Skirted, Button Back, Barrel Chair Set

This pair was originally created in 1968 or so.

With the barrel back, Full skirts, set in buttoned back cushions this pair is go to keep me on my toes.
As well as end cut 24 inch pattern.
This set used up a full 18 yards with no wasted fabric at all.

After removing lots of staples in tacks to get nice clean lines a frame inspection shows 50 years and this frame is still in great shape.

 The support strapping for the inside backs are different on each chair Time to pair them up properly.

 The outside arms still in good shape, but reinforced for generations to come.

Fresh cotton is a must throughout the reupholstery process.

 Fresh cotton underneath the decking handsewn in.

 A thin coat of cotton on the inside arms also.

 A good shop cleanup halfway through fitting the frames.

 The outsides are we enforced with webbing and a heavy weight upholstery fabric to help with Tailor up properly and not to bruise.

 Thin coat of cotton.

Mirror cut and set, of course.
With steam pressed seams.

 Quite a bit of stitching on these two t-cushions.
The present foam is of such good quality & so much life left, I steamed them back to original shape. There is no labor charges for freshening up the seat cushions for life, if they ever start looking lazy.

 Mirror cut and sewn Seat cushions looking from the top.

 And front

 And side

Skirts are always a challenge I made them an extra inch longer than the previous ones.

Backed & lined.

Sewn to the welting.

 mirror cut and set.

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Exact same tailoring on both fronts

From the seat cushion

To the decking

And the skirt.

 The design of the set in buttoned back cushion was definitely an advanced one.

Lots of tailoring and patterning to get these put up properly.

 Pairs of chairs are so nice!

Thanks for looking here!
Designed & tailored by David Whiton Vose.

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Motorcycle Seat Upholstery

It has been several years since I have done a Harley-Davidson seat.
This seat belongs to a 2000 Harley Davidson Electra Glide classic.
The previous owner stitched in flames on the sea top which allowed water to get inside the seat so the rider got his buttocks wet when setting down.

Sure took a bit of doing to drill out all of the rivets and to strip the glued on top.
The green spot shown below is one of those "gel seats".

A nice coat of really thin poly wrap should help make for a Nice skin tight fit.

The washer backed rivets Will help hold things in place for years to come.

I chose a naugahyde brand Faux leather vinyl for this one.

I have black leather in-house, but it seems to have more maintenance in the long run then a quality vinyl. Also this vinyl has a nice stretch to it, which sure helps my tailoring stay sharp.

20 years ago if I did not put piping in the seams the seat would have looked cheated. That's not true anymore.
One of the most important things is the design of the patterns of the edge belting and the main cover.

It worked up nice and clean, ready to roll!

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180 Year Old Sofa Restoration

This daybed stopped in for some attention. Identify this piece as a transitional from Victorian to the Empire style, and actually was some rococo style influence. Probably made in New York or Maine in the late 1840s. The oxidation on the unfinished wood shade was almost a black coal.
This piece has a very setting nice height to it, and is very solidly made.
It could very well be an Isaac Vose original or reproduction, could be either, just speculating.

There was never any coil springs in this base. The proper thing to do is build it up the way it was originally designed.

One of the arms was broken Front and back.  As well as one back where it needed shoring up.

Lots of tacks to take out of this old timer.

Bondo is a great filler.

The exposed finished wood needs much attention. After many coats and lots of extra fine steel wool I brought the wood back to looking sharp.

Sure was quite a wood artisan to carve these arms up.

Fresh cotton of course.

The owner supplied this beautiful silk fabric, probably from France.

With these accented swirled arms and working with silk really keeps me on my toes to keep this work clean.

When reinstalling the back I pushed in 3 inch screws with large washers.

Lots of buttons needed for the Seat cushion.

A top quality 2645 foam 3 inches thick we'll do the trick here.

66 buttons in all.

With extras tucked in the zipper in case one ever pops.

This piece is ready to serve

. What a great character and value older furniture has.

180 years old and back out the door for another great run.

Thanks for looking here!
Practical upholstery
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For north American upholstery shops!