An Upholsterer's Journal

Is It Worth It?

2011-11-11T13:56:00.001-08:00

A 1970s Early American style recliner, it's well - shall we say "well worn"?

The thing weighs a ton owing to hard wood and all steel moving parts

The reclining mechanism moves smooth and silent and is simply constructed - that means easy for me to remove, upholster, reinstall. In fact it's more like the smooth Norway-made Ekornes I have for sale in shop right now:

than some of the cheap (in mfg + materials only - the retail price is usually right up there) Barca's I've done held together with drywall screws and stapled joints. Now that hardly seems worth it, but then most people
will not know the joints and type of wood of their frames to judge if it warrants a costly reupholstering job or not. You nearly have to remove fabric + padding to know - a manufacturer may claim, but an upholsterer will tell you upon experience and inspection if a recliner, or any chair for that matter, is "worth it" structurally.

Then of course, there is the sentimental factor.

The arm thingies (which helps kick out the foot pad) have that ye olde colonial forged iron design to them so popular in the 70s .

Say what you will about the state of this recliner, it's solid as rock (Plymouth Rock) and it was made without a single bit of foam. All cotton padding, which is great - longer lasting than foam. Originally done up in a rustic woven green tweed that could be found covering furniture in any catalog you'd care to pick up in 1972, my customer has chosen this Kravet originally $80 per yd but discounted drastically due to limited stock of closeout, but just enough for this project. Score!

I'll polish up all the wood and this chair'll be ready for another 40 years!

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I Love Orange

2011-11-09T15:49:00.001-08:00

Well I won't be making this party...

...and I wish I could! My daughter's in London - maybe she can go in my stead, she's the one who brought Apartamento to my attention with issue no. 5 purchased in 2010. Its my very favorite magazine, like a literary journal of interiors. Brief stories, some only a paragraph or two, short and lengthy interviews, photojournal of living space and architecture ... sometimes with a colorbook section. Scarce in the US as each issue is (printed in Spain, sold in EU), I do have my 4 copies in the shop for sale at the current currency conversion rate - they are collectable!

Here's said daughter sitting down to a breakfast of our favorite color...

Orange has been a favorite since childhood. It harkens back to my grandparent's Fiesta Ware collection which were used as everyday dishes. The thick burnt orange plates were always paired by me with one of two tones of green, or most satisfying combo, orange with deep violet. It imprinted my color sensibilities at an early age.

Child of the 70's I am, I had one of these radios...

Just before the I Feel Orange invite, I was noticing how much of it I had around the shop, trends and favorite color aside, it is the season for all tones of orange. Artist Cynthia Dunaway's Rockport Massachusetts pleine aire painting is here...

Her husband/artist Paul Murphy's painted TV...

Jean F. Ross's block and silkscreen printed with foil textile "Flying Hat Head Men" . This would be a perfect textile to hang in a men's store - one of the many fashionable and trendy haberdasher/tattoo/barbershops that sell men's stuff - or vintage clothing boutique. They should snap this up! It's 44" x 62" and is for sale in the shop, along with some of Jean's other printed fabrics.

More orange eyecandy in the shop is artist Pamela Gaard's painting on barkcloth "Volupte"...

and her Spoonflowered fabric "Woven Pinks" was printed out by them more orange than pink, to my delight...

(restored 1940s sofa newly upholstered in crazy small check quilter's cotton also for sale in shop. You can't believe the comfort of these super soft 30/70 down feather blend cushions on 36 handtied spring seat and 36 tied inside-back with curled hair stuffing! An amazing sofa...you WILL want to sleep on it)

I finished reupholstering this vintage Domore office chair just before Halloween and now have it for sale in shop, and on etsy...It made the coolest sparse Halloween window, theme of black, white and orange. A 40's black rayon dress with handbeaded spiderwebs over Lawrence Peabody's "Wherefore" 1960s fabric for Sears, a small 50s plastic jack o' lantern ornament and the hot persimmon orange Domore, mirrored chrome all shined up for the occasion...

I enjoy windows as much as upholstering and sewing. I have a million ideas on presenting how vintage fashion informs interiors past and present. All in this window is for sale of course - everything is always for sale at Miller Upholstering! I've been collecting for years, and also have a few dealers and artists who bring their textiles here to sell. Some of my faves is a bunch of Mexican wovens, Saltillo's and serape's sporting orange and vibrant reds, violets, black and blue. Pillows or outside backs, I think rather than higher traffic upholstery applications, as the fibers will tend to pill.

and the brilliant rust of surface design artist Joan McGee's heat transfer fabric made into pillows is an edgy accessory. I purchased this yardage last summer at The Surface Design Association's Conference in Minneapolis -

I stock handpicked vintage books on decorating, history of furniture and craft of upholstery technique - the good ones...! Other trend- in-textile related mags + reading material in shop is HandEye...

Selvedge from the UK is a regular must-read for any self-respecting textilophile garment making fashionista -

Yes, I've been fabric and book collecting low these many years and now have a place to put them...in shop, offered to any and all interested!

And now - a month after the original date of this blog post, I find out Pantone has named "tangerine tango" or 17-1463 TCX the official color for 2012. If you are loving orange as much as I am this year (what's left of it) or next, come in and let's get going on fixing you up with some orange! How about some -

New suede?

Velvet pillows?

Reupholster retro seating originally orange with new fabric orange - who needs change all the time?

Location: Miller Upholstering Minneapolis

Vintage Clothing, Jewelry and Textile Show

2011-10-16T10:12:00.001-07:00

Cats Pajamas Productions hosts a vintage sale twice a year in the Twin Cities. I've attended in years past as a shopper. Last weekend, as a vendor to show a selection of vintage yard goods I sell at Miller Upholstering and to invite people to visit the shop on East Lake St.

We load in and begin set up.

Soon enough we've created a little mock-up of the storefront at 3614 E. Lake St. In Minneapolis...

Fellow vendors are also ready well before doors open early for pre-sale shoppers. This is Jojo's from Minnetonka...

Some ladies with fantastic antique hats and footwear

As a dedicated follower of fashion, this season's runway shows haven't offered much to me in the way of inspiration in women's wear - just not seeing anything that really grabs me. But what I find most exciting is the growing awareness locally in fashion and accessories for men. Not in years has individual expression in men's dress and grooming been so accessible, attractive, wearable - and i suppose socially acceptable, but this would require a lengthy socio-political post on why this is happening. But it's nice to see the influence and integration of a "vintage philosophy"; quality materials, excellent and personal service in retail and online environments, and a variety of unique design. The same is being said about (slow)food, (independently produced/fringe)music and entertainment, (slow)clothes... (slow)government ... Well, that doesn't ring as well, probably need a different word for the much-in-demand movement for a people's democracy as opposed to a multinational corporation-run world of manipulating big box capitalism run amuck. The awareness is happening everywhere though and lots of people we talked to during the show said the same - people are wanting to talk about it - but I'll say more later on all that - or not! More pics, please, of the show...
My vote for Best In Show - vintage wingtips, boots and brogues reworked by Zen The Freshmaker for Greenwich Vintage.

A professional cobbler, here he's resoled the classic styled shoe and sewn in Pendleton plaid.

This is so Andrew Martin to me, which I love and find inspiration for interior applications. When Greenwich Vtg Ltd makes a bricks and mortar presence, Miller Upholstering will be a strong supporter - I'm already a huge fan.
Next, I loved Nancy Adomeit's vast collection of cuff links and necktie barclasps.

...as many others did. Minneapolis' own The Missing Link is also supplier to the fine and popular Martin Patrick 3, so if you missed the show, you can select something fabulous at this carefully curated store in the warehouse district.

Even better than the collections of vintage clothing, textiles and jewelry were the stylish and creative shoppers...

Good friends who shop together ...

And finally the show was over, we pack up and return to our shop in the Longfellow neighborhood of East Lake St.

Where you can always find vintage and new fabric for your DIY projects or custom interior orders!

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Location: Mpls/St. Paul

19th Century Ladies Rocker

2011-09-29T10:04:00.001-07:00

This customer's family piece - a small ladies rocking chair or even one meant for the nursery ...

Shows that it originally had a caned seat,

I wish I knew caning or could schedule time to learn! I have in storage an original Thonet bench that I refuse to upholster over the broken caned back,

But this little rocker was upholstered over ages ago with a resilient curled hair pad with cotton over webbing + burlap,

I'll redo it the same and finally reupholster with Lelievre's Aubusson in color Rubis,

A fitting replacement for the antique cotton and silk brocade that I'll reserve for the customer.

Wasn't the old brocade gorgeous?

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One more thing - look how good old nails were - smaller and slimmer

The ones available for use today are fatter and thicker - not as nice for holding fine fabrics to frames - but most people would be using staples ...

I'll keep the old nails. Waste not want not and I actually did have a request from a senior do-it-yourselfer recently for the finer nails. I shared with her from my stockpile. Yep. That's what I'm here for.

No, I did not like nailing this close to the edge of caned holes but I didn't want to go too far out either, especially with the detailed carving of the chair.

It really is a lovely little piece though. Here's where it lives:

Location:E Lake St,Minneapolis,United States

Hickory Co. Camel Back Sofa

2011-09-01T05:59:00.001-07:00

Gorgeous sofa was brought in by a repeat customer who has a knack for
finding vintage furniture with great lines and strong structure.

As you can see from tag, a reputable manufacturer. Feather down cushion, handtied coil springs in seat and inside back all soundly tied and secure, so no need to redo.

Interesting how some makers tie to Inside the rails, instead of on top of the rails. I wonder if it makes repair more accessible or if this is just one factory's method.

A combination of materials used by Hickory - curled hair covered with muslin on arms, thin softback foam sheet with cotton on inside back -

Foam completely deteriorated and the particles everywhere requiring a thorough vacuuming.

After laying new burlap, felt pad and cotton, I get to work with this gorgeous pink stried cotton velvet.

Sewing the seam edge down to burlap then pull the velvet front (the "nose") over a new edgeroll (the previous one factory made with a wedge-shaped foam - that's where all the foam dust came from).

Working the arms. This is seen from the top of arm looking down. Tricky wrapping this extreme curve while keeping grains straight.

Those are lovely curves and the velvet from Lee Furniture behaves beautifully.

I've sewn two different linen cushion covers, both requiring a pattern match...

I used the vintage Singer 301 that I have for sale in shop to seam and topstitch the lightweight linen. It's a joy to use and I've taken full advantage that it's in the shop set up and ready to tempt anyone looking for an excellent machine.

Back to the industrial to sew welt cording for trim that'll finish the sofa

Applying these arm faces always take me a few times - invariably nail holes show unless the fabric is a looser or more textured weave. Sometimes they have to be handsewn which adds to time and cost - all depends on fabric selection and how drastic the curves.

And done. What a beauty.

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Location:E Lake St, Minneapolis,United States

Patchwork Cushions

2011-08-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

This great chair was found on the curb or alley, it's former owner/maker intending for someone to pick it up and enjoy it's deep seat, sturdy boxed arms and matching ottoman.

That's just what my recent customers did - for 6 years now. Time for new cushion covers, but what to choose for fabric and style?

