Hello. Kindly requesting counsel on choice of fabric, etc., with a pair of Karpen chairs that I'm redoing. Pretty sure this is the original fabric. Other examples I've seen that have been redone look wrong, and I'd like to have these turn out right. Obviously, I am hoping that spanky will chime in, but any input would be great.
Essentially, I'm wondering what fabrics would be ideal for these... I have spent hours poring over image swatches and ordered samples, etc. I like thicker stuff, typically, but I'm mostly concerned with recreating the seams that appear invisible on the contours and curves. Looking for a brighter color, thinking yellows and oranges. But the type of fabric is probably more important. I just don't know the first thing about textiles and it limits my ability to learn... what would you call what is on here? Tweed? There seem to be many catch-alls in fabric terminology. Should I just get Hallingdal and be done with it?
Secondly, should I consider keeping parts of the chair that seem decent? The seat cushions, for example, feel OK to me and I definitely want the new cushions to be the same size and thickness. Much of the exterior dimensions of these chairs is soft foam; you only start to feel the frame a couple of inches in on all sides. This stuff seems to be holding shape pretty well... is it even an option to retain it? I guess I imagine that it should probably be stiffer than it currently feels. I'm not sure. Ideally I won't have to micromanage the upholsterer with every little detail, but I'm like that.
Thanks for any input! I hope to get some shots of the inside for the skeleton thread. Can take more closeups of the seams, also, if that would be relevant.
Please take a very clear closeup of the fabric! Include a frayed edge--that will help me figure out what the fiber content is (if possible---sometimes it's just mystery meat).
You could reuse the foam but then you've got 50 year old foam and who knows how much longer will will hold up. If it's latex (very unlikely---latex would be hard and dry by now), it won't have much life left at all. If it's urethane, probably not gonna last long. PLUS---old upholstery padding often absorbs odors over the decades and it's often not noticeable until you get the chair done and everything is is all shiny new and fresh. (Ask me how I know this.) (On second hand, don't ask. I can't risk a PTSD flashback.)
You can always measure the thickness of the padding at various points by sticking a long upholstery needle into it until you hit the frame. Do not compress the padding at all, just stick the needle in until it stops. mark it at the level of the fabric, then pull it out and measure it. Instruct your upholsterer to use exactly the same thickness of foam or whatever as indicated. Heck, write the numbers on the chair itself! But make a list, too.
Hallingdal is gorgeous but it IS scratchy. I redid a chair for myself in it and I could feel that scratchiness through my shirt. Pretty disappointing. But maybe you're tougher than me. There are lots of other great fabrics, though!
Thanks, spanky! I am including several pictures... tried to capture all the visible seams, but the seat is tricky to see. This is kinda what I'd like to recreate; the invisible lines.
You are right about the foam... I think it is latex, judging by the small amount of orange dust that covers my hands if I am too vigorous in gripping them? But it is quite soft, also, so who knows...I am not an expert here, clearly. What about the cord for the welting? Reuse that? I haven't seen cord like that.
My hope would be that the upholsterer could get a pattern from one chair and recover to match the other untouched original, and then use the complete chair as a guide for that one? But I don't know how reasonable an expectation that is.
I really like stuff like Tonus, that sort of thing, but the scratchiness is a factor.
That fabric has a plain weave and a fair bit of slub, which is the irregularity in the thickness of the yarn. It is also a fairly loose weave and all the yarn seems to randomly vary between the two colors of yellow-brown.
I think it is all of the characteristics that make it so that the seam seemingly disappear. Bassically all of those inconsistent features makes it so that your eye is not drawn to the seams.
Consequently, if you want to duplicate that appearance, I would not use Hallingdal, nor Tonus. They are of too consistent a color, and too consistent a weave, which makes the seams stand out. (Imagine a coloring book, if the sun is colored in plain yellow, what you end up looking at is the black outline. If the sun is filled in with that fabric, you will never get around to the outline.)
I think your best option is to find a very similar fabric. Alternatively you might find another fabric, say a very irregularly and nubby boucle whic can accomplish the same result. A caveat with the boucle is that you will need it to be sewn so that all the loops are not trapped in the stitching, which would emphasize the seams. I think this might be unavoidable with a machine, and extra time consuming, although possible, to do by hand.
Maybe you can find something that is designed to resemble burlap, but perhaps with thicker yarn, and extra slub, and critically not made of jute, which is supremely itchy, and very allergenic.
