Topics

Greetings to the last few who still check this forum. I do hope that you are all doing well.

I've got my fingers crossed that opening up the economy again will noy spike the number of cases of corona virus.

I've been able to stay working with a lot of cautions and no one in my shop. But if I'm around someone who gets the virus I may need to self isolate for 2 weeks even though I don't get the virus. Not as big a concern as those folks who do get the virus and all those folks who are hurting for money because of this situation.

It's all new territory for us at this time. I hope it shakes up for the better.

Stay safe,

gene

Tufted button came off a leather seat. The leather hole through which the twine goes through has enlarged so the tufted button gets pulled down inside the hole. I hand sewed the hole a bit to close it up but I am worried the button will work it's way down, spreading the hole apart again and fall through. There is a lot of tension on the button.

Can I use epoxy glue to glue the button the the leather? Will this be a permanent fix?

Thanks for your help.

gene

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been wearing the same shoulder pads since he was a freshman at Michigan.

Five players on the New England Patriots were not yet born when Brady began wearing his shoulder pads at Michigan.

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/tls/d/middletown-cushion-stuffing-machine/6959233387.html

I wish I did a lot of these types of cushion inserts. I would love to have this in my shop. But, I would probably never use it, or only use it occasionally for the fun of it, because my shop vac does a great job of compressing cushion inserts wrapped in plastic.

gene

I am looking for 5 yards of Spradling EZ Vinyl 5803 Wallaby Turquoise. Got any laying around your shop? Or a supplier that might?

I can buy a 30 yard roll from my supplier but I only need 5 yards.

Thank you,

gene

How do you run your stripes on the arms when the fabric is an asymmetrical stripe? Do you keep all the fabric heads up or do you turn the fabric upside down on one arm so the arms are mirror images of each other. This also causes the outside side panels to be different.

The picture below shows a chair where the fabric on one arm has been inverted. It does not show the back out fabric panel but would you invert the back out fabric panel also?

I got a chair from the factory where the fabric on one arm was not inverted to make a mirror image and the homeowner wants it changed.

https://www.jossandmain.com/Andover-Mills--Leni-Manual-Recliner-CRLM1773-L804-K~J000533505.html?refid=GX266174034178-J000533505_2115052527&device=c&ptid=637839526460&targetid=pla-637839526460&network=g&ireid=65965469&PiID%5B%5D=2115052527&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxtjGr53p4wIVh5-fCh0SXw-wEAQYBSABEgK1v_D_BwE

Thank you,

gene

PS. Just a note of interest: The chair in the picture costs $339.99. The chair in my shop costs $4,000.00.

Have you ever covered over bonded leather on a chair? I'm wondering if I could spray glue a super thin synthetic fabric to the bonded leather and then put a slip cover of face fabric over the chair? It's for a friend and cheap and the smallest amount of time invested is the goal.

I'm sure the bonded leather will keep flaking and I don't want the flakes to be felt through the fabric.

Thanks,

Gene

I'm giving an estimate for 8 leather barrel back chairs with decorative tacks. The customer wants faux leather vinyl, which I think is fine.

I suggested $30 to $50 per yard vinyl with 75,000 to 100,000 rubs. He was going to pay for the vinyl separately.

He got two other bids that only have the decorative tacks around the arms and not around the base of the chair. He also has chosen EZ Vinyl, which you can buy at Joann Fabrics. It has 50,000 rubs. It also has a polyester backing. The label says it's for marine, indoor commercial, home.

The 8 chairs are used in the companies cafeteria.

He wants me to resubmit my estimate with the tacks only around the arms and include the EZ vinyl.

I'm thinking the EZ Vinyl will be OK, but is not the best choice. Any thoughts on why I might want to not put my name on EZ Vinyl?

This type of chair:

https://www.ebth.com/items/8111701-vintage-blue-leather-office-armchair

Thanks,

Gene

I do not know what the other bids are. And I don't care to know.

I make a wooden box 10" x 10" x 10".

I glue 1" foam to the four sides making it 12" long x 12" deep x 10" high.

I glue 12" x 12" x 2" foam to the top making it 12" long x 12" deep x 12" high.

The 12" x 12" x 2" piece of foam on top is supported by the 10" x 10" wood box and the 1" foam (on all four sides).

My concern is can the 1" foam on the sides support the edges of the 2" top foam, or will the edge of the 2" top foam get beaten down if people occasionally sit on the ottoman?

Thanks,

Gene

Any sources for ottoman feet?

I'm finishing a project where I will offer a custom made ottoman to IDs. One price, any size up to 23" x 23" x 23". 2" foam on top and 1" foam on all sides.

They give me their size and either 1 yard or 1 1/2 yards of fabric, (16" x 16" x 16 and up require the extra 1/2 yard), and I plug the size into my spreadsheet that tells me what sizes of wood to cut out, what sizes of foam, what sizes of poly batting, what sizes for the 5 fabric panels that I sew together, and what size of cambric to cut out. The idea is to minimize my time as much as possible.

I have sliders for the feet - plastic or carpet, but I want to also offer approximately 2" high feet that are either bare wood that I would lacquer finish or paint. Or the other idea is to just offer black, white, and maybe cream colored plastic feet.