Turns out they had seen this previous post of a danish style upholstered chair and were wondering if I'd do the same with these cushions. Absolutely -! This is the kind of thing I love to do, although the aforementioned danish chair's upholstery was pieced by designer Jacqueline Fortier. As usual, I am influenced by the great designers I often work for, and I had admired how she put hers together and specified to me which areas or "patches" she wanted showing and where they were to be placed - and then those that were just filler and it didn't matter so much...

The 5.5" to 6" high density foam was in good enough condition to give us a few if not several more years - at this height it's expensive to replace, foam costs more the thicker you get and considering most vintage frames use 3" or 4" as "standard", this height would've added probably another couple of hundred.
The curved ends gave me to see the cushions were "waterfall" in style, or that the fabric wraps the front of the cushion (or "top" for inside-back) and is joined by either one seam or a bullet/gusset, 2 sides and unseen zipper placket. This actually lends itself better to all the piece work involved. I began by cutting a bunch of pieces large enough to show each fabric's design and not create too much bulk in seamwork, a trick with some heavy chenille and velvet scraps. Better to join them with vintage chintz bird prints or silk, so the seam is somewhat flat. Who wants to sit on an uncomfortable lump of seamwork just because it looks cool?

The easier style of waterfall will save them some dough in labor as well as making them look nice utilizing the existing foam. The otto however - a free standing rectangle we chose to box and double welt.

A zipper placket of an unpieced portion is much easier and the unmatched pattern from the purple Duralee print doesn't matter because it'll be in the back of the cushions where no one has business to look anyway - hahah! But really, I so enjoyed putting this together -

How fabulous does this look?

Beauty and It's Source

2011-08-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

A particular burgundy red shot with hot pink of magenta - summer Salvia blooms in this shade...

And like annual favorite Coleus, with deep sharp colors ...

...the owner of this long, curvaceous Victoriana sofa...

Sought just the right burgundy - bordeaux we decided in the end, but Fabricut calls it Zenith 007.

First the sofa was stripped to the frame - sinuous springs in back, 36 coil springs in seating -

Rewebbed and coil springs retied 8 times...

Recovered deck and sculpted edgeroll, new foam to back marked at 6 " horizontal and 9" vertical increments to form 51 diamond shaped tufts.

This is most of what fueled me thru this job - lots of strawberries from Seward Co-Op with peaches and mint

My client has so strongly influenced me to this color - I see it everywhere now ...

S. Harris' Mardi Gras/01

Ankle-strap wedge - somewhere online, forgot to copy the link - but always a wedge is great when the heel is wrapped...

Robert Allen's Sedium/Cherry Bark

Fabric like music, so hard to pick a favorite - but this has got to be it...Desert Island fabric - could not live without looking every day at Manuel Canovas' Sari.

And how did it finish? With 27 yds of double welt cord trim, new down cushion fill...

..waiting to go home to...

a happy household of people and pets

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Florence Knoll

2011-02-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Or "Flo Kno" as affectionately called by those in the close inner circle…These came to me direct from the Knoll factory through designer Alecia Stevens to be reupholstered for her client.

before

after

In my shop, I frequently see multiples of the same style coming in waves. I'll have a flood of wingbacks, then aesthetic period chairs, then a bunch of office chairs - some kind of collective consiousness at work. Last fall was marked by me as the Time of the Knolls

This pair was emailed for a bid request, front and back view, which I appreciate attachments with more rather than fewer images.

Then a short time later, seen at Savers on E. Lake St...

This one a Steelcase (the link is for one of their vintage ads I saw on Apartment Therapy - very Mad Men) in the 60's or 70's. I let Savers keep the cushions knowing they needed replacing as well as new padding to this good wood frame.

I'll post separately the process of this chair and as it relates to other vintage Steelcase, ASE and Goodform office chairs. I've had good results reupholstering these, but they do have their quirks. For now, I'll just show how this one turned out - it is for sale at Miller Upholstering's etsy store and in the shop here on Lake St. The fabric is "Records" by 009 Textiles of London, handprinted cotton/linen in the UK.

But back to the first Flo-Kno. I knew these were going to be a bear because the fabric from the factory was a stretch woven that fit over the frames almost as a tightfitting slipcover. Once taken apart to use as a template, it more than likely would change size in my hands - and I needed it to fit this boxey frame EXACTLY, stretch but not stress at seams.

The fabric is Rubelli Venezia Re Mida/Corallo, a metallic lampas, with an absolutely amazing kind of tiny flamestitch background weave with the pattern floating above as in a brocaded weft. We would run sideways or railroad.

Apparently you'd stretch and sew, but only just to give a tight fit over the frame. Plates were sewn in "biscuit tufted squares (but not cut and joined) with narrow seams, then stretched into the proper fitting, pre-measured welt cording.

The floating back cushion was affixed with the strangest little lock-nuts that we could not source locally. Forget about being able to reuse them - they got mangled in the removal.

The factory Fedex'd us some new ones though, just in time to finish this pair for the holidays 2010/11.

Fancy Wings

2011-01-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

This incredible pair of wingbacks are underway to have wood legs ebonized, frames reinforced and then reupholstered. The striking couple which I've featured on facebook a number of times now, have more than a few mouths agape at their magnificence in tattered Fortuny cloth that most resembles current pattern "Glicine", but I really don't know what this pattern is, or if it's still available.

That great expanse of back is definitely worth repurposing into some throw cushions or even framing.

The following pictures will show (and serve to remind me later) areas that may need special attention or show the previous upholsterer's different methods. I'll want to consider those when I go about the work of reupholstering. All pieces of furniture are different, so when a call comes in that says, "...how much to do a pair of wingbacks?" I find it hard to answer straight away, because not all will have the same construction of frame or the same kind of padding. Cotton, curled hair, or foam - all respond differently under the hand and to different weights and weaves of fabric going over.

A post from last summer on a similarly compound curved tiny settee is what I'm recalling as I take these down. I see even the fine handwork that went into applying the Fortuny had the same issues I had with the inside-back that curves down, around and up all at once. The eye really can't even see this happening, you just know that it is because you can't get the woven goods to do all that the crazy curves of the frame are asking.

Hahah! I see the area that I had so much trouble with on the settee was the same for this poor fellow - they've split the fabric too! This guy made a complicated little bandage span across the lowest section of back and handstitched it all on so insure it wouldn't move under stress and wear and get worse. Ma'am or Sir, your work has lasted decades, you'll be glad to know.

Sorry we can't say the same for the webbing and springs foundation of the smaller chair..must've been someone's favorite. The strong ties have pulled the steamed wood rail quite to shreds.

Egads, you can see daylight through there. And I'll have to fix that with Sculpwood or somesuch to provide a strong area for new stapling and securing new webbing/spring ties, or someone will end up on the floor...

All that good curled hair (boar) will be fluffed and reused, stuffed into handsewn "bridles" to keep it in place and provide more years of good padding.

So fantastic, these chairs. The new fabric is equally stunning, Christian Liaigre's Brocatelle in color "Chrome", which we will apply with the wrong side facing. I worked some cushions from this pattern some time ago in a different colorway:

That's all for now. You'll have to check in to see how it all pans out. They're going away for the wood to be refinished and then I'll post on them again. In the meantime I'll try to put up some more interesting things. Do visit the facebook page, handy link in the right hand column here, I update it much more frequently - H.

Hands On Designer

2010-09-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

I guess summer is officially over, although it seems like it still should be around August 17 to me... Looking back at last summer's projects, this was my absolute favorite. Designer Jacqueline Fortier took a decided hands-on approach to this fully upholstered vintage Danish teak frame which was actually a modified wing-back that I had sourced at a local estate sale. She set about patterning and then piecing exquisite fabrics in just the right colorways for a one-of-a-kind living room chair.

She made templates from the chair and expertly sewed fabrics with a variety of weight and texture. Take down process on the chair itself was easy enough, thanks to smart upholstering by the factory from whence it came - not too much hardware to remove! always a happy thing, then I just made sure we had proper allowance in the quilted pieces to allow for the special patterning of the wings and curves of seam. Jacqueline designs frequently without welt cording, so I wouldn't have that as a stable area in which to hide excess fabric or fold and handsew down. In fact, she didn't want even the single welt trim that was to hide the staple line all around, so I'd have to be particularly crafty with closing.

A colorful mid-century linen print served as stretcher for the inside arm. Stretchers are those parts sewn on to extend the fabric drawn under in an unseen area, to save on expensive yardage of the outer upholstery. They're always little time capsules of workrooms past - whatever was lying around was apt to get picked up and sewn inseam for future upholsterer's to see and marvel at (well, I do anyway. One day I'll do a post on my collection of stretchers!)

Patterning...

Easing the sewn corner of wing to arm.

Look at that chair! Have you ever seen anything so fabulous? There are a lot of piece-worked chairs out there - I like Squint in London really well...but this! It's not only the perfect frame to lend itself to this, but it's Jacqueline's scale and selection of color and pattern. This to me, is as good as a shot of wheatgrass, Daily Multi or whatever.

I took a million pictures of it because I just couldn't get enough. I can see a great Liberty Furnishings fabric that replicates a traditional quilt pattern, Raoul printed linen, Clarence House linen velvet and stripe, Beacon Hill's London House and Lee Jofa's incredible crewels, Groundworks and some Jim Thompson stripes. Here's a picture from when I delivered it, but I should get over there get a new picture - I hear the whole room's been rearranged around that chair!

September Upholstery Class

2010-09-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the first set of 2 day workshops I plan to offer for people wishing to learn how to upholster their own side chair. Classes will be ongoing, but kept very small. In fact, miniscule - no more than 2 at a time. There's a lot of design criteria that needs to be considered beforehand to make sure each project can be completed in 12 hours, and that they are similar enough to each other that I can give each one a relatively equal and proper amount of tutelage, but different enough to where people can learn about someone else's different furniture style - a challenge I found out, but quite rewarding!

These were the first images emailed to me regarding 2 projects to be undertaken:

Deborah's chair (at left) had been a wedding gift to her parents in the 1930's. It may have been reupholstered once before to the best of her recollection. She wanted to keep a sample of the past to record the work being done now for future family members. And Linda's (at right) is a Conant Ball chair recently found at a Salvation Army. She had a creative redesign in mind for it...to make it almost a caricature of itself by really plumping up the high scrolled back and stretching a new fabric over it in such a way that would resemble too-tight jeans - a far cry from 70's traditional chair small floral tapestry to the new circular spiraling jacquard modern pattern. Both chairs were to turn out beautifully.

The take-down was easy enough on both pieces…of course Linda had arrived Sat. a.m. with hers nearly done and Deborah's like most mid-20th century pieces, had originally been tacked with proper sized upholstery nails, all of which came out easily. We took time to inspect the construction of each other's frames and the upholstery methods originally employed.

Burlap spring cover of Deborah's chair had been recycled way back when from a Fisher Peanut bag...

Linda and I work on layers of padding for the upper part of inside-back while Deborah's working on aligning stripes while pulling through the inside-back thru the back...not as easy as it sounds (if it does). Stripes can easily be pulled askew when you're not looking, working from the back.

By the end of our 6 hour day Saturday, we had inside backs attached and our sewing lined up for the next day. Linda would do a double welted boxed cushion while Deborah had already applied a flat panel to the seat of her chair, but would have to regard her fabric carefully to line up stripes for trim panels and welt cording.

TA DAH. Gorgeous, both of them. I'm teaching 3 classes in October through Minneapolis Community Ed and then will resume the side chair weekend workshops in November. Email info@millerupholstering.com or message me on facebook if you want to register for a class.