Great photos! thanks!
I agree with Leif said about the hiding properties of the texture of the fabric, but do you realize that the only seams---aside from the perimeter--- are the two darts where the back curves into the seat? Well, and the ones under the seat but they're very visible. And ok, two short ones on the outside where the seat edge meets the back, which I noticed after looking at pics of other chairs online.
With only that little bit of stitching to do, I would just hand sew it using a ladder stitch with short enough stitches so that you don't get that wavy pattern, which would make it noticeable. Boucle is best at hiding this because the randomly loopy texture pretty much obscures the grain (the lengthwise and crosswise threads) of the fabric, but it you will get the effect with most texturey fabrics. Avoid smooth, flat weaves. Also, avoid very directional patterns---and actually the crosshatch stuff that's on there now is fairly directional.
But it's only those two darts you have to worry about so it's not such a big deal. I think the reason you aren't seeing seams is because there aren't really any to see!
OK--the welt cord. That looks like a fairly stiff type. I suspect that it's the reason the fabric is so worn at the corners. The welt cord needs some substance to it but it also can't be drastically different in firmness from the fabric or it will end up wearing on the fabric. The fabric will be between a rock and a hard place! It should be padding, not an extension of the hard chair frame. There are two main types of welt cord---really soft cotton welt that is used mostly in slipcovers and throw pillows, and stiffer stuff for upholstery. The stiff stuff can range from not too firm up to solid extruded vinyl. I don't think you need anything too extreme, just firm enough to get that nice clean line around the cushion and the chair edge.
The fiber content looks like one of the early acrylics or maybe rayon. It's not wool or linen or cotton.
The foam is latex if you're getting orange powder out of the chair. It oxidizes from the surface inward and most of it may still very well be soft. But eventually it'll all be hard and crumbly.
Most upholsterers remove the old fabric parts and use them as rough patterns when cutting the new fabric, so don't worry about that. What you do need to worry about is getting the same thickness of padding! Many, many upholsterers seem to go with whatever is most often used in conventional furniture---usually an overstuffed look. This is not correct for most mid-century modern furniture. You need to make it VERY clear that you want the same thickness in every part of the chair that is on there now. It's easy enough to figure the thickness without undoing a thing--just take a long upholstery needle and poke it into the chair at a given point, taking care that it's perpendicular to the surface. Stop as soon as you hit the frame or other firm surface. Mark the chair surface on the needle and pull the needle out and measure. Write it directly on the fabric if you want. Foam comes in 1/4", 1/2" 1", 2", 3", 4", 5", and 6" thicknesses and anything in between can be made just by gluing two or more layers together---so don't let anyone tell you that it's not possible to get 2 1/2" of foam on the back, or whatever. It is.
It will take some skill to get the same look on the seat cushion as the original. The original foam was mostly made in a mold. I'd probably start a small, thin foam layer for the center, sandwiched between two 1/2" foam layers that are wider and longer, which then gets sandwiched between two more layers of thin foam, etc., until the right width and length are attained. The inside edges of each layer of foam would have to be thinned down a lot with a razor blade so that the finished cushion tapers smoothly to the edges. That would be one way to do it, anyway. If you start out with 3" thick foam and try to sculpt it down to 1/2" at the edges with that really long taper, it'll be an exercise in frustration.
Spanky, you are right as always, there really are very few seams on this chair. And I just realized that the darts for a nearly perfect 45 degree angle with respect to the grain of the fabric, so the yarns looks continuous from a bit of distance. Maybe there is more leeway with the fabric. I would still pick something that is not smooth and flat, just as Spanky says.
The cushion reminds me of the cushion for a Papa Bear. It is elaborated as two halves, too and bottom. Each has a layer of rubberized hog hair and a piece of molded latex foam. To assemble it, the fabric and foam are spray glued together, then glued to the hog hair pad, then the fabric's edges are pulled over the pad and hand tack stitched to it. Then the welt is hand stitched to the edge of one half, and the other half then hand stitched to the welt. For me it was actually the most challenging part of upholstering my Papa Bear, because there is no frame to stretch the fabric against. The hog hair pad provides only a hint of resistance to stretching the fabric. Also, I had to cut the molded shape out of a slab of foam by nipping tiny little chunks off. Took a while to carve those pieces of foam.
Your upholsterer may well have to do something like this also to foam the frame of the chair if the foam was custom molded with tapering thickness.
