Dear Group,
Albeit, slightly OT, but does anyone out there have some experience
and possibly words of advice, concerning supplying cushions for a
Morris Chair? Talking to upholsterers, I'm probably looking at $300
minimun and WAY UP for the work. I would like to do a nice job on
these, but not break the bank! What is the going rate for a couple of
decent cushions? I don't even mind doing them in cloth instead of
leather. As a complete neophyte in the upolstery arena, can I do this
myself? Anyway,........you get the idea! Your own experiences? Wooden
slats? Spring seat? Woven webbing? Any thoughts on the subject would
be appreciated!
Thank You,
Michael
If you have the skill to build the chair then
yes, you can upholster it yourself. But...
you'll need an industrial sewing machine
(the clutch and other internals will quickly
be destroyed by doing this heavy work on
a domestic use model) with a walking foot.
After paying for a rebuild on my wife's machine I
decided to get my machine out of storage or
just hire the work out to a competitent
upholsterer.
I have an on again/off again source for
whole hides. I can do something the
size of a Morris chair for less than $100
in materials but the colors are limited to
overstock materials on first class airline seats.
Right now the colors du jour are light blue
and cream. Not the best selection.
BTW...$300 for a good job with leather
cushions isn't at all bad.
-Rick
On Fri, 05 Nov 2004 11:22:13 +0000, Andy Dingley
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 22:26:10 -0800, Fly-by-Night CC
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>My local community college almost always has an upholstery class listed
>>in the catalog.
>
>I've seen a lot of variation in the quality of upholstery classes.
>It's an expensive subject to teach (materials costs) and there's a
>tendency for the classes to be very low-end, just to keep their
>operating costs down. Even if you're prepared to pay for real
>materials, it can be limited by what's available.
>
>One of the biggest problems for the part-time upholsterer these days
>is just finding the tools and materials. It's getting rare, even in
>big towns that were once noted for furniture making.
>www.jamilton.co.uk shows some promise for UK mail-order, but I
>haven't dealt with them myself (just waiting for my first order to
>arrive)
That's why it's good that we're handy. We can make our own tools
while the more common types abound either locally or on Ebay.
>I didn't much like the Gheen book myself - seemed very stuck in 1950's
>styles. "Traditional" materials, but not accurate or detailed enough
>to cover high-end restoration work. The "modern materials" content was
>pretty low-end too - James has a better explanation of just what good
>foams could do, and how to choose them.
Right. I didn't pay any attention to the styles, being more interested
in the techniques. The photos covering each step were superb, so much
so that you could probably learn upholstery from that book even if
you couldn't read. I'll have to take another look at James' book for
that foam info, but I recall his having a chart of densities which I
found fascinating.
Most upholstery books are WAAAAAY dated.
--
Sex is Evil, Evil is Sin, Sin is Forgiven.
Gee, ain't religion GREAT?
---------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Sin-free Website Design
Hi Michael,
You are in luck. The recent edition of Woodsmith vol.26/ # 155 gives
revised plans plus a plan for the upholstery. Actually the upholstery
item is on line at Woodsmith's web site. Cheers, JG
www.woodsmith.com
mrmortise wrote:
> Dear Group,
> Albeit, slightly OT, but does anyone out there have some experience
> and possibly words of advice, concerning supplying cushions for a
> Morris Chair? Talking to upholsterers, I'm probably looking at $300
> minimun and WAY UP for the work. I would like to do a nice job on
> these, but not break the bank! What is the going rate for a couple of
> decent cushions? I don't even mind doing them in cloth instead of
> leather. As a complete neophyte in the upolstery arena, can I do this
> myself? Anyway,........you get the idea! Your own experiences? Wooden
> slats? Spring seat? Woven webbing? Any thoughts on the subject would
> be appreciated!
> Thank You,
> Michael
On Thu, 4 Nov 2004 06:07:33 -0600, "Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Unfortunately, the righteous hereabouts likely ran Perry off
Mea culpa 8-(
That's quite possibly my fault. I once worded something badly and she
took great offence at it (entirely unintended)
"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
> There's at least one professional upholsterer who has been known to
> read this group (Perry). I'd very much appreciate their comments.