Dining Chair Day

2010-08-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

4 from a set of 6 antique with cotton and curled hair padding (Bergamo orange velvet). 8 pads, a contemporary set going from white chenille to chic, smooth Pollack. Partial set, 3 Svegards made in Sweden, and a single vintage chair probably made mid 20th century to replicate Victorian, but without the handsewn padding.

Found the Swedish teak chairs. Will fix up and sell on etsy.

The room where the 8 pads go ...

Detail of beautiful antique chairs...

And the single vintage chair. I call it the baby chair, because it's really not very much, but a nice little chair for someone - will Etsy it as well...

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Location:E Lake St,Minneapolis,United States

1930's-40's Parlour Set - Part II

2010-08-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

This is the lovely home where the parlour set is eventually to settle - on the cedar-paneled porch in the shade of a big burled oak. Not only were these two upholstered pieces kept in the family, but also a charming piece of family mechanized folk art and 2 matching end tables, purchased as part of the set.

The National Chair and Furniture Company of St. Louis Missouri founded in 1910, was first manufacturer then in later years distributor of furniture - first for residential, then moving into institutional/commercial furnishings. Early on, apparently their motto was, "We are Bears on Chairs", which is pretty funny. Here's half a tag I found sewn inside the seam of cushion...

Back to to the reupholstering of this set - I left off with tying of springs, inside backs (4-way tie) and seating (8-way tie).
I guess what I'd have you to know if you're doing this yourself, is if most of the ties are still holding to frame or to one another, you can sometimes tie over the old jute strings to achieve the original height of springs. I remembered the rule of thumb - I read it in one good book or another, that coil springs should tie down to 1 1/2" below their height when standing alone, without any compression. It helped that this set too, had a good edgewire not terribly out of shape, and that one (two on the chair) good torsion spring nailed on the edge, informing me the height of the deck.

Work back to front starting at center and follow directions for "double-return tie" (google that). There are lots of good books and tutorials on the knot making and how to carry this out. Do all the verticals, then do horizontals. This sofa and chair both, for these beginning stabilizing ties, used double-return. It takes forever to do, so you can't rush through double-returns. You just can't. But you must do it if the sofa's to last another eon, receiving a lot of sitting by a variety of people (not just light weights). That's part of the reason why upholstery is so expensive, it's absolutely all handwork, monotonously tying and retying and tying again. Stapling and tacking, taking that out, doing it again, until it's just right, no crinkly corners, hard edges of wood or weird bumps of cotton that you can feel when you run your hand along back or arm.

Do the vertical tying to finish, so that each spring has been tied to the others, so they all move in unison when sat upon, anywhere on the sofa. Then cover with hessian or burlap. Next will be your spring cover pad - these had curled hair pad on the sofa, but just cotton on the chair. I had a bunch of extra saved from an old piece where the people wanted foam, so I plucked it all apart and supplemented both. Curled hair is like $30.00 per lb, so don't throw it away if it's not too bad...reuse it, but you do need to pull it apart to make it fluffy again. These pictures attempt to show how to deal with the burlap around the posts of frames...

You want the foundational covering (what will be keeping all the stuffing from falling through) to be stapled firmly (but not stretched taught, that's for the final cover) against the frame - no daylight to be seen in corners!

Handsew the edgeroll back on if it had one (these did). If it's a really old piece or from Europe, you may have had to cut extra long burlap and fold it back up from the stapled rail, stuff it with cotton or hair and sew that down (making your own). You need this roll up front to give the "nose" it's nice edge and to protect that edgewire from poking through fabric and getting terribly misshapened.

I like to review pictures I took early on, because this may be 4 days later that I'm just now doing this step and can't for the life of me remember how it went. Is it so terrible to make up your own way? No, but I like to do it the way of the original piece. Because this isn't purely recreational for me, I kind of collect all the ways there are of attaching noses and aprons and decks and things...there are a million and one patents out there held by furniture manufacturers, it's kind of fun seeing all the myriad of ways. This one was handsewn at corners (3 flaps) instead of trying to pattern that curve and sewing it just right on the machine.

Oh, this is what it looked like underneath. Don't forget, you have to handsew the combination of deckcloth/nose to the burlaped and spring-covered springs...

This would've been faster to machine sew welted section to the section covering edgeroll, but I was doubtful of the curve. Sometimes these pieces were cut funny and you can't tell by measuring the old fabric because it's stretched out so much and yielded to the shape of sofa over time. So. Another hour and 1/2 probably, to get a curved needle and no-slip handsewing thread (or strong button twine) to hold it all down where it needs to be...on both pieces.

I forgot to tell you, I actually did the inside arms first, because they extend beneath the level of the decking and even show a little bit out front edge of apron, near the carved show wood, when all's said and done. The original curled hair pad was replaced against new burlap, fresh stuff added to plump it up, new cotton (the old cotton was seriously flattened, dirty etc. It was peeled off, discarded and 2 and 3 new layers added. Why say 2 and 3? You build up quite a thickness at top, while tapering down near deck, to allow room for a plump cushion. Extra bits of cotton also get stuffed in corners, through the lower rails, where the fabric gets pulled through, accessed through outside arms...

Must handsew curled hair to burlap to inhibit shifting. All of this is unnecessary you realize, with the application of foam and cotton or dacron. Modernity...

Doing the same with the back. Placing former cushions on first to check the fit to see how much cotton I need to add and to see how tightly I need to fasten the inside back's fabric to frame. You must give a care to the line of cushions at front edge, neither sticking out too far or sunk too far back. Also to keep in line with welt divisions, marking the sofa into 3rds.

Does fit nicely - no big gaps showing khaki colored deckcloth at point of T-cushion's meeting inside arms.

Now to match the pattern on the inside back of sofa, separated by vertical welt cording.

Cover with burlap the backs, layer of cotton and outer covers applied. I like to hold things in place with small no. 3 upholstery tacks (nails) and then staple with the shortest staple that'll do the trick usually 3/8". Never staple everything with long honking 9/16". Upholsterer's of the future will hate you.

I'll wrap this up now. I've ignored blatantly the first rule of blogging - "keep it short". Can't do'er. And I've been scolded several times by readers to post! post! with better frequency. I'll try! Please do see my facebook pages, both fan and profile are Miller Upholstering, and I'm twittering now at millerupholster. Those have become so much easier to do with the iphone - quick and frequent action reports. Thanks for reading this though. Corn-in-the-Can...maybe you can use some of this towards that sofa you received as a gift last Mother's Day? Yours Truly, Helen

1930s-40s Parlour Set - Overstuffed Sofa and Chair

2010-07-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

I know Sears and Roebuck for one, ran this type of overstuffed spring-edge furniture from late 19th century to mid 20th century. This is 30's or 40's from what the family can remember and as I see the assembly seems more industrialized than other frames I've done. It's apparent it had never been reupholstered (original mohair) and the manufacturer had already pared down factory production to improve their bottom line - heavy weight hessian cloth spans the bottom seating and inside back as spring support instead of fully 4" webbed horizontal and vertical. They did have vertical steel banding screwed in frame to supplement support of 21 coil springs in seat and which I'll not remove, but add my own weave of new nylon webbing around them and retie all springs in this set that's going to be gorgeous.

I'm going to run this blogpost in segments, so readers learning upholstery and want to do these big old complicated projects can see how I do it, one step at a time. I take lots of seemingly unimportant pictures to remember how it all goes back together, and how it looked originally. Today the notion is to bulk everything up with thick foam, but I like to keep original lines and padded thickness relatively the same, unless a customer asks differently. Even though the original curled hair padding has squished down, balled up and otherwise disintegrated, I'll reuse if I can, by pulling apart and refluffing, but some does go in the trash as you'll see. I take measurements, pictures, write notes, observe the fading on fabric to see how things might have been.

A break at this joint will go to repairs across the street at Prairie Woodworkers.

Treasures inside: a collection of combs and a Walmart bag. Be sure to measure how high the spring edge was, noting what ties are broken within, causing perhaps one side to be higher than the other, etc. Go for a happy medium when retying. Some upholsterer's maybe know a good rule of thumb, but no one taught me this, so again I do what was originally in place, regarding also if the edgewire is bent or not...lots to observe, but easy enough to determine new height at which to set springs.

Look at the efficiency of labor and materials on this sofa though. Today this area would be riddled with staples to keep all down nice and smooth. Note the few nails really necessary to do the job - this was workmanship at it's best, and the goal in reupholstering is to do the same.

Observe the deck cloth and pleating of the nose and apron, especially when inside arm's fabric and padding is removed and you can really see in there - you'll want to bring it all back nice and compact but secure (that spring edge is going to be moving up and down everytime someone sits, or jumps - god forbid).

The curled hair behind the apron of sofa is just too gross - I'll have to pad this up with all new. This set was in storage for a long time.

Broken ties in inside back led to the collapse of padding. Retied, recovered with new foundation and it's padding, the back will be nice and plump again with no depressions.

Take measure of the inside back springs that are still tied, so you'll know where they're supposed to sit. They won't all be the same - the back curves, but do it anyway. You'll make allowances when you're putting it all back. Time to see what's under the seating's spring cover...

One torsion spring intact, one broken, will need to replace. Also edgewire clips are bent out of shape or broken, so get some of those back on, or tie them up with string to the front springs when retying.

Rewebbed and time to reset and tie springs. Will follow up with that next - it's a million more pictures, so another posts worth. Here's how it begins though. You see I did not remove all the former ties that were still intact, or the edgewire. Just cut away the old burlap/hessian, rewebbed around the steel bands and now begin at center, to secure vertical ties.

Can I Borrow That Skirt?

2010-07-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry friends, for the infrequent posts - have been quite busy here in the new shop that's not open yet, with walk-in's, calls and emails that fill the custom calendar. Here's a quick post just to get back into the swing, and know I'll be back sooner than later next time.

A simple hem-shortening project for a linen bedskirt was brought in, and has given me desire for full soft polished cotton or linen skirts... this from Matteo in Los Angeles, the nicest linen I've ever seen. You cannot believe how silky this linen is. AND you can purchase yardage from them. If you don't get to L.A. be sure to check their website. I'll just have to get out my ever-dwindling supply of vintage full skirts, as I haven't time to sew up any new...that is, if my daughter hasn't made away with them all -

...and a fantastic little film of their operation, crisp and clear in black and white.

MATTEO: The Process from MATTEO LLC on Vimeo.
"

What's Wrong With This Picture, II

2010-05-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ahh, Minnesota. Land of ten thousand lakes, the call of the loon near the shining Big Sea water.

The ice cold St. Louis River tumbles over shale rock and has plenty of walleye, northern pike, muskies, small mouth bass and...

... a recliner in the middle of nowhere. Actually just before you enter Jay Cooke State Park. In case anyone wants to wade out there through the weeds to retrieve this beauty and take it home with them. Or sit and take a load off. And look, it's one of those horrible mauve velveteen overstuffed things, with the drapey attached pillows over arms and back. Unbelieveable. One day, Planet Earth is just going to give a mighty shrug to rid itself of pesky man who continues to litter all over everywhere with his/her trappings of so-called comfort and convenience.

Or how about an early misty morn in Minneapolis, contemplating a lovely pile of trashed furniture.

