Traditional Upholstery

There is so much more in a chair than many of us ever realise.

If you are as interested in hand made objects as much as I am, let me walk you through the stages of a traditionally made piece of furniture. These stages will naturally come after stripping the old covers off, and repairing/prepping the frame.

How it's made

Traditional upholstery methods were the standard before 1950, and although the innovations introduced and developed since then have changed the way furniture is produced at scale - traditional methods are still employed to maintain and restore.

Here is a (very brief) introduction into the layers that a traditional seat will have:

Webbing

Webbing the seat provides a base for all of the seat to rest on. It needs to be firm, somewhat flexible and very strong. It is stretched and tacked onto the seat until it is so taut that it makes a guitar-like sound when flicked.

Springs

Springs provide comfort, stability and durability to a seat. These are often individual coil springs, sewn to the webbing, depressed to the correct height, lashed to each other and tacked to the seat's frame to create a stable unit.

Hessian Base

A piece of hessian is tacked to the frame. It covers the springs and is sewn to them. This layer of hessian provides a base for the first lot of stuffing. To secure the stuffing, some bridal ties are loosely sewn with twine around the whole the seat.

First Stuffing

The first stuffing that goes into a traditional seat is often coir - at least in the UK. This is made of coconut fibre. We remove any hard bits, fluff it up, divide into equal fist-sized balls, and roll it into the bridal ties. Once all in place, we fluff it up some more.

Stitched Edge

A stitched edge gives the seat structure, firmness and shape. To create one, first hessian is tacked onto the seat, the coir secured with stuffing ties, and then with a lot of regulating, blind-stitching and top-stitching we create a lovely edge.

Second Stuffing

A layer of animal hair is placed on top of the seat - secured in place once again by bridal ties. Especially within any areas that might otherwise be lumpy. Then a final layer of wadding is placed on top of that. We will often use cotton or wool.

Calico Cover

A layer of calico is then firmly put in place and tacked to the seat to secure all of the layers down into the desired shape. The chair is now ready for the top layer of fabric and trimmings to be attached. Nearly done!

Top Fabric and Trimmings!

The last layer, and the one that everyone will appreciate - the top fabric is then measured, cut, stretched and tacked into place. Any trimmings, piping or buttons are secured, and finally a dust cloth is tacked to the underneath. The seat is done!