victorian chair

[phil]

I've been watching lots of videos , there is some great stuff on upholstering with the old methods. I'm looking for upholstery and emailed a place in Germany that still makes horsehair upholstery. the price of shipping alone is 200 bucks Canadian so I'm thinking it's probably out of my range but they did say they could send samples. I will check around locally maybe someone here is interested in being one of their distributors. this chair requires some nice upholstery but there is a lot of work before I'll need that. I have some cloth but I'm questioning if it is able to take the compound curves well enough. I think I need something with some give to take the compound curves without lots of pleats.

I'm slowly taking it apart. removing all the nails. It was recovered before but I think the stuffing and materials are all original. It did not have any staples, modern upholsterers always seem to use the air powered staple guns even on antiques. Its easier and holds the fabric more evenly. I'm wondering if I can use tacks instead to keep that original or maybe it's OK to use them.

im finding some guidance on tying the springs, replacing the webbing, I can wash the horsehair and use it again. Ill replace the cotton. some old chairs have hay or wood shavings but this one was done in horsehair. thats good it's higher end.. there is a lot of technique to fluffing and working the materials, sewing the contents to create Just the right form. I might leave the back alone and just recover it. I better focus on the seat first I guess.
There is so much technique, I'm not even good at sewing but some of the videos are so descriptive it helps. I'm just going in baby steps so I could see this project taking a long time. Ill plan to post some updates as I go.
I solidified the arm and the frame and did some basic structural repairs. I tried rejuvinating the original finish and it seemed to be working. my aim is to just remove the whitish blush in the finish and not try to strip it or anything severe. I tried different concoctions ended up mixing shellac flakes, alcohol, some almalgamator and a bit of laquer thinners. It seems to work If I dont get too aggressive and sort of try to melt into the finish without disturbing it too much or washing off the finish. I'll try to retain the patina and not try to make it look all new. there might be a point where I need to get someone to lean over my shoulder or maybe I can take a night school course but I think I can manage to do the webbing tie up the springs and prepare to stuff and fill it. then the real techniques of shaping it are pretty involved and maybe I'd do better with a bit of help. If it gave it to an upholsterer I'm sure it would be really expensive but I might be able to just buy some advice when I get to the more fussy parts.
I'll need some cotton and burlap some heavy thread, giant needles, darning needles, I have some webbing. there is a thing called a regulator for working the fibers. Maybe I can make one myself.
I need to decide if I use staples or tacks. I think Ill use tacks for the webbing. I might resort to the staples for some of the upholstery because it might actually work better and hold more evenly. I have a vintage magnetic tack hammer. Ill need a webbing stretcher but I can make that myself.
I think I'm on a slippery slope here.. its a lot of work and there is a lot of technique involved. fun to learn but a test of patience. I might have to go about this in steps. I wan tot set it aside already. Im thinking maybe I can plan to do it in stages and give my mind a rest from it between. I just watched a video where an upholstered did one and it was spaced over 5 years, You can see him getting older as he goes The end result was very beautiful. I bought it 10 years ago, I'm making it older

[phil]

a few pictures of my slow motion restoration.
I have the frame pretty much glued up , the arms are attached. there was a rough break where the arm at the right ( facing the chair) was broken , reglued and broken again.
I still have a bit more to do to hide the repairs.

the covering was already removed from one arm and the back. I decided the seat had to come apart. The jute is pretty old. I'll put new webbing and reattach the springs. You cna see how the form was made by sewing the burlap and creating an edge roll near the front edge. similar was done around the seat.

I need to find out more about the supplies. I'm not sure if I need a certain grade of burlap. I have some webbing but I need to find where I put it. definitely not a project for the faint of heart. It will be a lot of work so I dont expect this to just fall together.

I think I need to focus on finishing the woodwork a bit more and just do the seat, then the arms and back. I can wash the horeshair and use it over or I may opt to try to use some of the horsehair as it is. as you can see the back has not a bad shape and it is challenging to keep the shape right. on the other hand its' pretty dusty so it would be good to replace what I can or at least wash it.
i can see a previous owner reupholstered it probably more than once. but just pad what was there basically. but they didn't take the springs right out so now it needs me to go a bit further. I might see some of the original upholstery inside the back.

one challenge is where the upholstery on the arms meets the upholstery at the back one video showed how to use a tack strip to make the form to join the two , then hand sew the and pull out the strip.