Are kidding me? An Eames chair unceremoniously dumped. It's looking at us. It looks like the robot maid in the Jetson's. The other one's not too bad either, in an 80's mod kind of way. Upholstered arms and legs, all 90 degree angles, could do, could do..

This perfectly-fine-to-fix black rattan (I forgot the brand, this picture is a few years old), chucked in Bryn Mawr alley.

And one more tasty tidbit to leave you with - these just found recently - another Parking Lot Abandonment case, this one in St. Paul. Now here's a couple of keepers for sure.

What's Wrong With This Picture, I

2010-05-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

These came to me recently from a designer who's client insisted on using an upholsterer of their own choosing. It was not known to me if they'd had a long history with said upholsterer, or if they were less expensive, or simply chosen because they were near the client's residence. Whatever the reason, the results were not great, and the designer said fear not, I'll see if my upholsterer (who is me) can fix them. I never saw the frame of this Baker sofa , but I was to tackle the uneven welt on the cushions and bolsters, tighten up the top and bottom plates of cushions (they "wrinkled" when sat upon, complained the client) and make all nice again. The fabric to deconstruct the cushions and salvage what I could - a gorgeous raw silk that hadn't been backed the 1st time, and a 3 yard remnant knit-backed, I set about to see what I could do.

They had caught extra fabric in the sewn seams and let them leave the work room like that. Without cutting the welt cording material on the bias, they'd also sewn the fiber of cord into seam, causing a great deal of puckering and wavery lines of uneven width. And what's with the black zipper against a light colored fabric?

The seams were not a consistent 1/2", because of running over the fiber cord and when the straight-grain corded welt didn't want to make a nice smooth circle, they sought to ease the seam by clipping. This doesn't work real well. A lot of people quote lesser amounts of yardage required and cut welt with the grain, and in a pinch, maybe - and okay for squares and straight edges, but not circular shapes or "T" or "L" cushions. You should just figure the extra necessary to bias cut your welt cording...you'll be glad you did. Still, some people don't like to do it.

Ah, that's more like it...

You should be able to crimp the welts circle like a pie crust into the sleeve of an already zipper-applied tube that is your bolster - without slashing the seam allowance for ease.

Begin pinning at 4 quarters of circle - east, west, north and south. If you've measured correctly it'll fit perfectly and you won't have to adjust a thing. The crimping kind of puffs the bolster's ends out and accomodates a larger-than-finished feather down cushion just right. You'll have a beautiful round bolster. And a similar colored zipper is always a good idea, unless something is absolutely not going to show.

Nice if the bolster tube will kind of stand on it's own at the machine plate - then there's no poking or prodding, only smooth guiding that results in a perfect bolster.

If you've sewn your welt cording on first, make sure that you sew just inside of your previous stitch - this way it won't show when you turn bolster right-side-out.

My Enemy - Compound Curves on Antique Settee

2010-05-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

Rough several hours on this darling antique settee, that on first glance, didn't appear to need all that much work and and for it's size, certainly no brain-teaser. WRONG!

I should have known. Tim from Prairie Woodworking stopped in and supplied me with the jargon I didn't know, but was well acquainted by this point with the physical difficulty of asking a diagonally woven and heavily printed cotton, to biasly go where it didn't want to go, then back and under and over itself again. No ordinary fabric either, but pattern "Granada" from Fortuny.. Fabric challenges aside, 1st a look at the Dry Wood of the Ages dilemma...

I was going to have to fill the holes and splintered off areas with a mix of glue and sawdust, to give myself new surface to staple into, otherwise they won't hold. So many reupholstering's down thru the ages make for a very holey frame. And very dry this one.

I put the curled hair pad (seat) back on then hand sew it to new burlap and webbing. Then cover with new muslin because the old one was shot. The inside back doesn't get 1/2 the wear and tension that a seat does, so I did not disturb it and it's webbing was okay.

I didn't know the stretcher piece that gets sewn to the bottom of the inside-back plate was cut with a curve (to allow more stretching or bias) and pleated then stapled to back rail, so that it would smoothly follow the compound curves, (which if you click the above link you'll know is "a curve made up of two arcs of differing radii whose centers are on the same side, connected by a common tangent" - huh?). Well, the first stretcher I cut and sewed did not stretch and I tore the Fortuny!! AAARhhhMadness! Luckily this big piece could be used on the outside back, because I did not have any extra to spare and could have been a very costly mistake.

Those two pictures literally give me a cold sweat just to look at them. I place them here for all to know - I make mistakes, but in the end - I fix them! I vow to let nothing leave my workroom that doesn't exceed the last perfect job that went out...well, that's the goal anyway. Next post: correcting a job that was allowed to leave someone else's workroom, less than perfect.

1950s Brooks Upholstering Co. Kidney Shaped Chair 1/2

2010-04-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Barrel-backed and on short nearly hidden blond legs with brass caps, this chair 1/2 from Minneapolis' halycon days of furniture manufacturing just got it's first reupholstering ever.
Clients chose Robert Allen's BK Pop in Graphite, and I can tell you it is FANTASTIC to work with as it really takes the curves of the nose perfectly, (that part under cushion just behind your knees when you sit). Not to mention the full crescent of inside-back that I had to adjust vertical welting on 3 times before I got it right, to ensure there'd be no puckering before I buttoned...

Here's a peak inside the existing cushion, lest anyone wonders what happens to old foam rubber...it petrifies into tiny dust particles that are horrible to live with. Reason enough to reupholster.

Inside back actually gets cut like this...

Position buttons, apply, then handsew the back. Why not use pli-grip metal stripping? Sometimes I just don't want to add anymore hardware to a piece of furniture. I like to handsew and can do it quickly. Plus, I've not purchased the handy button replacement syringe-thingy, so if these buttons ever fall off or come loose, I can get at them easier by lifting a handsewn back and sides, rather than the metal-gripped back and sides. Have you ever done that? What a nightmare...(especially in fraying chennille)!

This chair looks so good from every angle. This is a piece I would be happy to live with and may do a sofa of my own in BK Pop, if there's one a mite lighter in tone, this almost too charcoaly for me, but according to the owners, it's perfect for their scheme.

Look how good "Letters" by Gunnar Aagaard Andersen designed in 1955, looks with this.

Rewebbing Danish, Rattan or Wicker With Elastic Webbing

2010-03-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

Furniture that use this type of webbing is so easy to repair yourself, instruction is barely necessary - but a few of you have asked, and I do sell this as a kit on ebay, my etsy store and in our new store at 3614 E. Lake St. Here's a pictoral how-to for the blog readers:

The demo chair I found at a thrift for $12.00 and the previous owner had used jute webbing nailed to the frame. I'm sure it served it's purpose until they decided to get rid of the chair and I came along to purchase and set new 2"elastic webbing and v-clips, as the manufacturers had intended. I took some artistic license (and economic practicality) with the height of the seat, using a 4" leftover foam I had in shop, instead of a flat cotton pad or up to 3" foam that would be standard for vintage Danish - still it sits wonderfully with new webbing underneath.

Flattening the v-clip can happen a number of ways - pliers, vise, boot heel. I do like to give it a few whacks with a hammer against table edge in order to make the teeth set into webbing though -

Work from back slot stretching the length taut, but not too tight to the front and make a mark with chalk where you should cut at the slot. Flatten a v-clip to this new strip of webbing and place it in, woo-la!

Keep going until you have all the verticals done, then do the horizontals by weaving them in and out. Not all chairs will have both directions - many frames just use vertical webs, but you get the idea. Don't worry - it'll be great - you really can't mess up, unless you pound the v-clips too flat and they slip out because you cut a strip too short by pulling too tight -- so don't do that!

1950's Kroehler Chaise Sofa

2010-03-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

This was a 50's piece I'd been saving for a long time, and when a friend recently purchased a 1960's built home in Minneapolis' Bryn Mawr neighborhood, this frame came to mind to be perfect. Many modern (read "contemporary") sofa's would overwhelm the low windows in first level living room and small dimensions between front door, fireplace and dining room. Still, a family of 3 wants the one sofa in the house to be comfortable, multi-purposeful, durable for the kids who'll be coming over and for this (stylish) family - be cute and unique. The good name of Kroehler doesn't disappoint. A quick perusal of the web revealed this good article on Kroehler's other talents. Wish they'd go back and reissue some of these good designs.

This Kroehler model bearing a small metal plate with patent no. 2.597.860. It comes apart in 3 pieces, all nut and bolt tightened, the hard wood thick as asphalt and ingeniously designed to reupholster slick as you please. This one had long lost it's cushion, so we've decided to order a down envelope for a 3" foam cut to shape. The short blonde wooden legs interlocked to the frame and then were nut-and-bolted as well - much better than screw-on legs, especially with the jumping and flopping that often occurs with kids.

The bare frame of course, had to have the vacuuming of it's life...I mean, this had been stored in a dirty garage for years, before that an attic storage since probably the 80's. The built in spring unit at back and seat get new covering of general use denim I've had around here and a 1/2" layer of foam, then just cotton.

We decided to dispense with the channels and just do buttons. Remember, the cushion's getting down-wrapped foam - that's just plain foam in there now, while we wait the arrival of down product from New Jersey.

That down wrap came in just as this was going to post - look how it fills the cushion cover. An expense to pay past plain foam, but so worth it.

Twin Sherrill Sofas

2009-11-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

Two big sofa's from Sherrill in the 90's. The cotton floral held up for about 13 years and now a few rooms in this St. Paul Mac-Groveland Queen Anne home are getting made over, one at a time. These are some seriously well made sofa's, whether they are a decade or two old, or if you're considering spending 3 to 5 grand for a new one. Reupholstered in Belgian linen, this traditional hardwood frame with 8 way handtied springs and all loose cushions get updated by losing the skirt and simplifying the fussy shirring at arm facings and minimizing the welt cording.

We can't wait to get rid of this.

Synthetic webbing is tight as a drum on both sofa's so I won't need to do those. A few of the strings tying springs have come loose though, so while not a full retie, some will be reinforced with new twine tied back to front.

Nails holding spring twine can work their way up over time. I just hammer them back down and often retie some new twine over. Also you can see the spring cover cloth was starting to come up and cotton padding would soon start to cave in...On old sofa's, this is usually burlap that quickly deteriorates and on spring-edge sofa's, lead to the beginning of your troubles with bulging noses and uneven seats.

New spring cover cloth to cover well over the wood frame and edgeroll clipped back into place, to give the nosing under cushions a nice rise at spring-edge front.

All coming off..and look how much nicer this is. Similar to model 2280, current in Sherrill's catalog, but actually, I like this one better - it sits a little lower too, I think. 2280 has that exposed wood rail along the bottom edge. Last thing before cushion restuffing, was to vacuum and steam the feather down-wrapped seating cushions to restore their plumpness, so they fill the corners of the new linen nicely. We did the Henredon ottoman too, and the long window cushions. All very pleasing in the end.

Mastercraft of Omaha, 1962 Armchair

2009-10-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Club or lounge chairs like this from a long gone American factory are plentiful now on Craigslist and various free market websites. They usually don't go for very much money because they need restoration, and most of the time they look like they haven't a prayer of renewal. But if one takes a good look at the reproductions today, comparing spring systems, leg attachment, padding materials - cotton vs. cheaply made petrol foam - you will be hard pressed to find a better piece of furniture to purchase spending $1500 to $2000.00 - and this often without fabric cost considered, that would be extra!

