Real men upholsterers spit tacks. After all these years, it still creeps me out a bit — I see his cheeks bulge a specific way while he is having a conversation with me and I’ll peer at him as if … Continue reading
ABOUT SKETCHPACK: The project began in 2011. The original idea was to get folks to draw daily. The Sketchpack is a small zigzag journal with two usable sides, allowing one to sketch on both sides of 15 ‘pages’ to complete … Continue reading
Continuing from the Gustav Stickley Ladderback Chair Upholstery, 1 Buildup post, (Or to begin at the beginning go here.) Buildup is complete, and we are ready to prepare the Show Cover of 4-5 oz. vegetable tanned strapping leather. Above, the … Continue reading
Continuing from the Gustav Stickley Ladderback Chair Finish post, (Or to begin at the beginning go here.) The frame is repaired and the finish conserved; Buildup begins! Stickley chairs do not have dustcovers, and so the underside of the canvas … Continue reading
We are continuing on in our process on the Gustav Stickley Ladderback Armchair. Chair before disassembly. To disassemble or excavate the upholstery we begin with the historic decorative nails. Mitchell created a handy hand-tool for getting under the historic nails … Continue reading
We’ve not chronicled a project for a long time and these original Gustav Stickley circa 1900-1910 Ladderbacks are so lovely (and often poorly conserved and restored) that it is a good way to begin again! We will chronicle our process … Continue reading
An “X-chair” is one of my personal favorites, a chair with an “X” frame, usually folding but not always, also known as a Dante Chair, Savonarola chair (both Italian), Luthor chair (Germany), or scissors chair. It is one of our … Continue reading
Real upholsterer’s know things. Real upholsterers can upholster anything: walls, chairs, chests, sofas, hide-a-beds, padded beds. Real upholsters might upholster you if you hold still long enough. Real upholsterers know how to make an edge-roll from scratch. Real upholsterers know … Continue reading
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Récamier is the proper name for the chaise lounge or fainting couch. It was named after the famous painting, below, of Jeanne-Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard, aka Juliette Récamier (1777–1849), a French society woman who led a salon in the early … Continue reading
He’s stuffed a chair on every street, or hassocks on which to put your feet. A fainting couch for Ms Récamier, looking Grecian but really fey. A modern Egg for Madmen there, Took ten thousand hand stitches to be fair; … Continue reading
We had a call today from a prospective client who restored their récamier or fainting couch six years ago, with someone else. The news was sad. She had taken the piece to a local refinisher to have it refinished. The … Continue reading
Today I will find out how many people look for articles on hemp! Of course, I’m not talking smoking it, medicinally or otherwise. We use it all the time in our business: hemp webbing, tapes, muslins, and the occasional stretchy … Continue reading
by DKP Women think sexism is only about the fairer sex, but I am married to an upholsterer. Let me tell you about sexism and fabric stores, since the whole purpose of this blog is to give you an insight … Continue reading
Most modern upholsterers create their cushions and backs and arms using limited materials: various foams, and Dacron® or cotton batting. Occasionally they will use feathers and downs. Traditional upholstery uses many different kinds of stuffing: Palm: algerian (palm leaf fiber) … Continue reading
It is hard for me to categorize our blog posts during this challenge. Lifestyle? Not craft, for we are a bit beyond what a crafty person can do as conservationists. We’ll be writing about the behind the scenes look at … Continue reading
by DKP A family heirloom, this piece made it from Germany to the USA intact, but did not fare well from Oklahoma to Oregon, and was damaged by movers who did not pack nor handle the chair properly. This was … Continue reading
by DKP This is a lovely family heirloom, an American Empire Seignouret Chair made in New York. It had a soiled needlepoint seat, a seat that was dropping through, and the frame finish needed treatment and preservation. The chair was … Continue reading
by DKP This came to us a badly damaged sentimental family heirloom. The settee buildup was carefully excavated, the frame disassembled, the broken parts (arm, shoulder) were repaired and replaced. The original innards were cleaned and used to rebuild the … Continue reading
by DKP I am having lots of fun doing slide shows of our previous projects, which are diverse. Here are many Mid-Century Modern and Modern Classic projects from our files since we were liberated from old film cameras to digital … Continue reading
by DKP We had the opportunity to conserve the wonderful Eastlake style sofa-bed by A. Hansen Co., Chicago, Ill., below. Our client restored a Victorian in NE Portland, and this sofa-bed will grace her office. This is the seventh post … Continue reading
by DKP We had the opportunity to conserve the wonderful Eastlake style sofa-bed by A. Hansen Co., Chicago, Ill., below. Our client restored a Victorian in NE Portland, and this sofa-bed will grace her office. This is the sixth post … Continue reading
by DKP What is an antique? Most define it as an object over a century old. Mid-century modern is beginning to come into its own both as a style or genre and also being very collectible. Vintage as defined by … Continue reading
by DKP This is the fourth post in a series on this project. This post continues from the previous post: East Lake Sofa-Bed Upholstery #2B: Repair. To begin at the beginning go to Eastlake Sofa-Bed Upholstery Conservation #1: Excavation. We made … Continue reading
by DKP We had the opportunity to conserve a wonderful Eastlake style sofa-bed by A. Hansen Co., Chicago, Ill. Our clients have restored a wonderful Victorian in NE Portland, and this sofa-bed will grace her office. This is the second … Continue reading
by DKP We had the opportunity to conserve a wonderful Eastlake style sofa-bed by A. Hansen Co., Chicago, Ill. Our clients have restored a wonderful Victorian in NE Portland, and this sofa-bed will grace her office. It was thought the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 12 photos.
Mitchell and I have slightly different personal tastes, and a good deal of overlap. He loves really old antiques, richly carved wood, ornately upholstered, tasseled, and I like modern furniture, with its sleek lines and rich colors. We both love … Continue reading
by DKP (Interviewing Mitchell) The first step in upholstery conservation is inspecting all the existing parts previously excavated, and cleaning all reusable parts. One of the things we like about this is that it supports a “green” business, part of … Continue reading
by DKP (Interviewing Mitchell) CATZ owner Sammy zips into the studio for the photo-shots. “O-U-T!” Part 2 finds us excavating the chair, which means to thoughtfully take the chair apart to be repaired with an eye to how it was … Continue reading