Unfortunately, the righteous hereabouts likely ran Perry off when her dog
got sick and she accidentally xposted in desperation trying to find a
remedy.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/04/04
[email protected] (mrmortise) wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Dear Group,
> Albeit, slightly OT, but does anyone out there have some experience
> and possibly words of advice, concerning supplying cushions for a
> Morris Chair? Talking to upholsterers, I'm probably looking at $300
> minimun and WAY UP for the work. I would like to do a nice job on
> these, but not break the bank! What is the going rate for a couple of
> decent cushions? I don't even mind doing them in cloth instead of
> leather. As a complete neophyte in the upolstery arena, can I do this
> myself? Anyway,........you get the idea! Your own experiences? Wooden
> slats? Spring seat? Woven webbing? Any thoughts on the subject would
> be appreciated!
> Thank You,
> Michael
I've taken a couple of upholstery classes at a local fabric shop. Both
classes were taught by a professional upholsterer who was moonlighting.
His approach was to have students bring in individual projects (the only
limitation was that you had to be able to carry your project in yourself,
e.g. no sofas). We got good one-on-one instruction because there is so
much hand labor that he could teach you a technique and you'd stay busy
for quite a while before you needed more help.
The best part (aside from learning enough to upholster a couple of chairs
on my own at home) was that really trick parts were done by the
instructor, whose philosophy was that it was better to have him do the
hardest parts and have the student finish the project rather than having
the student get frustrated and quit. Some students were obviously more
advanced and he would gladly teach some of the more esoteric methods to
those interested. For example, leather upholstery on a complex chair
frame.
--
John Snow
"Pull hard and it comes easy"
>[email protected] (mrmortise) wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>
>> Dear Group,
>> Albeit, slightly OT, but does anyone out there have some experience
>> and possibly words of advice, concerning supplying cushions for a
>> Morris Chair? Talking to upholsterers, I'm probably looking at $300
>> minimun and WAY UP for the work. I would like to do a nice job on
>> these, but not break the bank! What is the going rate for a couple of
>> decent cushions? I don't even mind doing them in cloth instead of
>> leather. As a complete neophyte in the upolstery arena, can I do this
>> myself? Anyway,........you get the idea! Your own experiences? Wooden
>> slats? Spring seat? Woven webbing? Any thoughts on the subject would
>> be appreciated!
>> Thank You,
>> Michael
My antique Morris chair that I am sitting in as I type, has coil springs in the
base that are tyed, and covered over with webbing, and fabric over the webbing.
The cushons are foam, covered with fabric, that I saved from another chair.
I had a friend in the upnolstery business re-tie the springs, and do the
webbing.
Cliff
On Monday, January 12, 2015 at 7:44:03 PM UTC-6, dbj wrote:
> You tied your own metal springs to the base of the morris chair? HOW? A
> picture would be fantastic! Thanks.
> PS I realize that I'm on an archeological dig here. The comment I see is
> from 10 years ago.
>=20
> --
I don't know what/how the foundation (wood base/framing) is for the seat of=
a Morris chair, and I've never upholstered a true Morris chair, but I'm pr=
esently upholstering a somewhat similar type chair (outdoor/patio, metal fr=
ame). =20
As with this outdoor furniture, I suppose a Morris chair has either a woode=
n base or a jute webbing base, that the springs rest on, are attached to. =
The springs are, then, tied to each other and to the base (or to the perim=
eter framing the jute webbing is attached to). These patio chairs have a =
3/4" (treated) ply base.
Surely you realize we are speaking of tying coil springs, not K-arc (zigzag=
or "S" shaped) springs. Additionally, attaching coil springs to jute webb=
ing is done with Klinch-It fasteners (you'd need a Klinch-It tool).... It c=
an be done with hog ringers, but is kind of hard to do so; and they can be =
tied/attached with wire or twine, also. On my my chairs, I used wire and 1=
/2" crown molding type staples to attach the coils to the ply.
I'll take pics later today.