This fantastic Mastercraft of Omaha (frame stamped October, 1962) was losing it's original frise fabric - that scratchy olefin/poly sculpted fabric much like Sculpta-rug carpets that appeared in ranch homes across America, even up thru the 70's. It had been a family piece that the owner was sentimental about and at first I thought the thin cotton/poly woven was going to be a difficult choice. I usually prefer to see this era frame in something with a little more textured bulk - a fabric so weighted it wraps the hard angles of midcentury frames nicely, softens them, especially with a thick naturally slubbed fiber, dense velvet, mohair or chenille. But after months of looking at fabric, this paisley jacquard woven was really the only fabric my client liked, so we used it. To my surprise, it's made this chair more elegant and once placed in the home (a newer modest split level construct in Vadnais Heights MN), it did not scream "retro". She's able to enjoy her memories of this chair she's known since childhood (especially after seeing the lost toys found inside) while having a custom addition to a very grown up and contemporary living room, sans allergens from old dust-mitey fabric - which is my biggest complaint against bringing in vintage furniture - they bear the dust of the ages inside that no amount of vacuuming can get to!

This chair has a built in cone spring system in seat and inside back, that if the edgewire isn't bent or distorted and the heavy gauge steel isn't rusted and broken (from having been misused as a stepping stool, trampoline or left out in all kinds of weather as porch furniture - this one hadn't)- it's nearly indestructable.

The burlap spring cover deteriorates though, and we'll replace that so that the reapplication of padding for the deck under the cushion will be firm and not fall through.

Lost toys found inside...

It's satisfying to upholster these large angled plates, although the deck and apron require some special patterning of the original piece.

Inside arms with that big flat planed surface on top get a new layer of thin foam and cotton.

Gorgeous.

Bauhaus USA and Lee Sofa

2009-10-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

This was a Bauhaus USA sofa purchased in the early 90's from local department store at the time - Dayton's, today is Macy's. The chenille was badly raveled and tore easily at welt cording and any where near edges really...it hadn't held up well at all, which is the case in a lot of chenille's that aren't backed with an acylic coat or woven tightly enough to withstand lots of wear. The owner found a beautiful paisley-esque floral jacquard, a double weave that would withstand everyday sitting and cats sleeping - chenille is a fur magnet! Not a lot of pictures in-progress, but a few to show how nice a fabric like this can look on a sofa...

This next one was a newer Lee Industries sofa that was purchased new with an offending floral chenille fabric - Offensive to the owners, that is. They had local designer Susan Brown do the master bedroom where this sofa would end up wearing a new Pollack fabric.

...proving sofa's don't have to be antiques or completely dilapidated to get reupholstered - even newer ones can be in need of a makeover.

1993 Overstuffed Sofa, Chair and Ottoman

2009-10-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

Westwood Industries of Tupelo Mississippi manufactured this set, dated 9-15-93. Almost 16 years to the month later, the owners are renewing it as a gift to the next generation - newly wedded and with their first home. The hardwood frame solid as a rock and higher density foam still resilient. Sinuous spring squeaking issue resolved (see following post), fresh dacron layer to plump corners and a thickly woven, acrylic backed chenille damask cover - this comfortable set is ready for another 15...

Definitely time to reupholster.

The rouching detail at front of arms and on the upper side at top of back was made by sewing a strip of elastic to the facing, while the welt cording holds the bias of the larger plate at a certain length and stability. This way, the facing or boxing or flap or whateveryoucallit eases in, like a dress sleeve, gathering up nicely to be secured down in smaller tucks rather than large deep pleats. Even though the new fabric has more bulk than the original cotton print for this, it still looks nice for this design.

Pleats to fit the overstuffed-ness are carefully matched at inside-back as I pattern off the sofa instead of the old pieces - they are too tattered to try to template from, or even get an accurate measure. I'll have to get pictures of the happy ending of this project at a later date from the new owners. We were in such a rush to deliver on moving day that I didn't get pictures in the new setting!

Squeaky Springs

2009-09-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

A very brief post here, while I investigate some squeaking sinuous or "no-sag" springs". Both sofa and chair have a not terribly annoying, but audible spring noise when you sit or get up. Now, this type of spring system is relatively maintenance free for years and years (no twine to break or fray, no costly hand-tying to replace) and if the wood frame it is tension-nailed to is hardy enough (as this one is - the wood has not split thru the grain due to weight load, or wear and tear), it is definitely worth reupholstering.

The length of connection to frame is still excellent - good job, Westwood Industries of Tupelo Mississippi!

I think to secure the edgewire the sinuous or no-sag springs are attached to, back to the frame just at the edge, will help end this squeaking. Each line of sinuous spring is secured to itself with strong little clips lined with thick paper, so you don't have steel-on-steel rubbing. There is chance the paper has worn away, producing a noise...that I can't go in and fix, but the edges for sure will help. Stay tuned to see the beautiful chenille damask that will cover this set, after a little repadding.

Pin Felted Wool Upholstery

2009-09-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

My daughter living in the UK laughed telling me about a charity shop she went in to recently and the sale sign in the window noted, " Sale! 50% off everything! Except wool". Seems the ladies at Oxfam were not about to let that go cheaply. Wool is a highly prized fiber around here too - personally in my house and wardrobe, professionally in the studio workroom, and in a Scandinavian/German rich heritage state such as Minnesota. Even growing up in Southwest Missouri and Oklahoma, my grandmother and her sisters were always trading clothes and especially the solid wools were kept well after the other more trendy prints and fabrics came and went. With my grandmother's help, I made a tailored skirt from one of my grandpa's old but still fine, serge suits. I think they all knit and crocheted, and while Aunt Estella taught me now to knit, Aunt Dottie was probably the most accomplished, creating complicated pleated skirts and sweaters from the thinnest of 2 ply worsted wool. In upholstery, I love working with wool. A few years ago I became interested in pin felting on wool remnants, making pillow tops or shams from cut up skirts and sweaters. At one point, I actually had a fair amount of Maharam's Kvadrat handy in which to work up some designs. I'm remembering these projects as I view the few pictures I took of them then. The iron stool I've given away, the midcentury bench I sold on ebay, and the grey pillow sold in a holiday craft sale. Since I can't get rid of my woolens any easier than the Charity shop women, or my female relatives, I think I may revisit this craft this year and make some new things.

Haha - I can see the DVD "Super Troopers" on the floor...and the open magazine of "Golden Hands" issue from the early 70's, that had a velvet paisley and solid block quilting as my inspiration. That shag rug is something else too, isn't it? I wanted a 70's house so bad, but my 1908 stucco house could never give itself over to modernization through my decorating whims.

Here's the pillow, on what was a thick grey wrap skirt, so it pieced off nicely for cushion making. It really couldn't be easier if you have a solid foam cushion handy that you don't mind poking holes into (for the felting barbed pin tools) - spread your "canvas" out on it, place strips of roving where you want them and jab away.

1970's Button Attached-Back Tapestry Sofa

2009-09-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

A sofa suitable for a tall man's afternoon napping. Purchased at a garage sale for $10.00, this 78" long sofa from the 70's gets reworked in tapestry. While we discussed redesigning the buttoned back and cushion construction, we decided in the end, to reupholster as it had been. Purchased from S. R. Harris in Brooklyn Park MN, the tapestry fabric was not treated with any kind of backing, which makes for a soft hand, but a textile malleable enought to stretch all out of proportion, especially on the cushions. Honestly, they grew and grew while in the works. For the center cushion, what began as a 23" x 24 1/2" plate, I literally could have stuffed to stretch into 26" x 26"! New Rules: (with a tip of the hat to Bill Maher) - don't assume the existing cushions will template out to the right size for your newly reupholstered frame. Actually, this is an old rule, but one I'd forgotten and resulted in 2 late-night sewing sessions, instead of one. Oh well.

Whoa! A big gap between seats in the new fabric...that will never do. Will have to recut and sew a bigger piece to fill for center cushion.

Attached pillow-backs...that's a lot of sewing...kinda hate to see these come around, but they do look nice, once finished and are easy to keep, as they don't require all that endless fluffing and straightening, as many "loose cushions" do. And what was in the old sofa? Candy wrappers, ink pen caps and a coloured paper cut-out of a trout, marked "3 lbs".

These are the sinuous springs I'm always going on about, how much I love them. They seldom need retying, are hardly ever broken, and can really stand a lot of wear and tear. If you have young kids especially they're good, because the frame will have a stationary hard edge (at cushion) instead of a spring edge receiving movement and friction, which withstands jumping and wallowing a whole lot better. Now this old yellow foam on the arms that's past it's prime will get replaced with a new layer of 1/2" foam wrap and cotton...

Things are coming together...

...using slick fiber stuffing to fill hollow areas of cushions where the old foam (still with some life to them) was a little lacking...

A remnant of cotton velvet in the same bluish-green seen in the floral tapestry will make a nice gift of a feather pillow for this sofa.

Mid Century Slipper Side Chair

2009-09-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

This was the first look at a small project, emailed to me with an inquiry on reupholstering. Lots of satisfaction in seeing this chair revamped. It's size and lightweight frame make it versatile to be used any number of places in the home. If this was my chair, it'd be all over the house. Looks like it's going to need a new layer of foam (unless it was all pure cotton), new cording of course, buttons, etc...but I'm sure the springwork will be sinuous - the low maintenence variety used by many furniture factories heralding the modern age. This was maybe not the original fabric, but probably a reupholster from the 70's or 80's. Whoever went at it did a lovely and long lasting job, but used the biggest nails they had, the kind usually reserved for several layers of thick fabric including cardboard tacking strip. Still, I think this spare frame with quality hard wood would have held the smaller, number size "3" upholstery nail just fine.

Whoa, look at the size of those nails! They leave big holes in the frame too. Using the smallest one for one or two layers of fabric is best when it comes time to redo a piece.

Burlap spring covers are fine, but are aged so I'll go over it with a new piece anyway (it's cheap) and this will prevent the new layers of padding from seeping thru the older fibers sooner than later.

The inside back's frame was originally covered with a much more densely woven hessian cloth, so no new layer is needed here. Just a new soft foam around front for resilience and cover with cotton to make smooth and fill the corners. The seat is done and the top of back will be tricky because of the decorative exposed wood rail on top.

Comes together fairly well thanks to the good weave of the modern jacquard fabric chosen. Looks like we don't need the buttons either, it would kind of interfere with the pattern of new fabric (S. R. Harris Fabric Warehouse in Brooklyn Park MN). A pillow sewn up from the small amount of remnants (4 yds did the trick for all) and this is ready to be enjoyed hopefully for another 30 years!

Contemporizing a 1970's Beaucraft of Minneapolis, French Bergere

2009-09-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

I love my customers! I'm so lucky to get the ones I do. Glancing thru the previous posts and perusing my saved photos for future posts, I'm remembering the process many of of you go through in selecting fabric for frames. It's true the arts and crafts of everyday benchwork in upholstery is fun (some may beg to differ), but I also enjoy the conversations concerning pattern and fiber content, as it pertains to diffferent styles, different needs of use or wearability. Sometimes even before we've properly met, I enjoy the exchange of ideas over a few phone calls and emails, such as this one...

