Upholstery Fabrics - Ideas Needed Urgently Please!!  

I personally love...
I personally love hopsacks......that said you could look at Kvadrat - Tonus and Kvadrat Divina Melange.

I've reupholstered many...
I've reupholstered many Danish Modern lounge chairs. Jesgord's suggestions are good. You can also find some good fabrics at the winterbeachmodern.com and modern-fabrics.com. Both of them have good quality gray fabrics right now that would be suitable.
Modern Fabrics has 3 yards of Maharam Pebble Wool right now in charcoal gray---I have two chairs done in this and did a set of dining chairs in it that I sold. It is to die for! Retails for $121/yd but MF has it for $36--such a deal. But only enough for two cushions with no welt (which isn't so bad--it's almost too bulky for welt).
I haven't looked through their whole site so there could be more.
Another one I like a lot is Knoll's Classic Boucle (half wool, half nylon). It has a very appealing texture, not scratchy at all. And it comes in a dark teal (link below).
Beware of less expensive hopsacks---there are some that are all synthetic that I think look rather cheap thought I've seen them on better quality chairs. Also I would avoid office-type fabrics in general. The better ones come in great colors, textures, and patterns which are very appealing online but in person they have a very synthetic feel that I don't think is appropriate for Danish mod chairs.
Ask for swatches if you buy online. I would not buy anything without seeing in person first. (I learned the hard way.)
Also, do NOT rush into it if you can wait. Or at least don't settle for something that is not quite what you want. It's worth it to get something great if you can put in the extra time and effort.
Feel free to ask about specific fabrics or just any other general questions you might have!
http://www.knolltextiles.com/textiles/product?productId=162&sku=28

Maharam Pebble Wool
This is the Pebble Wool on one of the Erik Buch chairs that I did (charcoal gray). It's 90% wool. Really, really great fabric.

only fabric that i recomm...
only fabric that i recommend for all chairs that is great.
is Kvadrat hallingdale see link.
http://www.maharam.com/scripts/vl.cgi?script=v2_details&source=search&cu...

Thanks
I've looked at the Kvadrat fabrics, and I do like them a lot. The degree of texture looks about right. I had Swedish swivel chair once that had (original) fabric that looked stunning - in my favourite shade of Teal, but whatever composition it was made it very itchy - to the point that you had to be wearing jeans and a thick sweater in order not to be fidgeting constantly. Naturally I'm keen to avoid this! - and yes, with hopsack there are concerns over too much of an 'office chair' feel - but I've thought that maybe the colour and the chair itself lends this impression more than the fabric.
I've seen a lot of sofas especially lately done in super smooth pure wool, and am looking into this, as well as linen blends. On this note though, I don't plan to have to re-invest in this work anytime soon, and I have 2 toddlers (yes, I am a nervous wreck, and my children have no idea that there are drinks other than water!) so longevity is an important consideration, and I know hopsack is pretty robust. The daybed I have should originally have been upholstered in Harris tweed, which is, of course pure wool (although it was later replaced with a fabric that defies description - fleur de lys included *shudders*) - do you think that although good quality hopsack (to which I have been kindly directed) has many great benefits, is a second choice to pure wool?
I do realise though, that I absolutley must not go forward with this until I am 100% happy, and there's many a swatch on it's way already. I was just looking at my 1960 yearbook at the Knoll fabrics, which do bear a remarkable similarity to the option I was given today with the slub, but I'm sure the compostion won't be the same. Thanks all for your help here - the search goes on.
Regarding colours - do you think grey is a good choice for Danish teak? Part of me wonders if it's a bit flat - the teal really 'pops' but, again I'm thinking long term liveabilty with.....
thanks, Claire

Some wools are itchy, some ar...
Some wools are itchy, some are not. Some wear well, some don't. Your upholsterer should be able to help you with that if you can't get the wear rating on it from the seller. (Knoll Textiles have all this listed on the website, as does Maharam and many others.)
Gray can look really good with teak. I just did a Grete Jalk chair of really dark teak with medium, cool gray wool and it looked pretty stunning. I think the photo I posted above looks really good (charcoal with warm, medium-toned teak). In general I would probably go with a warmer gray than cooler gray, but you really have to just see it with your chair. It's so subjective.
Wool is generally easy to clean, in my opinion. If you get to the spills and stains right away, anyway. But you might be more comfortable with a good synthetic than wool.
The thin, smooth wools are a little tricky for upholsterers just in that they show the tiniest unevenness in the foam/batting underneath and the slightest pucker in a seam. Probably would be ok if your guy is very highly skilled---but talk to him about it first. Knoll has a couple fabrics like this. They're beautiful but not suited to every application.
You know, you can just look for colors around the house (clothing, especially) to see how they go with the wood. Just to get a few starting points.
First photo is the Grete Jalk chair I was talking about, second is another Danish teak chair that I did in a very soft wool in a warm gray, almost taupe.