[phil]

the left arm has a little chunk missing of the carving. i think I might leave it with that little bit of damage as well as the marks from wear etc. I started rubbing it out a bit and its coming up just a little brighter, loosing it's faded blush look.

the joint near the arm hold needs some work to hide in the repair and the rounded part that was broken off. there was a lot of wood missing up under where the arm attaches, I filled it with epoxy and wood and it's stable now. some will be hidden under the upholstery. the pars that show need to be blended better but it's a start.

[Gothichome]

Phill, you can see the quality of the construction. How they attach the back to the seat with the mortise and tendon and then fitting it into the seat frame, once glued, it will never come apart. There is craftsmanship in its construction. If you can match up the original upholstery, that would be even better. I highly doubt you found any screws or nails in it, other than the one obvious repair.

[Gothichome]

Phill found this sight, a source for authentic horse hair fabrics for your chair.
http://www.belfryhistoric.com/JBH.htm

[phil]

Thanks for the link.
I did email a place that makes it in Germany. they replied and said the shipping is 150 euros, but could send prices and samples. I didn't get back yet. maybe this place is more reasonable. I know it isn't cheap.

I located one of the few upholstery suppliers here yesterday. I got some burlap and a couple of boxes of tacks, some giant upholstery needles, an 8 inch one and a 6 inch curved one. some muslin. some dacron. I bought 10 yards of each and just 5 of the Dacron. I want to use the old horsehair again if I can but in many of the videos they do use some Dacron as well, on top. they said they dont sell the upholstery fabrics to the public to protect the businesses, but I know I have lots of work before I'll be ready for the upholstery so Ill take my time in buying that. all tolled it was about 130 Canadian for what I did buy which seemed reasonable. I have a giant roll of webbing already so I didn't need to buy that. I have an upholsterer across the lane, hes nice and Ive helped him with little things so I know he will give some advice or perhaps help. Ill try to get as far as I can first. I think I can handle the webbing and springs but I might need help with stuffing and shaping it and applying the upholstery when I get it.
I thought of getting an air stapler, Ill try the tacks first and see how I do. looks like it will be a long process and I'm not really racing to complete it. the guy across the lane seems to do a lot of chairs and more modern stuff so old restorations might not be his thing but I'm absolutely sure he has more experience than I do.

they do use the air stapler in all the restoration videos I saw. I was surprised because tacks are original but they said, especially with things like silk it holds more evenly so there is less puckering. the only air stapler I have shoots long ones about 1/8 wide , more for attaching wood, like the way cheap furniture is made. I seldom use it. I have a spring loaded hand stapler but not sure if that's practical. Ive got an antique tacking hammer so I'll try my hand at using that. I'd prefer the older method if I can do it ok.
the supplier didn't really supply a lot of advice. I just said Im not any competition to anyone since I'm dead slow and its my stuff. if they dont sell the fabrics then I'll just buy online. At least I got what I needed to continue. I wasn't sure if I should use a potato sack or if there is better burlap. this stuff looks like its the right thing and its nice and wide. I have lots of canvas and it is similar to the muslin but maybe a bit thicker. I figured the stretch might be different so I asked for the stuff they use. The muslin or the canvas could be good to make roll up blinds. Ive been thinking of just buying some cheap roll up ones and replacing the plastic junk with canvas or something , maybe using an iron on transfer to add a custom design? I wonder if that would be fade resistant. I'm not much good at machine sewing but I could probably hem the edges. I have lots of sewing machines.
my mom has a floor loom. my dad made it. I could try making upholstery from wool. that would be fun. mom is too old to really use it now. I'm familiar with it because she used it lots as I was growing up. we used to raise sheep and she'd spin the wool and dye it using natural dyes it and weave it. dad made the spinning wheel , the loom the niddy noddy, wool winders. he carding machine. I remember as a kid her wool was all lumpy then later she got spining really fine stuff and married the threads by combining them on the spinning wheel. he made a beautiful spinning wheel of black walnut. he made a simple one that you dangle and spin in mid air. he first made a table loom but later made the floor loom. Its wide enough for the upholstery. I wish I had a few more lifetimes