Someone emailed me with this 1970's modified french chair - kind of a winged bergere. I assumed it was American made and actually "it" is a pair acquired on Minneapolis' Craig's List. The tag still firmly attached to the tacked scrim underneath proves it to be a locally made Beaucraft Inc. Custom Furniture upholstered frame from Minneapolis, and a date of 1929. I'm sure this chair came later - I've posted with the title "70's" but it could be late 50's thru 60's. The date given is probably just marking the company's compliance with state regulations in 1929.

Turns out I know this chair very well, as I've been enjoying the same one myself, in my own house for 2 years now, wearing an off-white microfibered velvet. The nap is longer than "suede" but not fully plush like the longer nap of velvet. Still plenty cozy and clean - and $9.00 per yd at S.R. Harris. I need a blank canvas in the house to decompress after working with pattern and color all day. It hasn't always been that way and it won't last for long, because I'm too nuts for fabric, it's an ever changing interior around here. But for now, the white is working it's magic.

Here's how mine started out in life though - a green and blue brocatelle - frame solid as a rock, but upholstery stained overall, from the years of lotion, perfume, hair products used by whoever sat in this chair day in and day out.

The inside-back had been buttoned and was an attached back - made to look like a separate cushion with a single welt. I decided to tight-back it and lose the buttons. Spring system is the old tried and true sinuous springs, in seat and inside-back. No muss, no fuss, just a fresh burlap covering, fiber mat and cotton, then new deck cloth.

Sometimes the nails holding the spring clips have worked their way out. I have seen them with the thick gauge steel broken off, but this is rare. I'd say somebody was using the piece of furniture to stand on, for that to happen. My mother would have had a fit...

Here's what my new lady is considering though for her pair - what a statement any one would make - I think all of these are fantastic. The first five are Marimekko and the last two are Designer's Guild:

I'll definitely let you know what happens..!

Victorian Spoon Back Parlour Chair

2009-09-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

A petite seat with delicately curved cabriole legs and no arms - as demanded by the billowing skirts of 1880's fashion. The chair purchased by customer at an estate sale had a stained and worn velvet seat, but in good contour and spring-state. It did need some frame repair and an update in upholstery.

Not just loose joints, but some good sized cracks threatening to chip right off...

The seat had kept it's shape so nicely over the years but surely in a chair of this age, the burlap covering the springs will be deteriorated...it is, and in fact the jute twine shows signs of finally fraying and giving out, too. I'll simply keep what's there, reinforce with new twine in a 4-hand tie and slip in some new webbing from underneath.

Why only 4 and not 6 or 8 ties? Well, could be the light frame of the chair wasn't meant to handle that tension. 4 ties are all that kept this seat so beautifully trussed up for years, so I figure it's good enough for another 50 (or more). The springs had been handtied to the webbing too, so I like to replace them one at a time with new webs and since this chair was small, I used a curved needle and strong thread on them too, instead of my klinch-it tool. Sometimes the old ways are best..

It looks great in a heavy cotton faille printed with a magnified red and white floral. Purchased at Treadle Yard Goods on Grand Ave., the jacket or dressmaker fabric was heavy enough for this application.

Pretty Spa Room

2009-09-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Just past the indoor pool, on the way to the backyard lakeside...

is a spa seating area of cushions and pillows in cool shades of blue and green. The contemporary shaped sofa's double boxed cushions get changed out for a single "mattress" cushion done in softly green and yellow with brown modern floral linen print, reminescent of a damask medallion. Pillows have that green, but also a lakey blue - the color of cold water. Accents of bronze and gold threads in the many tassled trim, stirs in light. Add a pair of 70's caned french revival chairs from Etsy store "helenmillerhandcraft", and this room provides a calm retreat.

Fabrics and trims chosen for this project include those purchased from JoAnne Fabrics and Calico Corners.

Contemporary Tufted Loveseat

2009-07-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

High design of this loveseat (manufacturer/designer unknown) has increased my skill level ten-fold and my shop's labor rate's going up - Ha! But really, "ask and ye shall receive". I said I wished for a big job just about now (nearly 4 weeks ago) and boy, did I receive in spades....more work than I can shake a stick at, but I want to back up and show this last project, because the results were very nice from velvet to a kind of brocade (Calico Corners, pattern All Dolled Up), and then there were lots of pillows and cushions for another project area elsewhere in this North Oaks home, with other soft furnishings still in the works.

Quirky curves will demand all my attention in measuring and patterning to get the newly sewn cover just right at seat edge and top of back where it meets the diamond channels. The weft of floating fibers in the back of the new brocade fabric will be tricky to keep in line on all the curves.

Flexible carved 1/2" fiber board is padded, upholstered and laid between 2" foam edge rolls to create the sculpted effect of this front apron or nosing of loveseat, which extends up and becomes the arm facings. Solid mirror-finished aluminum legs double lug-bolted into frame. Removed early in the takedown process, I immediately got a view of what was in store, in the way of staple pulling. The factory or custom maker had gone berserk with the staple gun and - well, is there really any reason for this gross overuse of stapling? It makes eveything take twice as long.

Have you heard the good news? Jesus was here. I love it when people write stuff inside frames.

I'm all for longevity of a piece, but did they really think there was a chance any of the 5 layers, each stapled down like crazy, was going to come loose? Isn't this overkill? Who's teaching these workers to staple everything down parallel with the direction of fabric, then go over that staple line 3 times perpendicular. And while you're at it, staple down one more time. Who's supervising these workrooms and accounting for supply costs running amok?

Okay, that is inexcusable. I didn't photo prop that either, those are the multitude of staples that came out when one (maybe two in a tricky area) would've been sufficient. Who am I now, the staple police? If it's the staple gun, somebody needs to get Jesus some new pneumatic tools.

Let's get on to the fun stuff. After marking the back of fabric of previously measured diamond channels, those get sewn. The trick was, that the 1/2" seam allowance wasn't consistant, and some diamonds I had to go as much as 1" so that the new cover would fit the originally carved out buttonholes, a bit irregularly placed, due to the camel back and rounded inside back.

I do love matching patterns, even though it wasn't essential on this sofa. I'll end with a few scenes of the combinations of texture and textiles in this lovely home.

Gorgeous embroidered sheer draperies diffuse the light coming in lakeside.

French Fruitwood Settee

2009-06-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Repeat customer has selected woven fanciful florals and vine on dark ground for inside of settee. Not unlike the stylised palampore from an April post, this variation of tree-of-life pattern probably has another name or term, but I don't know what that is yet! My client chose to keep the faded rose outside back and arms - but I couldn't remove it intact in order to get to the insides of the piece to reupholster deck and inside arm panels. So we've sourced an almost exact color match in a washed vintage velvet. Surprise to see a previous vintage chintz this settee wore in days gone by...

Glue was too much along staple line to save the existing fabric on outside backs and arms.

At first glance, I thought a super cute chintz had been used as a stretcher, but further removal of top fabric revealed full blown upholstered vintage chintz still on, serving as muslin! Will definitely keep that intact for future generations and will keep photos of the print for my own archives.

A second to the secondary print, is this nosing stretcher (to make up my own term) or small tape of printed linen used as a shortened strip to sew the apron or nosing to deck. It's wonky hollow squares in grey printed on white is so modern and contemporary. And I like this technique that I've not done before, of sewing just the strip to handsew down. Quite easy and makes a nice sculpted curvy front without the bulk of a full piece of fabric under the upholstered cover (plus the chintz is already there serving as muslin). Really useful too, when the decking is not to be a neutral cloth, but all one piece of fabric.

Trace out the line of curve in chalk on wrong side of fabric and sew strip along this line to be the narrow bit sewn to decking to define the nose.

Decking and nose is done, so on to inside back and inside arms. I like the mixed patterns here and would even enjoy them all together if it was all new textiles I was applying.

Double welt cording finishes as trim.

In Between....

2009-05-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Couple of things going to journal on a little - would love to have a big project, I have the energy and mind set for it now, (like a couch or two, or a whole room) but these small projects will tide me over until something bigger comes along. (Post Note: Be careful what you ask for! Slammed with work in one day - Posts will be scarce next few weeks). Small straightforward projects that finish in a day or two each, gives an immediate feeling of accomplishment, and the customer is happy that they get their item back so quickly. Or even while they wait, as in the case of Joe Savage's boxed cushion seat top that he uses nightly for playing pedal steel guitar. Must serve doctors and working musicians immediately, as any delay might affect their important schedules!

A slim-lined mid century rocking chair has come in and this will be done in qood order, as I've done a few of these (will post later to show the variety of fabric effects). This one was purchased by client at a garage sale for $3.00 and just think how it's served in it's time and how contemporary it still is. The final bill for this on par with something a person could pick up from Ikea, but it's life span triple, quadruple that of anything from a big box store.

We won't bother with applying decorative tacks to this new covering, they'll just get lost in the pattern and I do love to blindstitch as you can see, I chose to close the back in this way as well. Why riddle the thing with staples? It'll make it that much quicker for the next upholsterer - in 20 years.

A wicker chair probably from the 20's has come in to have a better fitting cushion made for the seat and to upholster the small portion of inside/outside back. A DIY was attempted here, then abandoned as the owner ran out of time to do it themselves and wasn't quite sure how to go about it.

People often ask to repurpose an older textile or something they have around the house for a new upholstery application. I'm happy to oblige when possible. It should arrive clean and ready to take apart or already have been rendered down ready to reuse. One woman gave me a suede skirt of hers to cut up and use as welt cording! I don't mind this at all, if the customer is willing to pay for the extra time it takes to create the desired effect. Here, I'll just find the best sections and use the customer's old softly faded cotton velvet drapes, for a desired "well worn" sculpted cushion and upholstered inside-back for the antique wicker chair.

Susan E. Brown Interiors

2009-05-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Local designer Susan E. Brown presents a workroom with textiles and projects for her clients that even if difficult to handle due to the delicate nature of a given fabric or combination, are so gorgeous to work with that it's easy to get absorbed in color and pattern. Several hours later, the project is finished, delivered to residence, and the result of each new sewn or upholstered project added to her artistic mix is inspiring.

Lovely grounds of Minnesota lake home.

Indonesian, African, North American Native Arts featured throughout home, mixed with specially selected textiles for upholstery and soft accessories. Designers Guild Chittogarh/Ochre embroidered silk pillows with Brunschwig and Fils Marabout Rastignac brush fringe difficult to sew. The thick carpet-like trim with scant 3/8" seam tape all but makes needle and foot of machine disappear.

... a luxurious finished edge.

Beacon Hill's "Bibiana" on two 13th century Chinese chairs.

In the media room, plenty of plush seating for film viewing. "Beanbag" chairs of Bergamo, Kravet Couture and Robert Allen, a short row of theater seats and in the back, a pair of mohair chaise lounges with silk boxed pillows.

Sunbrella and Outdoor Interiors

2009-05-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Time to decorate our outdoor interiors and many of us turn to Sunbrella fabrics. What is Sunbrella? 100% acrylic, mold, moisture, chlorine and UV resistant fibers dyed, woven and printed in some pretty spectacular patterns, and some with such a luxurious hand, you won't believe it's the same stuff as good ol' striped awning material, or stiff marine covers. I have to admit, there is an appeal to the solid color traditionally seen on outdoor furniture of say, high-school gymnastic mat blue or forest green awning fabric for that retro look on your old 50's glider...or the widest stripe imaginable on a low slung deck chair. Sure, you can still have that, but get some new, why don't you, so at least you have something clean this year, to start off the next several years of enjoying your outdoor seating. Instead of marine blue you may be tempted by Tangerine. Or instead of black and tan stripe - maybe something more tiki in nature...there's a lot to choose from and as you can see, French styles, Hollywood Regency and iron frames are all the rage and not too hard to find...put something nice on this year!
...

