Wrinkled sofa skirt

[mike802]

I had a customer call to tell me that the skirt on her sofa has wrinkled up.  I upholstered the sofa for her two years ago and she said it just happened.  She sent pictures, and it looks like a skirt does just after upholstering, but before the wrinkles are steamed out.  I have never had a skirt do this and was trying to think of possible reasons.  The sofa is in a summer home next to a lake, I was thinking that during the hot humid weather while the house is closed up the backing of the skirt may have gotten damp and shrunk.  Causing the wrinkling, but I am not sure.  I do not remember exactly what I used for the skirts backing, but it is either a heavy cambric, or denim.  I will go and steam it for her, but I already did that once two years ago, just before delivery and would like a solution that is long term.  It was customer supplied fabric and my warranty has expired, but if I can fix it by just by steaming, I will not charge her.  Has anyone ever run into this before?

[fragged8]

.

you just answered it yourself. customer supplied fabric

it's going to be good for business to pop over and steam it but i would make
it clear your fabric doesn't cause problems like that.

Could steaming actually make it worse ? i guess you should cover the 'you supplied the fabric'
'so it's your risk ' thing before you do the steaming  :-)

Rich

[kodydog]

Skirts are a real PITA! I'd like to meet the guy who invented them and punch him right in the eye.

I've noticed when I put skirts on if I pull the top of the fabric side to side too much it will cause the bottom corners to bow up. The old, "pull it tight but leave it loose" syndrome. Another problem with skirts is if they get kicked a lot, lifted the wrong way while moving the furniture or if they get hit while vacuuming will also mess them up. Might explain that to the customer.

Besides using stiff skirt liner and insert stiffeners in them I don't know what else to tell you except to do what your going to do and steam them flat every once in a while.

Fragged8 is right. Certain fabrics wrinkle when their just hanging their with nothing to hold them side to side

[sofadoc]

My money would be on the "Summer home" environment having a lot to do with it. The humidity is effecting the front fabric more than it is the backing (or vice-versa).
How about some "Spring Mist" to relax the fabric?
I prefer to "double" the skirt (folded and hemmed on the sides). That way, there is no chance of the face "drawing up" more, or less than the backing. I insert a stiffener inside. With this method, I really don't have to do a whole lot of steaming to the skirts.

[gene]

I would use a wrinkle free product first. Something like Crease Away from Rowleys. Test it on a back skirt panel first.

Someone on here said you can have a million dollar sofa and if the lines aren't straight and the skirts not straight it will look like !#@$.

I am down to two ways of putting on skirts. The way I use the most is to have the furniture upside down. I staple the welt cord on then staple the skirt on. The skirt is hanging upside down and it's easy for me to get it hanging evenly. I can then put the cambric on.

I use buckram and always try to make a self lining skirt, like sofadoc said. This is the easiest method for me if I have the fabric.

The second way, usually for chairs, is to measure the 4 sides, mark my welt cord accordingly, then sew the skirt panels onto the welt cord making a complete loop. Then, with the chair upside down, I slide the completed lloop onto the chair and staple away.

I think skirts are the second hardest thing to learn after boxed cushions.

Good luck.

Gene

[baileyuph]

Is steaming the solution if humidity is suspect cause?  Steaming is good to smooth a fold in the fabric, not sure if I understand that the folds are the problem, it was described as wrinkle problem.  Wrinkle in one or two panels or are they systematic all around?  The latter draws further analysis.

Run some test and review the complete process of measuring, sewing, and installation. Lots of questions or checks to be made.  Installing a finished skirt to the furniture frame can skew or cause uneven pulls to the finished product, sensitivity to that aspect must not be overshadowed.

As someone above said, skirts are next to cushion engineering.  I think they are at least equal because cushions are filled tighly to smooth the situation, unlike skirts.  They both have to be cut precisely and sewed the same and fit.

I have seen skirts coming off the machine lay flat, perfectly so to speak, but stappling to the frame can introduce wrinkles.  That draws attention to what is between the skirt and frame, specifically padding?

