore a finish.

Tight bond hide is the best wood glue I know of. Generously Applied to the joints and clamped up well for a couple days should do the trick.

A set of new 7 inch coil springs Will make a big difference.

Keeping the studio neat and clean throughout the restoration process makes for a proper job.

The inside back is a challenge with a 1/2 inch staple area around the edges.

Fresh tailored Cotton sure helps for a clean look.

The arm tops originally had straw. These chairs are so old the straw Broke down and I rebuilt them with horsehair.

They tied up nice and tight.

With new edge roll all the way around with the front one hand stitched in.

I'd say these chairs are a couple hundred years old, Horse hair is amazing as it is in the exact same shape as it was originally installed on the bases so long ago.

Then a Full coat of cotton and White linings to set all the stuffings in place.

Many upholsterers would run the camp around the inside of all four of the frame posts.

All these cuts came out nice and clean.

Finding a good supplier of gimp trim has been hard over the years. I took the extra time to get the proper French gimp for this pair.

This pair is now ready to serve.
200 years in service and still going strong.
That probably won't be said with any box store furniture bought nowadays.

Thanks for looking here!
Practical upholstery
The number one blog in all of blogdom
For small town American upholstery shops.