Vintage iron furniture in Stillwater. Groundworks Solarium "Floral Tracery" by Lee Jofa.

A variety of methods help keep cushions in place, from tie-backs, D-Rings plus clips, snaps, buttons, loops to hang back cushions on so they don't blow away - many styles can be employed to keep cushions wind-stable.

That last image belongs to a patio grouping pictured below and their cushion mates are stationed up on a second floor balcony.

I love this client's choice of lime with pink and khaki, Sunbrella patterned seating cleverly using the "wrong" side, which is more intensely colored with solid pillows and an Amy Butler-esque print for the small one. I want to include a few scenes from the cool and collected self-designed interior of this client's Cathedral Hill home, she has quite a touch...

One of my favorites, "Hibiscus" from Pindler and Pindler's Lanai Collection. This 2 piece set has been painted and original spring cushions fully restored - on sale in my Etsy store, helenmillerhandcraft.

3-Season Porches throughout the Twin Cities gets their highest use now through October, and many use any fabric that's appropriate for the piece or the owner's delight, such as this Erja Hirvi designed "Lumimarja" by Marimekko on an Edwardian wicker. This one was actually a cotton and curled hair mattress cushion fill. Why? The client and I, we just felt like it. I had the stuffing and we wanted it to wear soft, sculpty and on the flat side, the wicker frame itself being form fitting and comfortable.

There is more Sunbrella fabric out there than you can shake a stick at, so go get some! Call me and I'll tell you how much to get, and get yourself shopping. Locally it can be had at any JoAnn, Hancock, Calico Corners and of course the warehouse S. R. Harris in Brooklyn Park. High-end Sunbrella's are usually shipped within a week's time if you order thru a designer or me, fantastic new patterns and old reliables thru Robert Allen, Duralee, Lee Jofa, Kravet, Pindler & Pindler, everyone's got Sunbrella. My sewing machine is eagerly loaded with Beaver Anefil Outdoor Thread (versatile thread that blends miraculously with nearly every fabric it's matched with and UV resistant), and new cushions can be sewn up for you in a matter of just a day or two - depending on how many you have.

More Drop-In Spring Unit Seats

2009-05-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

Lots of spring seats lately... 6 more came in and I thought I'd photo and post to help out those who may be attempting a DIY. Most people will go at the simple dining chair pad at one time or another, and they can with good results. Some designs though, have a little cut-out notch in the back that's tricky to work around and you also just want to make sure you layer things up correctly if there are springs, with a new burlap spring cover, original or new felt, straw, or curled hair pad, then fresh cotton.

That greyish wooley lump in there is like a carpet pad or felted material that is still in good shape - these chairs are old, but I don't think they'd had a whole lot of sitting on them. That pad will go back on the new layer of burlap with new cotton over it. The true joy of recycling...being frugal by not spending money on replacing supply that's still good!

All is smoothness.

I like to lay them all out assembly-line style and go to them all at once. Then you have an evenness of hand consistant with each other. Smooth edges is what you want, no finger marks or places evident where you handled it tight here, then slacked off there, just smooth edges. Not easy with exreme slanted sides like these. Some dining are more square and are easier to do - less wrinkles for the Do-It-Yourselfer.

Two 19th Century Antique Rocking Chairs

2009-05-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

This first through designer Jacqueline Fortier, is a Liberty fabric, the name of which escapes me just now. Charmed to see a William Morris-y type print underneath. I applied "low interventive" upholstering tactics with this piece. That is to say, since it's a seldom used-for-sitting piece and more a family heirloom to reside in a guest bedroom, I kept much that was original intact, and upholstered over a fresh light padding on top of that old, old print - for future generations to appreciate. Plus, to remove it would have been a total fiasco, owing to the many many screws, nails of various size and shape (including ancient squareheads and horseshoe nails and what-all!, and staples that had been applied before and before. You get the idea of this rocker's use in the family over it's years of existence? Many generations were nursed and rocked in this chair! The outer frame was extensively repaired by Gene Cilek Rurniture Repair of St. Paul, 651-699-4022.

The inside back lifts out, as does the seat, but separately and is attached from the inside by long woodscrews.

The frame's wood was split in several places and some areas even had received the "quick fix" of stapling or duck tape!

Above photo is where you see that whole inside back unit repadded lightly with a foam sheet that's usually used for headliners in cars. I chose to use this material because the straw stuffing to this chair was so packed down, layers of stitching attached every way a person could to keep it attached over the years, that I dared not disturb this arrangement, or like I said, you would have trouble on your hands. There's no way we could find someone local to carve out this kind of frame unit new as a replacement, and we would've heard the old one's death rattle if we had set about taking it down completely. I couldn't add a bunch of new cotton either, because the finishing upholstery had to remain lean to the line. Too much padding (wouldn't even have added any comfort or resilience) would have diminished that great curve.

It's awful feeling when you find out a piece has old layers on it and that it was done intentionally by a previous professional upholsterer in the last 20 years or so. I can forgive an individual who maybe thought they'd try a DIY at revamping an outdated piece, but that's usually easy to undo. Or something hand done in the victorian era. They usually didn't expel much energy trying to get fabric on straight and secure. Common sense prevailed and an outside back panel may only be held on with a minimal amount of upholstery tacks. An upholstery shop that goes over the existing fabric and padding, - is excuse me, Cheating and makes twice as much work for the next person. Pneumatic stapling like there's no tomorrow, staples on top of staples, triple thick - this makes me so mad!!! and you usually cut your hands all to hell trying to remove all that. And it's got to come away or you'll have no where to secure your new layer of upholstery. This drives me up the right up the wall.

See? All they did was slap some dacron over everything and staple away, right up to the frame. I could barely get in there with my staple puller...oh, then there was all the old glue to contend with, that mucked everything up and you couldn't even see where the staples were, the fabric would just unravel and pull away, leaving the longest staple money can buy inside the wood or broken off. Attention Fellow Upholsterer's: Please use the shortest length of staple you need to hold fabric to a given hardness of wood frame and don't use more than you need. One staple is better than 5 in the same place.

But I mean, look at this - after all my ranting and raving, channel sewing and stuffing (cotton and curled hair by the way), this chair is fantastic. It is a platform rocker, so provides stationary rocking and is a prized seat in this much used combination living room/music room/common area. I knew how great it'd be if I just didn't let the previous poor workmanship get me down, and just made it right again.

Kay Chair Company: 1970's Tufted Swivel Tub or Barrel Chair

2009-05-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

70's or 80's...Found this tub chair a year or so ago and just was saving it until I had time to do it...a little lull in business currently allows me to work on this. I don't get a lot of orders for deep button tufting and like to keep in practice, so it's a good time for this. Was not able to find much during a brief internet search for Kay Chair Company of Van Buren Arkansas. I did find a claim brought before the Arkansas Worker's Compensation Board from someone suing for more extensive Worker's Comp than they were getting, due to some shoulder and hand carpal tunnel issues. There was some question of claimant as to if this injury was from employment with Ray Harris Furniture Co., prior years of working as upholsterer/sewer for Kay Chair, or before that as lunch cook at the local high school. So does this mean Kay Chair of the 70's became part of Ray Harris by the new millenium? A reference book needs to exist of the current status and histories of furniture manufacturers in the US - those two-bit and bespoke...do I have to do everything? If someone knows of such or how to find, please advise - I need this tome all the time, as I make my way thru the world of defunct companies and extinct occupations, like Ben Katchor's Knipl.

I've gotten rid of so much of my remnant stash lately that I was down to 2 choices for this chair. A basket weave, pale blue and tawny brown on white ground with traditional Scandinavian designs of pineapple and tolework shapes and florals or this deep cotton print of brown leaf, with greens, golds and purple, perfect with my surplus of purple velvet welt cording. And actually, it couldn't be more seasonal - this is what our ground is looking like, this mix of brown and green and exactly what I'm craving to eat. The berries and purple grapes at the store have been great. I don't like to purchase or eat too much out of season, so as the asparagus is ending, I'm buying purple, blue and red berries. It's a little early for these to be local, but it won't be too much longer...

The existing 1" soft foam was much deteriorated, as any piece from the 70's or 80's would be, so it needed replacing. 1" isn't very expensive, so I went ahead and applied a new layer over existing cotton that rested against a synthetic burlap covering the wood frame.

At the time of manufacture, this Kay chair probably retailed in a low to mid-range price, owing to it's original covering of Olefin fabric and sinuous spring system (cheaper to install than hand-tying, which is why those pieces cost more to reupholster). When people ask the question, "is it good enough to reupholster?" how much you pay at time of purchase does not necessarily mean anything. This round chair is built like there's no tomorrow, with dowel and block joinery, super tight and wood so hard even 1/8" staples didn't want to come out! While it's width and depth of seat is not a great finished measurement and may not hold a great big person, it could certainly take the weight, of let's say - someone of ample proportions - which increases the chairs life and makes it so worth reupholstering.Plus it swivels!

Buttoned inside back is done, fresh cotton to the deck and apron, and it's ready to have the back applied. While this pattern may be too busy for some, I think it's a feast for the eyes. I just might keep this chair for myself. I must be needing anthocyanins...Reminds me of this vintage dress I own - I can only wear it when I'm craving this color and food. It also has something to do with phosphorus - or as I'm concocting this nutrional analysis from my armchair - both fabrics have a phosphorescence (I'll intuit) that seem to appeal to me for their energy or oxygen delivery capabilities. I asked someone recently if they ever craved to eat the same colors they had to wear (or see in the house) and they looked at me like I was crazy. True, working alone, I hadn't spoken aloud all day and maybe came off a bit ...enthusiastic to be talking to another human, a little overzealous perhaps. What are you gonna do? I think this happens a lot to people who work by themselves, as well as making up their own scientific reasons for things...

Maybe I'll wear my phosphorescent dress, sit in this chair and get a double dose of hemoglobin enhancing treatment. Haha! Textile Therapy. One more comparison of this chair that was once trashed...

Early Rocker...Thornton, Cochran, Perkins...?

2009-05-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Early American rocker, that is. More specific I can't say. Oak. Turned stretchers, still a factory piece from any given decade between 1890 and 1920. Will go to owners office after being in storage in the basement lo these many years, and will lend a homey touch, I'm sure. Have had a few clients now wishing to imbue their professional away-from-home offices with a homey, personal touch. I love helping out with this. A friend of mine told me he had Big Mama Thornton's flamestitch sofa in his office for years. It should probably be in a museum, but I wonder if he still has it? I'll have to email him in Tennesee and ask...

This takes all of 55 minutes, you can imagine. Customer ordered a pleasing tooled leather round from Rocklers (also available thru Tandy, DIY, or special request to me) and it's simply stapled while taking care to work within the confines of the rockers' cut margin for seat. Finally, decorative nails are placed to cover staples.

