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Unless the customer says different I would reuse them.

I'm not a car guy so I can't say I know what your talking about. But if its like furniture, the manufactures are always figuring out cheaper and cheaper ways to build furniture. This is most evident in the cushion support system. Springs are becoming less common. They compensate by adding thicker foam. In furniture the foam quality is much cheaper compared to furniture made 20 years ago. But as far as what I order from my supplier I can't see much difference.

It looks like it was stored in a garage or barn or something. If it was, the haze could be caused by moisture or perhaps mildew. Tell the customer you're not sure if it can be repaired in house until you see it. Tell them there will be a service charge to look at it. Or they could bring it by the shop and you will give your expert opinion for free.

Looks like you are staying busy, nice job on the vase.

From a business viewpoint the cost of a machine to do these occasional repairs is prohibitive. And even if you had a machine that could sew the thick thread you would have to set it up to the exact stitch length to hit every hole.

Hand sewing would be a time consuming and labor intensive endeavor. But not completely out of the question for these occasional repairs. Finding an exact thread match may be a challenge.

If the furniture is under warranty give the customer an estimate that includes the replacement part from the manufacturer. If these manufactures are going to continue to produce items that can not be replicated in an average shop then let the manufacturer bare the majority of the cost.

We are at the point in our careers where we stick to the tried and tested jobs. Any jobs that come our way that we have never attempted before we pass on. We've been doing this long enough to know some jobs just are not worth the hassle. That's why we don't do boats or cars or airplanes. Even when the customer says, "it a simple job". We simply don't have those skills and we are busy enough doing the jobs we know we can make a few bucks on.

Speaking of doing jobs outside of your skill level. We just picked up cushions from a long time customer. The cushions are for her sister who lives in Vero Beach. She had an awning shop make them. Took 9 months to get them back, looks like a 3 year did them, they ran out of fabric and used what they had laying around, the boxing on one cushion is different than the other three. We couldn't believe a shop would deliver such a mess.

I'm not saying to never learn new skills but the right tools and lots of practice before a new service is offered is a must.

They used the Gorilla Glue and thought they could clamp it with tape? This is why amateurs shouldn't attempt repairs. Especially with Gorilla Glue. What a mess. Now you have to clean all that glue out before you can repair it properly. I feel for you, I hope the moving company is footing the bill.

We were given the table 20 years ago and its been in storage the whole time. We have no nieces or nephews on Roses side. Her aunt had a daughter with two boys. No one is interested. Rose decided its time to sell it.

The drum table belonged to Rose's Aunt. One leg was broken and another was cracked with a very bad repair. I fixed them as best I could and refinished the top

The chair was bought at an estate sale and we recovered it. Funny story, there were two chairs. The little old lady had owned an antique store here in High Springs. This chair we bought for $35. The other matching chair was amateurishly reupholstered and she was sure it was worth $150. We offered to buy both for $70. I hated to break up the pair but she wouldn't come down on her price. We also bought two matching, vintage and fully upholstered slipper chairs with dressmaker skirts. $35 each. That was two years ago. I'll bet she still has that other chair. 

Happy New Year 65. The post holidays has found us in a lull while we wait for customers fabrics. Its nice to be able to take a deep breath and relax a little. I'm tackling some projects around the house and today I started a French Provincial chair that will be for resale. We are covering it in a sorta paisley and sorta chenille fabric. Its a modern fabric and I will post a picture when finished. 

Heading to St Augustine this weekend for some fishing and adventure. Looking forward to a prosperous and busy year.

Not to get all religious on y'all but found this neat passage in Proverbs 10:4

Lazy hands make a man poor
  but diligent hands bring wealth.

Enjoy your retirement Mojo. You worked hard, you deserve it. Don't forget to check in with your friends here on the forum once in a while.

Rose announced her plans for the upcoming year. She will be able to collect SS and will be forced to go on Medicare. She wants me to take over all of the shop operations. Cutting, sewing and upholstery. She will still handle all the appointments and book work. Pretty much like when she was working at the Dept of Revenue.

Our 5 year plan is to move closer to the Atlantic coast. Most likely to build on our property in St Augustine. Not sure if we'll ever stop working, I do look forward to slowing down some. I have a list as long as my arm of all the little things that need to be done to our Gainesville house before that happens. I just finished rebuilding the siding on our back porch. What was once plywood is now Hardie Plank. Now I need to paint it. House maintenance never ends.

Sometimes its hard to figure out what the customer wants. Their terminology and ours can be a bit of a barrier.

"pet protection covers"  what does that mean. To me sounds like plastic slip covers. For the customer it could be something totally different and even something that simply cannot be done.

I had a customer ask if I could paint the legs on her sofa dark brown. I told her sure, no problem. Later in the conversation she said something about staining the legs. I asked her if she wanted them painted or stained because painting is much easier than staining. I guess this blew her mind and she decided to just leave the skirt on. 

Merry Christmas and happy New Year. Great service at church last night. Rose managed to talk several neighbors to join us. The preacher was pleased to see the church full nearly to compacity.

Skip the button idea and use Paul's idea. I don't know why I didn't think of this.

With the cushion in place simply turn the ottoman upside-down and remove the black bottom. Use your large curved needle with button twine and sew the cushion to the decking by poking the curved needle through the burlap, cotton and the bottom plate of the cushion. Kind of like sewing the front of decking onto a chair or sofa. Sew it around all four sides and when done pull it tight and tie it off. When done the cushion will not budge.

Those florescent lights can play tricks on you. The color looks gray to me Steve. Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Just wondering if the Velcro was part of the original design. Was this ottoman reupholstered before. I've seen this method before. it is a poor design. And if velcro is part of the original design the customer should have told you "the cushion slips" when you picked it up. But too late now.

The proper way to upholster a cushion top ottoman is simiattached. But I have seen ottomans that for one reason or another simiattached would not work. I've also seen ottomans where the cushion was held in place with buttons. Not sure the customer would approve this idea. Short of taking the whole thing apart and creating a whole new pattern the only easy fix I can think of is gluing it on. Or perhaps wider or more Velcro.

Another idea would be to pick the seam apart and reach inside the cushion with a needle and button twine and somehow hand sew the cushion to the deck. Or reach in under the foam and using buttons poke them through the bottom plate of the cushion and through the decking. Then tie off underneath like you would a regular button. Then the last thing you would need to do is hand sew the seam back together.