A lot of issues can be associated.

At this point, creases in a skirt panel, steam might be appropriate but if wrinkles all around are a different issue, steaming isn't likely the final fix, as it points to much deeper issues.

Even the machine required has to be evaluated, as this can be fabric dependent.

Remove the skirt from the couch, hand press it out on a table, if it doesn't lay smooth, it probably never will.  If it does, then reinstall by maintaining this same tension on the panels and you probably will be out of the woods.

Let us know if your analysis points to something.

Doyle

[mike802]

Thanks everyone for your input.  It is not so much a question on how to make and install a skirt, although I am always interested in learning new techniques.  But more a question as to why, after 2 years the skirt would wrinkle up.  The wrinkling is all around, on every panel and seams to be pretty even on each panel.  I don't remember if I used a skirt stiffener on this piece, I usually only use it depending on the fabric.  Guess I will just have to wait and find out what is going on when I go over to the home. 

[sofadoc]

Check these skirts out (scroll down to sofas #19,23,29,30 )
http://lqupholstery.com/sofas.html

[DBR1957]

First, as pointed out before, Customer supplied fabric.

Second, since this is a summer home or the like, there is a chance the
sofas/chairs were cleaned by someone as I'm sure the sofas/chairs acquired
a little "fragrance" if the home wasn't climate controlled all the time. There are
cleaners who know what they're doing and then there are the other guys.

Like you I would probably go do what I could for your customer. It can help
you keep a customer but also help you figure out what caused the problem so
it doesn't happen to another customer down the road.

[bobbin]

Wow, this is very interesting.  I don't upholster and I've never really thought about how to apply a skirt, although the discussion of properly constructing the skirt and applying it correctly to the piece makes complete sense to me. 

I recall that the application of the skirt to the first slipcover I made was trickier than I thought it would be, though!  The comparison of construction techniques is interesting, esp. when I followed Sofa.'s link and checked out some pretty "saggy and baggy" skirts.  (some great stuff there, too!) 

I, too, instantly thought that the piece may've been improperly cleaned, or a visiting dog may've "marked" the skirt. 

[sofadoc]

I occasionally hire helpers to help me deliver furniture. I tell them ONE time to lift the skirt up, and out of the way BEFORE grabbing the sofa frame to pick it up. If they can't remember that, I never use them again.
Some of the local furniture stores bring stuff by for repair. I want to absolutely throttle their delivery guys who couldn't care less how much they wad the skirt up in their hands simply because they're too rotten sorry lazy to lift the skirt up before lifting the sofa.
Skirts are a big enough PITA without imbeciles compounding the problem.

[Shown]

Check these skirts out (scroll down to sofas #19,23,29,30 )

Hmm yes one is really nice dude. thanks for sharing...

[mike802]

since this is a summer home or the like, there is a chance the
sofas/chairs were cleaned by someone

This is a good possibility that I had not though of.  I am not sure if the customer would fess up to it, but a sniff test should tell the truth if it was recent.  This is certainty the type of home and customer that would have professional cleaners over.

The skirts in those pictures are awful, the tufting looks good, how could you go to all the trouble to do a good tufting job and just throw the skirts on?

[kodydog]

Check these skirts out (scroll down to sofas #19,23,29,30 )
http://lqupholstery.com/sofas.html

The first thing I thought was, there done in muslin to let the viewer imagine what their fabric will look like. I thought, give the guy a break. Then I thought, these are supposed to be their showroom pieces and they should be near flawless.

In manufacturing if the piece was going on a showroom floor or to the Highpoint show they'd write "Showroom" on the work tag. That piece better be looking good or it'd come back to you.

[sofadoc]

The first thing I thought was, there done in muslin to let the viewer imagine what their fabric will look like.

Looks more like a light linen, or cotton duck fabric to me.
There's a big store in Dallas that has sofas on their showroom floor done in a white denim. The skirts look exactly like those in the link above.
That guy should either get a steamer, or some Photoshop software (a few clicks of a mouse will take those wrinkles right out ;))