What was the hardest to learn when you started Upholstering

[lc]

 Once upon a time I thought I'de never succeed to become an upholsterer.

I'm a bit curious as to how you all experienced getting into upholstering..for example what was your favourite thing to do and what was your most challenging thing to learn.

I for one was absolutely fascinated with the button machine!! Not anymore.
Now I groan when I have to make them .lol
My most difficult thing to learn was boxed cushions ...I had the most patient employer while his daughter trained me...argghh it would take nearly a day to do one and I'de be nearly in tears trying to get the corners to match .ripping it apart over and over.
I was ready to quit my job out of feeling like an idiot.
The other was the front edge of sofas and chairs and the bottoms of the outside arms.
I look back at how I struggled with felt ..oh how lumpy it was...It was always a fight.
Today I can smoosh felt all over the place and create a smooth look...amazing how we learn to master this art.
I'm glad I stuck to it . I absolutely love my trade

[sofadoc]

I don't really remember what I considered to be "the hardest". I remember hating jobs that were more tedious, or time-consuming.
I hated Strato-loungers with the pop-up headrest. Not because they were hard, but because there were so many nooks and crannies.
Right from day one, I always loved doing a Chippendale, or Duncan-Phyfe sofa.
I can't find a pic right now, but Sears & Roebuck sold a few styles that I absolutely hated doing.
Like the one with the curved back that was tufted on the top half, and gathered on the bottom half. And the long seat cushion had a million buttons. They took too long, and they really weren't worth even doing.
The old expression "If I only knew then what I know now" came to mind when I read the title to this thread.

I REALLY hated doing these:


Did a bunch of 'em back in the 80's. Still do a set every now and then.

[Mojo]

I can say, without a doubt, the hardest thing for me to learn was control of the machine and my stitching. Once I mastered that everything fell in place it seems.

My second hardest thing was learning to pattern correctly from scratch. I have the very first couple things I ever had sewn and now and then go back and look at them as a reminder of just how far I have come. They are small pouches I put together for holding certain tools.

And probably the last hardest thing I had to learn was pricing. I never seemed to price my work according to what it was really worth. I sold myself and my work too cheap.

Chris

[Rich]

Sewing and bow type headliners without a doubt.
Rich

[kodydog]

What helps me get through those really difficult jobs is being able to bounce ideas off my wife.

Tufting is one process I never look forward to. I always feel like I'm going in slow motion.

Just finished two large recliners with tufted backs. The first one took 4-1/2 hours just to do the tufting. When I finished I didn't like the look so I asked my wife what she thought. She said the pleats look to loose. I had to agree. Next day went in with a new attitude and pulled the buttons just a tad bit tighter. That tightened the pleats right up. Problem solved but I still don't like doing them.

[DDandJ]

Boxed cushions by far.  However, once I mastered them I had it!  Now if I can just get my upholstering  techniques to match my boxed cushions I'll be in great shape.  I would put my sewing skills up to anyone's.  I enjoy being at the sewing machine.

I recently successfully finished a button tufted chair using prong buttons.  It took me three trys but the end result was nice.  It was my first attempt at button tufting.  Next I'm doing a mid-century armless chair.  Appears to be fairly simple but we all know how that goes.

Each piece I do gets better.  I figure a few more pieces under my belt and I'll be pro ;)

I have a new challenge coming up:  Skirted parson's chairs.  The parson's chairs don't scare me.  The skirts do.  Trust me, I will be posting questions here when I get to them.

Fear:  Semi-attached seat backs, like on a sofa.  Haven't tried that one yet. 

[kodydog]

Fear:  Semi-attached seat backs, like on a sofa.  Haven't tried that one yet. 

Wait till you get ahold of a semi-attached back on a recliner. They deify all logic. Take lots of notes

I was very fortunate my wife did most of the sewing for the first 20 years in business. Up till 2 years ago when her hands started bothering her. But by that time I had some experience and she is a very good teacher. I'm still not as fast as her on box cushions but I can match her accuracy.

[lc]

The trick I learned for that Kodydog is to find the center of the original pattern and only take 1/2 of it apart right down the center.Before doing so I mark the side panels as to which way is up and down for the panels This is for example.., the center bag and or the chair bag...end bag is easy just reverse the whole pattern as you already may know I'm sure.
I leave the outside back of it on so I know which way it was done up . only taking the front half and panels off the one side

Then I mark the pieces to show which is the top for the pattern to follow this way I can observe the half I left together to help guide me on how the dang thing went back together.
I don't know about the rest of you but doing semi detached or complicated patterns that take up so much concentration can get us in a kerfuffle if we're interupted...now where was I ??

[lc]

Button tufting was a very hard thing to learn ., today I love doing it ! Yet I also need to add  it takes time and I would rather the quick money  doing a camel back sofa. Ummm still a nice change to tuft though now and then; it brings you back in time.
I absolutely hate the times where we had to do the old seat spring units wrapped in miles of felt /squishing then into those friggin tin can ''girdles as I call them ,
eeegad !!!!
That was a pain and it can still be at times when the customer doesn't want to conform to foam.
Those days are passing

[gene]

I don't know. Maybe that it's OK to bleed on fabric that you are taking off and it is not OK to bleed on fabric that you are putting on.

It was impossible to staple ply grip without it stinging my fingers. After a year or so the stinging stopped and I thought I had gotten better at it. I realized the next time I played cards and I could no longer do a one handed cut, I could no longer deal from the second card, and I could no longer do my one forced card trick, that my fingers had become numb. That's why I no longer felt the stinging.

gene

[kodydog]

The trick I learned for that Kodydog is to find the center of the original pattern and only take 1/2 of it apart right down the center.Before doing so I mark the side panels as to which way is up and down for the panels This is for example.., the center bag and or the chair bag...end bag is easy just reverse the whole pattern as you already may know I'm sure.
I leave the outside back of it on so I know which way it was done up . only taking the front half and panels off the one side

Then I mark the pieces to show which is the top for the pattern to follow this way I can observe the half I left together to help guide me on how the dang thing went back together.
I don't know about the rest of you but doing semi detached or complicated patterns that take up so much concentration can get us in a kerfuffle if we're interupted...now where was I ??

Neat trick lc. I'll try it next time. It's always nice to get a set of recliners but when you get just one you have to rely on memory, notes and photos. I can see where your way would be a big help.

[lc]

No problem I am glad I could help.
Any tricks when it comes to this trade can shorten up a lot of time and frustration..sometimes I do the same with 2 up snowmachine seats / split them right up the middle so that I can save the other half to see how it went together.

[kodydog]

For us folks in the sub-tropics, what is a 2 up snowmachine seats.

[lc]

You know how some motor bikes have a raised up area at the back for a passenger ? the same idea for  snowmobiles skidoos / atv's.
I would imagine when we say 2 up it seems a bit slang.lol

[bobbin]

I think the trickiest thing I had to master was the dreaded "folding cushion" that is common in yacht interiors, esp. V berths.  The top of the cushion is one pc., but the lower portion is actually 2 cushions.  The idea is that you can fold the cushion in half to get it through tight hatchways and/or store it in limited space.  They're not all that hard, but the first few of them really required some head scratching. 

I also fumbled through the first few slipcovers that had T cushions and required a "tuck in" on the "T" portion of the upholstery.  It all made complete sense when I was patterning/marking the fabric, but for some reason I really struggled when the work was "inside out" and under the needle.  I had to put that sucker on the chair a few times to really ram home the lesson.  Lol. 

Even now, if I've not had to do something in a pretty long time I will settle back on my haunches and say, "Huh?".  Good to know I'm in august company!