Sonny
replying to Sonny , dbj wrote:
> cedarsonny wrote:
>
> I don't know what/how the foundation (wood base/framing) is for the seat
of
> a Morris chair, and I've never upholstered a true Morris chair, but I'm
pr
> esently upholstering a somewhat similar type chair (outdoor/patio, metal
fr
> ame).
> As with this outdoor furniture, I suppose a Morris chair has either a
woode
> n base or a jute webbing base, that the springs rest on, are attached to.
> The springs are, then, tied to each other and to the base (or to the
perim
> eter framing the jute webbing is attached to). These patio chairs have a
> 3/4" (treated) ply base.
> Surely you realize we are speaking of tying coil springs, not K-arc
(zigzag
> or "S" shaped) springs. Additionally, attaching coil springs to jute
webb
> ing is done with Klinch-It fasteners (you'd need a Klinch-It tool).... It
c
> an be done with hog ringers, but is kind of hard to do so; and they can be
> tied/attached with wire or twine, also. On my my chairs, I used wire and
1
> /2" crown molding type staples to attach the coils to the ply.
> I'll take pics later today.
> Sonny
Yes, the frame is oak and it had jute webbing long ago. There's a minimum
of string holding the coils together, which are hefty. Heftier than other
outdoor furniture redo's that I've seen, but maybe the tying part is the
same principle. I think there was jute webbing on top and bottom of the
coils-no plywood. We have a hog ringer, according to my husband. Can't
wait to get going on these old beauties. I got 2 of them cheap at an
auction for a winter project.
--
--
dbj, one thing I forgot to comment on:
I suppose your cushion's spring unit is intact, in that, it has an edge wir=
e perimeter around the springs. I suppose your whole seat unit is not lik=
e the chair pic (first pic) on my Flickr page. That chair does not have an=
edge wire perimeter around the springs. The "plywood" pics have an edge =
wire around the springs. =20
Make sure your edge wiring is in good shape, to hold the individual springs=
securely and for good tying. I suppose your whole spring unit is a squari=
sh or rectangle box configuration, to fit your Morris chair seat shape. Wh=
en tying things together, make sure you don't distort the "box" or "rectang=
le" form. Keep all angles and corners squared up. This should apply to y=
our backrest cushion, also, if your backrest cushion has coil springs, has =
coil springs "wrapped" with an edge wire, also.
Sonny
Continuing with the upholstering procedure:
My box seat spring unit has sides.... or front, back and side faces. These=
faces don't need to be padded or padded as much as the top of the seat. =
I would think your seat would be padded similarly as I've padded this outdo=
or seating.
Referring to the additional pics:
The spring/seat unit is covered with (synthetic, white) burlap. This burla=
p layer doesn't need to be tight, just snuggly fitted and attached/stapled =
in place.
The very top surface of the seat is padded with 2 layers of cotton, which b=
arely overlaps the edge wire. The edge wire needs to be padded, so that it=
isn't felt, when sitting on the seat. A third layer of cotton is applied,=
not only on the top surface, but it also droops down the sides, covering t=
he sides/faces. You might prefer 4 layers of cotton padding, for your high=
er-end Morris chairs. As mention before, for a good quality chair, I would=
n't skimp on the interior paddings and a layer of 1/4" felt, on top of the =
burlap, prior to the cotton, would be my choice, if they were my Morris cha=
irs.
Next pic shows a layer of fiberfill/batting, covering all the previous padd=
ing. The edges of the fiberfill are attached to the edges of the ply base.=
The seat is ready for the upholstery fabric.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/
Sonny
On Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 4:44:03 PM UTC-6, dbj wrote:
> Yes, the frame is oak and it had jute webbing long ago. There's a minimum
> of string holding the coils together, which are hefty. Heftier than other
> outdoor furniture redo's that I've seen, but maybe the tying part is the
> same principle. I think there was jute webbing on top and bottom of the
> coils-no plywood. We have a hog ringer, according to my husband. Can't
> wait to get going on these old beauties. I got 2 of them cheap at an
> auction for a winter project.