What I'm selling is a custom size with their fabric. I can't compete against store bought ottomans.

So, any sources for ottoman feet?

Thanks,

Gene

I had a nice talk with an Interior Designer who's retiring after being in the business 40 years. He said young people with money no longer tend to buy high end furniture for two reasons. They tend to move every 4 or 5 years for their jobs and furniture that looks great in a cape cod in New England doesn't look so good in Texas or California. Second they don't entertain in their homes as much as the older generation did.

We talked about "brown" furniture, and how younger people don't like the brown stained antiques and traditional style of furniture. He said there's a furniture company in NC that has survived by making traditional furniture and then painting to order the wood a pastel color, cream or light gray for example. Younger people tend to like this look.

Custom work of all kinds if shrinking, I think. There will always be people who want and are willing to pay for custom woodworking, upholstery, Interior designing, airplanes, swimming pools, cars, etc., but I don't see any growth in any custom type work areas.

I've thought for a long time now that I've been staying busy because other upholsterers are either dying or retiring and there are no new people coming into the business.

And of course everyone wants custom work as long as it comes with Walmart prices.There's a reason why Walmart prices are "Walmart" prices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8rbxE6yM-A

This short video shows Huntington House furniture being made. They say their furniture is for "... clients who want to invest in their furniture".

Two thoughts:

1. I want to sit on my furniture, not invest in it.

2. Who would want to invest in furniture where the joints are held together with 2" wire staples? Or I am just being a wood glue snob and it doesn't matter if you use staples or glue?

gene

Kodydog had a post about his wife's birthday. That post is gone. I see recently registered "drcarlislecullen300" from Mambai on top of the "General Upholstery Questions and Comments".

Did we get hacked?

gene

I have 8 sofa back cushions that I need to stuff with new poly batting.

I can buy 5#, 10#, and 15# bags of loose poly fill.

Each back cushion is 26" x 16" x 7". How many pounds of poly fill would I need for each cushion?

I've looked online and can't find anything definitive.

Thank you,

Gene

A friend has an old tete a tete loveseat. I had never heard of this before she mentioned she had it. She wants to give it to me. My thought would be to put all new foam, cotton, etc., cover in musin, then give a price that would include the loveseat and my labor to reupholster. The customer would provide the fabric.

The only value I see is that it is unique. Unique also can be a negative. Anyone have any experience with this type of loveseat? Any issues with reupholstering? Any thoughts on my idea to sell it?

The sides slide around to the back.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tete+a+tete+loveseat&rlz=1C2AWFC_enUS783US785&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=us1ada4PzEqD_M%253A%252CaGVI-An_evRSlM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kS7vKxFRJGJOpyTmgsC0S9iVpLGgw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk1bOwnNjgAhUhm-AKHQxEC4wQ9QEwAXoECAUQFQ&biw=1164&bih=560#imgrc=eJnT-ud6RQUIHM:

Thanks,

Gene

The top part of a dining room chair came off. It's the top of the back frame. The factory glued up the sides and the top piece to make the back frame. The top piece came off cleanly as if the glue joints failed on both side pieces.

If I sand the two sides of the joint and reglue it will that be enough to hold it together? Or should I put a dowel or biscuit in it to give it more gluing area? Or any better ideas?

Thanks,

Gene

I upholstered the top of an ottoman with an antique embroidery. My customer's mom, who died a year ago, made the embroidery 50 years ago or so.

The customer picked up the ottoman last Wednesday. He did not have any more checks in his check book so he took the ottoman and said he would pay me this week. I have worked with him before and I knew his mom so no problem.

He came in today to pay me. As he handed me the money I asked him how he like it. We didn't have a chance to talk last week when he picked it up. He hesitated and said, "Well..." I thought he didn't like it.

He then said that he had put the ottoman in a bedroom on the second floor and the entire second floor was destroyed by a fire this past weekend. Wow! He showed me pictures. You could see the sky from the bedroom. There was no roof. A chimney fire, wood fire in the fire place, caught the roof on fire.

gene

US Foam just sent me their new price sheet. They say they lowered their prices 20% to give back to the upholstery community.

They have been giving free shipping on orders east of the Rocky Mountains that are over $100.00 I haven't looked at their new price sheets yet so I can only assume that this is still the case. Check it out before you buy.

gene

Cory Bryant
National Foam Manager
U.S. Foam Corp. of Indiana
7412 Jager Court
Cincinnati, OH 45230
800-830-2183-office

513-528-9800-office (2)
513-528-9802-fax

www.us-foam.com

Remind you of those first few years of learning how to sew?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-vN8ys9g6g

gene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmGkfnTwDwE

No cutting table. Uses the floor.

No saw horses. Uses the floor.

Bare feet.

Manual stapler.

Paul would have a fit with the foam cutter this guy uses.

Regular hammer for decorative tacks.

No cotton or poly batting.

Contact cement for the foam.

Did I mention bare feet?

Corded electric screw driver.

My knees hurt just watching him sit sitting on the floor and getting up and sitting on the floor and getting up...

gene