On to the next project. You can see it just behind this little rocker - a spoonbacked chair who's frame has been reglued, springs rewebbed and tied, waiting for the selection of fabric by the owner. Will also proceed on a tufted swivel chair that someone thought not worth keeping, but I disagree. It's mechanism and frame smooth and sound, the comfort of this small tub chair will be fantastic.

1930's Overstuffed Armchair - Pollack Sedan Plush"Grenadine"

2009-04-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

What is the most important seat in the house? To a writer, it may be an Aeron chair pulled up to a desk in front of a wide window with a gritty city view. It may be a chaise you have to lay down on, or for some it may be the bed. Some people write in bed, I'm sure... But for this novelist/poet owner, a 1930's overstuffed with paddlearms wide enough to accomodate writing paper, sketchpad, a stack of books, photos, news clippings, paper correspondence, a toddler and maybe even a mug of something hot and invigorating could all fit on these ample arms. Thick textured and long-wearing like mohair was the desire and it had to be crimson. This Pollack Sedan Plush in color Grenadine is just the ticket. It is moderately priced, easy to work with - heavier than cotton velvet, as supple and lustrous as silk mohair.

Just a few things found in this chair. Small cent coins from the Bahamas, paperclips, a barbie tiara, blue marble, a half of a wheat cracker...

Very pretty curves to this chair, very feminine. All springs retied and curled hair padding replaced with the addition of new layers of cotton just under upholstery fabric. Cushion is a new feather down envelope surrounding a 3" foam insert, giving it more loft.

Handsewing the back. Sometimes I choose to do this rather than the quicker application of flexstrip, because I enjoy to blindstitch! I can sometimes capture the curve better this way. And a final image of a topview of the chair. Look how this fabric glows!

Spring Unit Drop Seat Cushions

2009-04-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Arts and Crafts, some rattan and wicker, Early American or open frames often have wooden framed spring units, like little mattresses wrapped with burlap or spring covering, then curled hair, ginger straw or moss (can be mixed) and cotton padding. Sometimes when they come to be reupholstered, they look so ratty and awful, people think they'll just get some new foam...think again, my eco-conscious friends! The spring units inside are often quite good and simply need rewrap over the springs and new revamped padding of cotton. These are generally not the heavy gauge coil springs present in handtied furniture, but a lighter gauge that are often misshapen, but easy enough to bend back where they need to be. These cushions are worth keeping in that the price to redo rather than replace is far better over the life of the chair. If you still have the original cushions, let's take a look inside to see if they are in fact these little individual units we can repair.

Cushions shrink and start to look terrible (not to mention uncomfortable) when the spring cover deteriorates and that stuffing can cave in where the holes are. Pretty soon, you feel like you are only sitting on springs, with nothing soft in between. That's because you are. All the cotton's fallen down into the cracks!

Rewrapped and reupholstered and they are perfectly suitable to keep. This chenille woven is customer's own selection from S.R. Harris in Brooklyn Park MN.

H.T. Cushman's "Colonial Creations" from the 19teens thru the early 70's manufactured a solid no-nonsense Early American inspired (huh?) line of furniture popularly known to decorate many a country cottage. Their drop-in seats most often lay over narrow steel band webs hung by short extension springs. This particular chair lost it's original boxed cushion long ago, so is a 5" down-wrapped foam placed on a removeable plyboard...it was recycled from a Dayton's loveseat and certainly works here. And look how fantastic the wood looks once all that hickory mapley color is removed. Apologies to any purists, but on something conceived of being imitation Early American to begin with, the owner of this chair (and I concur) is not too concerned with preserving the original finish of this piece! And See? Early American might just have a place in contemporary society...The fabric here was a new, repurposed giant tablecloth purchased as a travel gift-souvenir at Charles de Gaulle airport - ! A customer of mine decided they could live without it and gave it to me. I still have plenty of remnant and was thinking of making a summer skirt...

Here's the seating for a couple of mission style rockers, both made by the Wisconsin Chair company from Port Washington Wisconsin 1888 to 1954. The rust colored textile from Hancock Fabrics is finished with a "waterfall" edge, meaning it wraps under from top to front, with sewn sides only. The other is a welted boxed cushion which the customer chose to center a novelty print from S.R. Harris - most unusual in this style of furniture that mostly see's plain leather coverings.

Still Life With Rose

2009-04-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

New Etsy store Great Vintage listing...a black silk chiffon dress I date from the 60's, owing to it's zipper with placket up center back, and band at natural waist. Even so, it definitely has an Edwardian feel, what with the S-curve of wide cut bodice, cap sleeves and blousoned back. It's handmade with fantastic detail, even though it's condition is less than perfect. I'd wear it... if it fit, which it doesn't. Still it's worth having, especially to pattern from. What does this have to do with upholstery? Garment fashion always informs interior fashions and vice versa. Any day now you'll see in a magazine, expensive club chairs trimmed out with decorative nails in this dresses' embroidered pattern. Or a reinterpretation of it in wallpaper.

1930's Over Stuffed - Jacquard Woven III With Velvet

2009-04-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

My titles are reminding me of my menu writing days... "Olive and Jambon Stuffed Shells with Marjoram Veloute". In this case the jacquard pattern was Dura Lee Scribbles and the cotton velvet is Pembroke by Robert Allen, a velvet I use frequently. It is an excellent upholstery velvet with a thousand rich colorways. This was a satisfying project in that the effects were so dramatic. They all are really, but this was a much loved set by the family and they deliberated long over just the right fabric. Every purple was either too grape or not enough eggplant. Roasted red would've worked, but concord juice no way. I can't get away from my chefing days, I guess. Take the girl out of the kitchen, but you can't take the kitchen...never mind...The companion chair is an Empire style, not an overstuffed and was also reupholstered, as well as a midcentury blonde wood pull-up side-chair rocker that you can see in the background in one or two shots here. More on those later, must keep with the theme...

The set originally in a solid patterned velvet tone-on-tone, but had lived in this salmony pink slipcover for ages. The marshall spring unit cushions were all drawn up and shrunken in the osteo that occurs when the spring-covering fabric, an inner burlap or muslin deteriorates and the cotton and curled hair padding sinks through, no longer giving correct dimensions to the cushions.

Kids get really excited when furniture is reupholstered and brought back into the household. The delivery puts them over the edge and they can't wait to jump on it! That's just what happened here, but there was a sharp reprimand from the parent..haha!

Mid Century Modern Danish Chair - Etsy Alchemy

2009-04-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Sold this chair on Etsy last month and was waiting the arrival of fabric from Pottery Barn. The customer in Virginia asked for a custom order of sewn cushions from her preferred fabric to replace the black high-traffic chenille that I put on the new foam inserts to sell the chair. She had linen pattern "Serafina" shipped directly to me.

New elastic webbing spans the foundational support of the frame. You can buy this as a DIY Danish Webbing Repair Kit either at my etsy store helenmillerhandcraft, or on ebay, or call and I'll provide this service for you. Below shows a quick inspection of received yardage.

The fabric is charming. Pottery Barn's inspiration for this print comes from a study of Tree of Life motif's on Indian Palampores, such as this one owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Confirmation was given that cushion seams be topstitched for a clean line on this highly patterned linen. A successful long-distance project!

1930's Over Stuffed Jacquard Woven II

2009-04-09T21:01:00.001-07:00

An example of sofa and chair set redone in jacquard woven tone-on-tone and a thick floral tapestry on cushion tops. Fabric is customer's own from S.R. Harris in Brooklyn Park. You can see the original mohair velvet in a solid color covered the frame while cushion tops originally were contrasting patterns of cut velvet. Very nice effect, many people choose to keep this look.

Upholding In A Vintage Dayton's Boucle Suit

2009-04-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Many of you (or all one of you or...maybe ? one?) know that I always have a collection of vintage clothing, bric-a-brac etc, as a living, breathing, multiplying entity in my household. I was pleased to find while library searching in London once, that in days of yore, upholsterer's were ones who "upholded" households for the living and settled things upon death, such as estates - redistribution of clothing, housewares, furnishings, etc. when the need arose. Not only could they reliably restore your favorite Knoll sofa, but they could see to it that you were buried in it. This is truly my calling! How many times have I said to myself, "...if you could just get into the funeral business... The Loved One - a great book and movie. The American Way of Death - another favorite...I could do that..!" Well, After many successful plaid jackets and satin cumberbunds have been sold on ebay (seller fablucat), as well as my old-Saint-Paul matchbook collection among other things, I now have opened yet another etsy shop, Great Vintage, just for vintage clothing, accessories and decorative arts. Nothing morbid here, not yet, I'm still learning the Ets Ropes. I just learned about Memorial jewelry on Antiques Roadshow last week - fascinating.... Anyway, Etsy shoppers, like the old Pall Mall slogan, seem to be where particular people congregate. They want to see clothes on a model and items propped, prepped, made to look slick. And it is pretty cute for the most part. This is a lot more work than the old days when the millenium was young, of hanging clothes on a dressform and waiting for the sun to light up the dining room so I could get some good pics. Okay, that was a lot of work too...but model Rose made it so much fun and was so lovely in all the great vintage we could put her in. Etsy only lets you do 5 images, so here's the rest from the series, "1960's Dayton's Boucle Tweed Suit".

Rose Starring In: Take This Job and Shove It

1930's Over Stuffed - Jacquard Woven I

2009-04-08T22:24:00.001-07:00

My good friend B.J.'s chair. This had lived at the family cabin in Minnesota's Iron Range for ages - it was the dog's chair. The dog being whatever canine existed in any given decade between 1938 and 200? B.J. brought it to her new home overlooking Lake McCarron in Roseville where again, it's become the dog's chair. This time, helper dog Grace Louise -although I've mostly seen her lounging on the chaise in the same 4 season's porch room...

More channels! These were super popular in the 30's and 40's. They feel good on your back, like rows of fingers, massaging and holding you near - containing you. Yes, yes containing, like any good piece of furniture should do. What more can one ask from a chair?.

Isn't the fabric fantastic? From S.R. Harris in Brooklyn Park. Those sputnicky, atomic things? If it could sing a song, it might be Perry Como's-by-way-of-Mrs. Miller's "Catch A Falling Star And Put it In Your Pocket" or Billy Lee Riley's Flying Saucer Rock and Roll

1930's Over Stuffed - Mohair I

2009-04-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

These have been coming my way either in spring or late summer over the past few years. More than a few of my customer's have chosen mohair as new covering for 1930's overstuffed and some like to mix pattern with solid, using jaquards and tapestries or velvet and jacquards patterns. These curves do like a heavier weight fabric, even though it can be a bear to sew the multi-thicknesses of boxing, welt cording, and plates when it's time to construct the cushion cover. But I also love the very vintage 2 tone effect with tapestry top and woven or solid body. Also great success in chenille. Many examples, may make a few posts on this. Guess I'll start with the most over-the-top design of chair, from summer 08 that turned out really well...

This animal was completely restored, frame reglued, rewebbed, springs reset, curled hair spring pad resewn. New cotton padding, the works. Topped with an olivey brown mohair and decorative nail trim.

This chair just took on a life of it's own. I mean, it already had one, but as it retook shape accented with that crazy medieval carving on the arms...and the way the back comes up, but curls back kind of, too...I was delighted even while cursing the thick channels that refused to budge and get stuffed in at deck near all those tough springs. Maybe next time channel 1st, deck second...