> --=20
There was probably jute webbing on the bottom, only. Burlap above the spri=
ngs. =20
Stretch your jute webbing, as tight as you can, across the span of the fram=
e, say front to back. Don't be affraid to stretch it really tight, as tig=
ht as you can. For left to right strands, weave the strands over & under t=
he front to back strands; Again, stretch the Lt to Rt webbing as tight as y=
ou can and attach to the frame.=20
You're going to have lots of difficulty attaching the springs with hog ring=
ers. You might want to use small paper clips (wires), hooked/looped throug=
h the jute webbing, over the spring coil, then back through the jute webbin=
g. Twist tie them. Tie each spring, to the jute webbing, at four points. =
Your coil springs likely has a large coil at the top and bottom of the spr=
ing unit. The pics I'll show has a large coil at the top and a small coil =
at the bottom.
My pics show 2 methods of tying: The 8 point tying method (preferred) and =
the 4 point method (not the preferred method, but works in a pinch). Also =
note, in the pics, between the coils, the twine is tied to crossing strands=
of twine, part of the fully tied configuration, fully 8 point tying at all=
possible tying points. Re: the first 4 pics on the opening page. The fi=
rst pic shows pretty much what your seat should look like before covering y=
our springs. =20
When tying your springs, tie them so that they are in a slightly compressed=
posture (slightly spring loaded). You don't want them to be fully extend=
ed and tied in that fully extended position.... but make sure they are not =
compressed too much, not compressed such that the seat contour looks disfig=
ured when it is upholstered. Does this make sense?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/
Cover the top of the springs with burlap and attached the burlap edges to t=
he seat frame. *If it were my chairs, I would next add a layer of 1/4" fel=
t, just on the topside of the springs (not along the sides, if applicable),=
and hand stitch it (along the edges) to the burlap. Add cotton padding un=
til you can't feel the individual springs, then a layer of fiberfill (quilt=
type batting). Then you are ready for your upholstery.
Tying the springs: Pic 2 shows one end of the twine attached to the ply/fr=
ame, then it is draped over the springs, then there is 2' length of twine b=
eyond the edge of the spring unit. You'll need about 2 extra feet of twine=
for all the knots you tie, so that, after tying all the knots, you'll have=
a tag of twine for attaching to the other side of the wood/seat frame.
Any questions? Concerns?
Sonny
On Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 6:21:12 AM UTC-6, dadiOH wrote:
-
>
> Sonny admonished you to stretch the jute webbing tightly. The easiest way
> to do that is with stretching pliers...they have jaws about the width of
> the jute and a projection that serves a fulcrum to give leverage. Pix...
> https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=stretching%20pliers&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&gws_rd=ssl&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
>
I had assumed she didn't have a dedicated stretching tool. The gooseneck tool has a rubber padding, to prevent wood damage/marring. I use the gooseneck most often. http://www.perfectfit.com/15362/154587/Tools/Gooseneck-Webbing-Stretcher.html
She also has a husband. He can pull it plenty tight enough, manually, that way. **It's probably time she put him to work, anyway! : )
Sonny
"dbj" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]
> replying to Sonny , dbj wrote:
> > cedarsonny wrote:
> >
> > I don't know what/how the foundation (wood base/framing) is for the
> > seat of a Morris chair, and I've never upholstered a true Morris
> > chair, but I'm pr esently upholstering a somewhat similar type chair
> > (outdoor/patio, metal fr ame).
> > As with this outdoor furniture, I suppose a Morris chair has either a
> > woode n base or a jute webbing base, that the springs rest on, are
> > attached to.
>
> > The springs are, then, tied to each other and to the base (or to the
> > perim eter framing the jute webbing is attached to). These patio
> > chairs have a
>
> > 3/4" (treated) ply base.
> > Surely you realize we are speaking of tying coil springs, not K-arc
> > (zigzag or "S" shaped) springs. Additionally, attaching coil springs
> > to jute webb ing is done with Klinch-It fasteners (you'd need a
> > Klinch-It tool).... It c an be done with hog ringers, but is kind of
> > hard to do so; and they can be
>
> > tied/attached with wire or twine, also. On my my chairs, I used wire
> > and 1 /2" crown molding type staples to attach the coils to the ply.
