I'm preparing to upholster a Duncan Phyfe sofa. Currently it has three separate cushions for sitting and I am planning to replace it with one wide cushion. The problem is that most upholstery fabric I have found is 54" wide and one cushion (and also the sofa back) are 61" plus. I have never seen a seam in a back or cushion, but there must be since fabric is usually not as wide as a sofa. The way the fabric runs, I have to keep the orientation the same. Any advice?
Thanks!
If the fabric can't be railroaded then seams are necessary. You can place one in the center or two on the ends. Some people like the two on the ends more than the one in the center. With one cushion I would recommend two on the ends so you have a 54" section with two 4" sections on each ends adding up to 61 as you mentioned plus any extra for attachment. If you can iron the seams open them and iron the seams nice and flat. Also make sure they are sewn nice and straight.
Set your machine to the smallest length stitch when sewing those seams.
SA
Let's say each of the 3 cushions is 21 inches wide. My math tells me that is 63 inches. So what you will be doing is making one cushion that is 63" wide. Correct?
I would look at seaming 3 panels of fabric, each 21 inches wide (finished width - don't forget to add seam allowances) for the seat cushion panel. You need two such panels so they can flip the cushion over. You could put welt cord on the seams or not, depending on what the customer wants and what looks best. This will give the appearance of 3 places to sit on the one cushion. It will also give your eyes a sense of symmetry, which is usually important to most people.
Don't forget to seam the boxing the same way.
For the back inside panel, I would do 3 panels also. The center panel would be 21" finished width and the other panels would be as wide as needed to cover the inside back. I would match the seams on the inside back panel with the seams on the seat cushion panel.
If it has a skirt I would use 3 skirt panels in the front and have them match the seams in my seat cushion. The center skirt panel would be 21" wide. The other two skirt panels would go to the ends of the sofa. I would do the same on the outside back panel as I did on the inside back panel. And the same for the skirt panels on the back.
It's a fun project but a lot of work. I hope your pattern is easy to match on the seams.
Another thought: 21" is getting close to being rather narrow. If the 3 seat cushions worked well before, it shouldn't be a problem. If you wanted to "widen" the cushions at least in how they look being a "two cushion" look, Paul's idea of a center seam would be the way to go. Also if the customer didn't care a center seam would be less work.
gene
The 54 inch width is not a problem if the long one piece is cut up the roll (railroaded).
Sofa would look nicer - if customer is driving this issue, then charge accordingly.
Doyle