As for the fabric---I see that this type was used on a lot of Karpen upholstery. I've always liked the look and in fact I was on a fervent search for this same type of fabric for myself a few years ago---finally gave up and went in another direction. But now there is more of it on the market, it seems. I'm not sure if it even has a specific name---crosshatch texture is one. It's not really a tweed though it can have a tweedy look if there are bits of other colors in it, I guess.
http://www.designtex.com/products/upholstery.html#/page/1 - they have a few
Maharam has a few but some are vinyl
Knoll has a nice looking one (photo below) that comes in a mustard yellow and a reddish orange, but it's all synthetic so you should definitely get a swatch first. Synthetics can be nice but they can also look very office-y. They will send up to 5 free swatches, i think.
I happened to find one that is a very close match to an original Karpen fabric that I remembered seeing online--that never happens! I dunno how it looks in person and I do not know a thing about Fabric Farms, the seller. The fabric is called "Regal Edward" . (I am not affiliated in any way with any fabric manufacturer or vendor, i'm just kind of obsessive about fabrics---in case you haven't figured it out!)
http://www.fabricfarms.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCH
I'm sure there are others, but that's a start. Your upholsterer will have sample books from different mills that you can look through, too.
Unika Vaev's chunky might get you the seamless look you want:
http://www.modern-fabrics.com/store/product-info.php?pid3037.html
Or Maharam's monks wool:
http://maharam.com/products/monk-s-wool/colors/001-tusk
Thanks, guys, for all the articulate responses. I actually tend to be obsessive about fabrics, too. But because I know basically nothing about them, I end up just looking at pictures on the internet over and over again. I mean is weft even a real word? I have to trust you on that. OK... it is a real word. I just looked it up. Weft.
I guess I will just have to keep ordering more samples. I will use your needle tip, spanky, and go 'round marking the chair with thicknesses. As the foam feels soft, would that imply that this was the original density? I mean, it's not going to just get significantly softer, is it? So many questions. Really appreciate the replies.
I should probably just finally teach myself upholstery... it is something that I've found to really interest me, and I feel fairly fastidiously inclined enough. Mostly I am just paranoid that I'm going to end up with this:
If this gets to be too much, lemme know---I could go on about fabric all day, every day.
The Unika Vaev Chunky would indeed be good--really, really nice, in fact. But then, I'm a sucker for nubby wools. Maharam Pebble Wool is in that same vein but only comes in neutrals and a wine color, or at least that was the case last time I looked. It's a luxury fabric but if you are patient you can find deals on it.
You should check Modern-Fabrics.com regularly (subscribe to their newsletter which comes out at least once a week). They sell remnants but they categorize them by length so you can avoid the shorter amounts. You'll probably need at least 4 yards per chair but check with your upholsterer before buying. This site is really great in most aspects; not so hot at sending swatches and not so great at accurate color in photos (but that's easy to cross check on manufacturer's site).
You can also just peruse manufacturers' websites and take note of stuff you like, then set up saved searches on Ebay and get email notifications---but that's if you are in it for the long haul for a bargain.
Maharam's Monk's Wool is gorgeous but it's a very bulky fabric with a large scale weave. I think that may be a problem for the finer details on these chairs--the thin edges and pointy corners of the cushions, for one.
That Robert Allen slub weave is actually more of a drapery/pillow fabric even though they call it an upholstery fabric. Joann Fabrics has a lot of special order Robert Allen fabrics and I spent a ton of time looking at them about 5-6 years ago, trying to find wear ratings. I also looked at that one for drapes for my home but ruled it out. Most manufacturers list the wear ratings up front with fiber content and dimension and price, but for whatever reasons, Robert Allen does not. They look and feel lighter in weight than many upholstery fabrics and in the end I decided that that was a better gauge than whatever wear rating numbers I eventually dug up. Maybe they're different now, I don't know--haven't checked since then.
Maharam Outback is a nice fine-textured wool boucle with a high wear rating but it's all in muted dark colors, and neutrals. If you want to stay in the yellow/orange range, you're more limited in what you'll find!
There's always good ol' Knoll Classic Boucle but the colors are limited. It's easy to find discounted remnants but bear in mind that they're not real consistent in either color or texture from one run to the next so remnants may vary too much from one to the next to use on the same chair. (I have a ton of red remnants and only a few match!)
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