> > I'll take pics later today.
> > Sonny
>
>
>
> Yes, the frame is oak and it had jute webbing long ago. There's a
> minimum
> of string holding the coils together, which are hefty. Heftier than
> other
> outdoor furniture redo's that I've seen, but maybe the tying part is the
> same principle. I think there was jute webbing on top and bottom of the
> coils-no plywood. We have a hog ringer, according to my husband. Can't
> wait to get going on these old beauties. I got 2 of them cheap at an
> auction for a winter project.
> --
Sonny admonished you to stretch the jute webbing tightly. The easiest way
to do that is with stretching pliers...they have jaws about the width of
the jute and a projection that serves a fulcrum to give leverage. Pix...
https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=stretching%20pliers&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&gws_rd=ssl&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
--
dadiOH
____________________________
Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net
replying to Hitch, dbj wrote:
> js_snow wrote:
>
> By the way, I tied my own springs and did all my own webbing. Did all of
> the work, in fact, except for a couple of tricky corner details on one
> project, which trained me enough to tackle them on the next.
You tied your own metal springs to the base of the morris chair? HOW? A
picture would be fantastic! Thanks.
PS I realize that I'm on an archeological dig here. The comment I see is
from 10 years ago.
--
On 04 Nov 2004 21:50:03 GMT, [email protected] (Over40pirate)
wrote:
>My antique Morris chair that I am sitting in as I type, has coil springs in the
>base that are tyed,
Is that Stickley upholstery ? Could I trouble you to ask how many
springs they used ? (you can usually feel them from beneath).
It's hard to find accurate details of Stickley furniture in the UK.
He's near unheard of, and it's rare to see examples, let alone get the
chance to properly study them.
--
Smert' spamionam
>On 04 Nov 2004 21:50:03 GMT, [email protected] (Over40pirate)
>wrote:
>
>>My antique Morris chair that I am sitting in as I type, has coil springs in
>the
>>base that are tyed,
>
>Is that Stickley upholstery ? Could I trouble you to ask how many
>springs they used ? (you can usually feel them from beneath).
>
>It's hard to find accurate details of Stickley furniture in the UK.
>He's near unheard of, and it's rare to see examples, let alone get the
>chance to properly study them.
>
>--
>Smert' spamionam
>
The Morris chair has 9 conical coil springs under the seat . The bottoms of the
springs are supported by metal straps that cross at the center spring, and are
attached to the chair frame on the sides.
Not sure what Stickley upholstery is, so I cant tell if it is or not.
If anyone wants a picture of the springs etc. let me know.
Have fun
On 3 Nov 2004 22:57:40 -0800, [email protected] (mrmortise) calmly
ranted:
>Dear Group,
> Albeit, slightly OT, but does anyone out there have some experience
>and possibly words of advice, concerning supplying cushions for a
>Morris Chair? Talking to upholsterers, I'm probably looking at $300
>minimun and WAY UP for the work. I would like to do a nice job on
>these, but not break the bank! What is the going rate for a couple of
>decent cushions? I don't even mind doing them in cloth instead of
>leather. As a complete neophyte in the upolstery arena, can I do this
>myself?
Yes, if you can learn to do proper woodworking, you should be able to
learn proper upholstery, too. When I heard "$700-1,000" for cushions,
I had an easy decision.
>Anyway,........you get the idea! Your own experiences? Wooden
>slats? Spring seat? Woven webbing? Any thoughts on the subject would
>be appreciated!
Slats are easiest and probably best for posture, webbing is softer,
and I've heard that sinuous spring can be a real bitch.
For the price of a couple upholstery jobs, you could buy one of HF's
brand new industrial sewing machines and tables, learn how, and do it
yourself. I'm eyeing that option myself right now.
Alternatively, you could buy material off Ebay, buy cut foam pieces
from http://www.foamrubber.com/, and have a local piece-worker sew
the covers for you. I found a great upholstery book by W. Lloyd Gheen
titled "Upholstery Techniques Illustrated" for $4 on www.half.com a
while back. Look for that and "Upholstery: A Complete Course" by David
James at your local library if you don't want to purchase them. I
perused quite a few others and none had the clarity, range, or depth
these two did, at least to me.
