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Had something similar (a bit tighter on the curves) done a few years ago, the upholster said it would be no problem but ended up giving it back to me free of charge it was such a cock up. Something to do with setting the tension on the thread when they sew the zip in I think and of course the fabric, though it seemed pretty stretchy to me.
Would be interested to hear of what quality fabrics will do the job or any other suggestions, maybe crepe on the bias, Spanky?
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I don't think so. I imagine that the fabric at the back of the seat is pulled downwards tightly and attached to the base ring internally with some sort of stretchy fastener. That and a drawstring underneath should keep it in position. But to be honest thats guesswork. I had a look at the artifort site but they don't suggest any fabrics or brand names that I can see.
I think it has to be a
very stretchy knit fabric. The problem with the zipper that the other guy had is probably because the zipper doesn't stretch so the fabric would have to be along the long grain at the zipper, I guess. (The long grain being less stretchy than the cross grain.)
The problem he had with tension might also be that the thread and/or machine stitch may not have stretched as much as the fabric, which would give seams a puckered look and might cause the thread to break. You need to use a stretch stitch on the machine and probably a lot of industrial machines don't have this---I don't really know, I don't even have an industrial machine. (Someday, maybe.)
There is a very stretchy upholstery fabric on the market now, I think by Knoll. I have seen it. It looks like the fabric used in the inserts of athletic shoes except in the colors of office furniture you might see in Office Depot.
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Yep, Knoll.
(and yes to what Heath surmised on how it fits onto the frame---at least as far as I can surmise, too)
http://www.knoll.com/knolltextileproductdetail/Close+Knit
I take it back!
Here's one that is offered in Maharam/Kvadrat Tonus, which even though it is 10% elastic is not nearly as stretchy as a lot of knits. So maybe the side is cut on the bias, I dunno. If that's the case, then it would be hard to put the zipper in as the fabric would have to be stretched exactly as much as it would be once on the chair. The manufacturer would have worked this out exactly but an upholsterer redoing one would have those measurements. I can imagine a lot of hair-tearing trying to get it just right.
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If the existing chairs have upholstery that is sufficiently intact that the seams can be picked apart and the original pieces used as patterns for the new pieces, the I think it could be done without too much trouble. Of course, you have to account for the time to pick apart some very long seams.
It looks entirely possible that the original fabric was ease stitched in places (using steam or moisture to selectively shrink the fabric before sewing to create compound curves). So if that is the case you couldn't use a synthetic.
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Just out of curiosity I did some googling on restoring this sort of thing and found this at hivemodern
Please note that we advise upholstering the Ribbon chair in Tonus 3 or Momentum. Other fabrics may cause a number of pleats to appear, which cannot be avoided.
I'd go for hand stitching instead of the zip, its actually pretty fast and easy and from what Spanky has said sounds a bit more reliable. These fabrics aren't washable (or are they?) so the zip seems a bit redundant really.
The best way is to sew the Pierre Paulin Mushroom by hand. As the fabric is under a lot of tension, it must be stretched by the upholsterer continuously. Replicating the original small, tight stitching pattern requires a pretty high level of skill.
The older chairs usually need their foam rubber replaced too. The early chairs used natural latex foam rubber, which is often very hard and crumbly now. It is still available though.
Olek Lejbzon
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