cushion work 2

To start this cushion work off I painted myself in a corner as they say by mis-calculating the yardage needed to complete the task at hand. I figured a way out of it.

Below shows the match tailoring of a set of cushions for a matching porch love seat and sofa.

 Mirrored exact pleats throughout the matching 5.

 And the seat cushions.

 Mirrored beltings as well.

 Custom pockets for the zipper sliders.

 Centered and mirrored zippers also.

 I have 4 throw pillows made up.

below shows 3.

With mirrored corner pleats.

 The sliders are hand stitched closed.

 After final inspection and fine tuning the stuffings, as well as a good dusting out.

They are wrapped ready to return home.

And this complimentary fabric was chosen for another love seat on the same porch.

Thanks for looking!

An Odd Couple

I gave the camera a rest while giving my attention to this classic Martha Washington chair.

Here are some completed pics.

 The weave of the fabric kept nice and strait, with no waves and set tight like a drum on the base.

 The maker of the frame spent extra time on the contours.

I keep the lines sharp and crisp so to appreciate the wood craftsmanship.

 The double piping really helps trim this piece up nicely.

There is a delicate balance of just the right amount of hot melt glue to use behind the double piping.

 Setting the piping for the outside back nice and proud.

 And the arm cuts clean with no extra fluttering as it flows to the bottom of the base.

 No puckers on the inside arm cuts.

 This frame when originally created was made using great craftsmanship and top notch quality materials and should last a couple hundred years or more with proper maintenence.

Let's take this dust cover off and take some pics.

 This french provincial's rally got a nice height and base width.

 The horse hair hand sewn nosing was too proud for this fabric.

I trimmed off at least a half full inch if not a little more to smooth out the look per owners request..

 This micro suede really leaves no room for error when tailoring it up.

 And a 4 sided hand sewn in base.

 Ready to serve.

Thanks for looking!

Parlor Time Sofa

Look what dropped in looking for some attention in this southern New Hampshire upholstery shop.

The owner knew to have the upholsterer tare down the piece before he restored the frame.

A couple weeks later the frame returned in 5 star shape.

I sure wish I would have taken photos of all the cosmetic work the owner did.

What a nice job, with such a solid and level frame.

 Below is the traditional basket weave burlap webbing light set.

If you set the webbing with too much tention you'll warp and crack that frame.

The old tied spring twine was still in great shape.  I'm gonna set the springs in the same spots and re tie the springs with new tie spring giving it two coats.

 Oh then comes a coat of traditional burlap to cover the springs.

 I'm making a nice firm drum here.

 I have nosing of different sizes in house but i'm gonna use this custom sewn and tailored nosing made for this piece originally from horsehair.

 3 times i ran this nose with hand sewing thread to set the nose.

 The straw was still in really fine shape.

I dusted it all out and re tailored it on to the base.

 I needed more straw.

I pulled this out of the "bone yard" in the back of the shop.

 There was 2 inch foam in this base set. Time to replace it with new firm good dense foam.

All custom cut with angles.

 Now on top, a nice full thick coat of cotton.

 Now for a lining. I used thin silk like new material from in house to set all the stuffings in place.

 The nosing hand sewn in pretty good looking as seen below.

Shooting to keep the nosing in a constant contour with the frame.

 And more topping.

 A thin coat of cotton.

 And the finish fabric the owner chose from my in stock fabric library.

I take the extra time to set the stuffings before tacking down the back side.

 And a dust cover cut in place to protect the new fabric as it is now time to start working all that tufting.

The old insets with horse and sow hair.

ready to be re-worked.

 Fresh traditional burlap backing, set as before.

 It's a start.

 Working these up together really helps keep the symmetry.

Enough tailoring on the ends. I'm gonna catch up the middle shield with new burlap as before.

 The old tufting sure has some very small folds.

 I worked the stuffings to give me the opportunity for larger tuft folds.

 Lots can go wrong here. and being level is another important thing to look out for.

I re set the little arm caps with horse hair and fresh cotton before upholstering.

 I really did not rush in closing out the inside of this piece.  Over a couple days i really spent an effort to get the inside as perfect as i am capable of.

 Now the 3 piece under layment for the outside set tight and trimmed.

A thin coat of fresh cotton layed on top befor setting the upholstery fabric.

 The sewn and steamed seams really help keep the piece looking as good as possible.

 This double piping i stitched up was a real challenge.

It only takes one mistake and the grade quality really would dive as i apply a liberal amount of hot melt glue all around inside and out.

Without any glue seeping out.

 Time for a good shop clean up.

 I took my time giving this piece a final look over using the 3 tools shown below.

 Cleaning and maintenence.

The tufts should never be vaccumed or scrubbed as you will lose the pleating.

general dust is the main issue and the best way is to blow the dust away with an air chuck once a year or so.

 Sure was a challenge for me to take on this piece.

Thanks for looking!

Practical Upholstery

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