I found decent foam at Fred Meyers in a 30x72x3" size for $12.99
which will work for the backs. I need a thicker, firmer foam for the
bottoms of the Craftsman couch I'll be building soon. I just signed up
with a local (2-hr drive or free delivery on Wednesdays) wholesaler of
upholstery materials in Eugene, OR. since I have a business, so I get
better pricing for the things I can't find on Ebay or Yahoo. I buy
rolls of thin foam, binding, nylon, and glue for my line of laptop
glare guards now, so this will be an easy addition.
--------------------------------------------------------
Murphy was an Optimist
----------------------------
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development
In article <[email protected]>,
Hitch <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've taken a couple of upholstery classes at a local fabric shop. Both
> classes were taught by a professional upholsterer who was moonlighting.
My local community college almost always has an upholstery class listed
in the catalog. I've been eyeing it for awhile and will sign up when my
schedule allows.
--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
____
"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long
On 3 Nov 2004 22:57:40 -0800, [email protected] (mrmortise) wrote:
There's at least one professional upholsterer who has been known to
read this group (Perry). I'd very much appreciate their comments.
>supplying cushions for a Morris Chair?
What's a "Morris Chair" ? The Stickley #369 ? A reproduction of
one of Morris', with traditional upholstery ?
$300 doesn't sound unexpected, if it's really the grade it claims to
be. Upholstery is the meeting point of two expensive costs; high
materials costs and large amounts of one-off skilled hand labour.
In the 18th century, upholstery could be 3/4 of the total price of a
finished piece. As a good commercial #369 lists for $2500 - 3000 these
days, $300 doesn't sound all that bad ! (I appreciate this isn't an
accurate comparison).
Do you have a breakdown of this price ? What were they offering, and
how much was being spent on materials vs. work ?
Upholstery is getting rare these days. Cheap stuff is banged out by
the truckload with huge production-line processes applied to it.
Custom work is very much a niche market, and most of it's for
re-fitting bars and commercial premises - lots of work in a big run,
which is economic for a workshop to produce. A one-off chair done in a
commercial workshop is going to soak you on price, no question and the
upholsterer might still not be making sensible money on the deal,
because of the one-off nature. You can improve this by being flexible
to the upholsterer. Don't demand it that week, let them influence the
materials choices (within limits).
For a Stickley Morris, you're talking about cheap work done on an
expensive hide. There isn''t much to do, either just two loose
cushions on a slatted base, or a cushion and a slip seat -- but the
material quality is enormously visible and so you'll be spending top
dollar for single large pieces of high quality leather.
Talk to your leather supplier. Tell them what you're doing. Selecting
two excellent panels for the visible sides and two lesser panels for
the back and sides can be a worthwhile saving - but make sure the
colours match. Some people have made the back cushion invertable, "to
equalise wear". This is a bad idea, IMHO - it's unnecessary, it needs
top grade hides on both sides, and the wear patterns of the rerar
slats will appear on the front.
Gustav Stickley wasn't an upholsterer. He got a bit wound up in his
"Every man his own cabinetmaker" attitude and so his upholstery work
was unadventurous, simplified and not especially comfortable. The
original cushions for a Stickley Morris were a sprung slip seat in the
base, and an envelope-sided bag for the back.
Slip seats are very traditional. Any book on upholstery restoration
will tell you how to make one. It's a simple insert frame (usually
beech or ash, with screwed half-laps). This is then filled with woven
hessian webbing, coil springs are tied to the webbing and various
layers of hessian, calico and soft paddings are laid over this and
tacked in place. The materials aren't cheap, simply because there are
so many layers, even good padding fibre is expensive, and the hand
work needed to make it is pretty lengthy.
An alternative to the slip seat is to make a loose cushion and place
it over a slatted base. This is how I'd probably do it (on a big
recliner anyway). A slip seat is fine for an upright dining chair,
but they don't work desperately well for deep seats on angles that you
sink into.