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That is nice, another idea might be to use this colour. Simon would know the Divina # ?
PS and find another upholster, if he doesn't know of the best in the business he's obviously not passionate enough about his work to get informed.

Thanks all
I love what you've done Spanky (especially the boucle type fabric that I was surprised to have liked), and Heath - that shade is stunning and I'll endeavour to find out what that is. I've been pouring over Kvadrat Divina and Maharam since your great posts. It turns out that these fabrics are surprisingly hard to get a price for as a private buyer - even with such leading lines as; "I will need several meters..."
I am in rural UK at the moment and have rattled off an email to Kvadrat and called up a couple of companies following a google-athon, but they only deal with commercial projects. And then I find a seller on ebay in the US who sell bits of this, and Knoll fabrics - although in insufficient quantities really. I also just received through the post today some samples of Melton wool, and like the texture and feel, but the shades were a little cool for the wood, and a little pale for my taste.
I have thought about the upholsterer himself Heath, and although in part I agree, I have seen his work, and it's great. This said, I too am surprised in his apparent dispassion about fabrics themselves, and his lack of creative input. But then, I've always thought it strange that my mechanic drives such a cr*ppy car. Maybe he's blindsided by a customer who isn't looking to have their suite recovered in patterned chenille. It's also my fault for not getting all this work done before I went to him - I should not have supposed that he would 'get it'.
Thanks all so much for your valuable input. I will wait to hear back from Kvadrat, but wonder if I may end up ordering from the US once my guy has told me how much I'll need for the whole project.

UK?
A lot of the wools from Knoll and Maharam are milled in the UK. Not that that means it should be easier to buy them in the UK, but it makes me wonder if somebody somewhere over there is producing interesting fabrics for the UK market.
Does modern-fabrics.com sell internationally?

Really?
You're kidding me Spanky! I will investigate this (am hatching a plan to approach a mill direcly). I'll report back once I know more - you're so consistently helpful - thank you. Claire

Bute
Hi Claire,
Have you tried Bute fabrics? They're based on the Isle of Bute up in Scotland and they have the most gorgeous selection of wool fabrics. I've used them a couple of times no problem. They're really friendly and helpful. A lot of UK dealers use their fabrics when reupholstering and Orla Kiely's furniture range in Heals also use it.
Also there was a listing on Ebay uk recently for some Kvadrat fabric. It's ended but it's worth contacting the seller to see if they still have it available.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120777393528?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=...

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Thanks Jinx, funnily enough I spoke to about the most charming person I've spoken to in a long time today - she was from a mill on Harris - re. Harris Tweed (un-surprisingly). I don't yet know if Harris Tweed is very much different to that produced on Bute - maybe you know? Anyway, the prices are very good £25 per meter, and the colours are stunning - there are 5 swatches on their way.
I spoke also with the mill in Hull that produces Kvadrat fabrics - they were also very polite, but advised me that under no circumstances can they sell directly - which is fair enough, but worth a try anyhow. I then called Kvadrat themselves in London - what a drag. The person I spoke to was very sniffy, and unhelpful. They advised me where to go (online) to make an enquiry with a view to purchasing.
So anyway, I've been searching ebay anyway, and there are some fantastic options if you're in the US, or willing to take a chance with a generic wool mix hopsack.
I'm hanging my hopes on Harris Tweed an the moment, unless you tell me Bute is better.
I'm so grateful for the input I've had here.

Unfortunately I don't know...
Unfortunately I don't know Harris tweed upholstery fabric so I can't compare them to any other fabric. However I'd say that if you call Bute and describe the type of fabric you are looking for (texture, colour) they will have no problem sending you out some swatches. Their website isn't great but you can get a rough idea of the "pattern" of the fabrics and their composition. Let us know how you get on!

what color is this?
I am too looking for a nubby textured fabric for my danish modern lounge chair and would love to know the color of this beautiful blue fabric. Anybody know?
maya