The slatted base is crossways ash slats. For a chair these can be
quite wide and the front and back slats should definitely be wide and
butt against the front and back rails - otherwise the cushion can tend
to bend down and be lost. The cushion itself is a simple foam slab,
which is much cheaper than making a sprung seat. Use Dunlopillo
natural latex rubber foam, if you're doing high grade work. Talk to
your foam supplier (not just a small shop with no range) because it's
crucial to use the right stiffness grade. You _can_ use good quality
PU foam, so long as you get real upholstery chair-seat grade, but I
can't claim to like this stuff. Many foam slabs are actually laminated
(soft surfaces on a firm block), to control stiffness. For a #369 I'd
think seriously about laminating a tapered strip of firm foam across
the front edge, to better retain the shape.
The original back cushion was an envelope of hide, loose filled with
a soft batting. These soon slump into an ugly bag. The real way to do
it is to make an inner envelope of hessian, pack it with fibre and
then stitch through from face to face to retain it in place. This can
then be wrapped in batting and calico, before being slipped into the
hide envelope. To avoid slumping, this should still be slip-stitiched
into the top of the hide covering. The original cushions were held up
by leather straps stitched into the side seam, then looped over the
rear posts of the chair. If you extend these on the inside, then you
can stitch a shoft length of webbing to them (before sewing them up)
and this can be used to slip-stitch the inner bag to, after assembly.
Some people favour a flap in the top seam of the cushion, held on the
frame by press studs, as they're less obvious than the loops.
For comfort, I just wouldn't do this. I'd go with a latex foam slab.
Done right, this will give less trouble with slumping and it's much
easier to do it right.
The original cushions were envelopes, with a single side seam. I might
well make a box seam, with a separate edge strip. I'd probably make a
D cushion though, where the face and top edge were one piece, just to
avoid a seam on the most prominent edge.
I wouldn't make authentic Stickley upholstery. Like so much of
Gustav's work, he's just doing it wrong ! If you're the modern
Stickley company, or you're doing completely accurate reproductions,
then you may not have the choice. Latex foam is out of period ('20s
to '60s) but it's still one of my favourite materials. Easy to work
with, not too expensive, gives good results.
Fireproofing is an issue for upholstery. So long as you buy the
materials through the right trade, then it's no problem to achieve the
standards. You may need to note these though, and maybe attach the
relevant labels.
For a Victorian-period Morris chair, then traditional upholstery is
really the only option. You'll also have to search to find real
covering materials. If these are authentic (tapestry isn't impossible)
then they'll cost more than $300 alone, or else a chair might be
constructed especially to display some material that has been made for
it.
--
Smert' spamionam
On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 22:26:10 -0800, Fly-by-Night CC
<[email protected]> wrote:
>My local community college almost always has an upholstery class listed
>in the catalog.
I've seen a lot of variation in the quality of upholstery classes.
It's an expensive subject to teach (materials costs) and there's a
tendency for the classes to be very low-end, just to keep their
operating costs down. Even if you're prepared to pay for real
materials, it can be limited by what's available.
One of the biggest problems for the part-time upholsterer these days
is just finding the tools and materials. It's getting rare, even in
big towns that were once noted for furniture making.
www.jamilton.co.uk shows some promise for UK mail-order, but I
haven't dealt with them myself (just waiting for my first order to
arrive)
I didn't much like the Gheen book myself - seemed very stuck in 1950's
styles. "Traditional" materials, but not accurate or detailed enough
to cover high-end restoration work. The "modern materials" content was
pretty low-end too - James has a better explanation of just what good
foams could do, and how to choose them.
--
Smert' spamionam
On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 17:21:24 +0000, Andy Dingley
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 08:26:02 -0800, Larry Jaques
><novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
>
>> Look for that and "Upholstery: A Complete Course" by David
>>James at your local library
>
>I'd second the recommendation for that book.
I preferred the Gheen book but James covered the frames
a bit deeper if I recall.
>But sinuous springs on a Craftsman piece ! Wash your mouth out !
Well, he asked. <g> I don't know if he wants a real copy
or just a comfy chair.
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