Thread: A new sofa

Originally Posted by tea lady

Bauwauhaus I reckon.

Woof woof

My other half loved it and so did i, thats why i showed it to her .
She said beautiful material , and i said what about the timber and design . she said nice cushions .

Paul , k

We hear but we don't always listen

Originally Posted by derekcohen

WW

That is a beautiful piece. My compliments.

I saw the frame, which was ... well ... a frame. How much of the final shape is down to the upholsterer, and how does the upholsterer work with you to achieve this? Lastly, what was the material used - modern foam or a recreation of horse hair or something like that?

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thank you Derek. The difficulty I had, was working backwards from a photograph (the one with the mustard coloured upholstery that I identified as the one I wanted to copy back on page... page one?). I had to guestimate the shape, proportions and curvatures so the upholsterer would have something to work with. It would be akin to designing a new skeleton for, say, an elephant; If the shape of the skeleton isn't correct, then no amount of muscle, fat and skin would compensate and it might end up looking like a hippo. It may sound daunting, but I have a fair bit of experience with antique furniture form, development and reverse engineering, so it wasn't that much of a challenge.

That's not to say the upholsterer had a straightforward job - without guidance, it could have come out looking different. To that end, I sent the picture of the mustard coloured sofa to the upholsterer as a model and they stuffed the frame with the right amount of filling.

I didn't want horse hair stuffing because it's not as hygienic as modern materials and it costs a fortune for fresh hair. The upholstery materials that are used for High Street furniture can vary between not being worth the packaging it comes in to quite reasonable. It's the usual money-go-round. I wanted a first rate job, so I paid for first rate materials throughout. I don't envisage getting rid of this sofa at any stage and it will survive for decades, if not centuries, with care and the occasional replacement loose cover.

Originally Posted by Lignum

Great workmanship Woodwood, but man thats fugly material.

How predictable. I would have been disappointed if you had commented otherwise and your disapproval actually increases my appreciation of it.

Originally Posted by jmk89

I agree wholeheartedly with Lig's first point, but disagree entirely with the second. The fabric looks to me to be a faithful interpretation of fabric used to upholster furniture in the late C18, and perfectly suits the style of the piece.

Thank you too. The fabric looks atrocious in the pictures to be honest. The afternoon sun was behind the sofa, so I had to close the curtains and take the photos with flash.

And thank you everyone else for your kind comments.

Originally Posted by paul k

My other half loved it and so did i, thats why i showed it to her .
She said beautiful material , and i said what about the timber and design . she said nice cushions .

Paul , k

We hear but we don't always listen

Actually, the cushions are sensational. The linen that is. I've had the fabric for years; saving it for something special, yet afraid to cut into it. As your wife appreciates the cushions, I'll take a few photos of one tomorrow afternoon and try to capture the texture.

paul k, here's a picture of one of the cushions. The fabric is a very heavy, slubby, natural (un-bleached), Irish linen damask. The box sides are new natural linen.

You set some high bars, WW! Tackling the woodwork AND that dreadful pully, stretchy, won't stay-where-you-want-it woven stuff is heroic. Having it end up actually looking like a cushion is miraculous!

If ever I'm inclined to tackle another overstuffed object, I think I'll put the frame in the back of the ute & come visit you & your upholsterer. My last effort, a long time ago, still makes me feel cross when I think about it. This was a graduation present for the then LOML when she finished her PhD. The frame is a shameless copy of a chair in the Metropolitan Museum (NY). (Yes I know, degenerate Yankee stuff, but I liked it, & good black Walnut is a joy to work with, so there ) Like you, I had an external picture only, of the desired chair, but a good catalogue pic of the skeleton of a very similar chair, & they also had a few key dimensions, which helped a lot. The fabric was chosen by the intended recipient, and is not exactly 'genuine'. It cost a small fortune at the time I remember - we were both penurious grad students and it was a bit of an extravagance.

Anyway, to cut to the point, despite giving the upholsterer several blown-up pics of the chair & others like it, he decided to do it his own way! The side rolls, which should have turned around in a tapered scroll, are padded out like two chubby things that make it look faintly ridiculous. And the tops of the arms are quite unlike the original, & look more like something from the 1950s. To say I was disappointed with the finished job was an understatement.

Well that's just far too nice! You finished that chair frame as well as if it were a cabinet. I'm afraid I (and about every other expedient chair frame maker in history) don't finish the unseen part of the frame to anywhere near the same degree as the show wood, although I do take a little more care than the makers of some chair frames I've restored.

I feel for you upon your discovering the upholsterer's incompetence. I once fell foul of a smooth-talking charlatan with a roll of Pirelli webbing and a nail gun. In that instance it was a customer's chair and I had to have it completely re-upholstered by an upholsterer with a deeper understanding of antiques.

I have details and dimensions of a c.1760 Gothic stuff-over arm chair which I restored years ago and I may be making a copy of it in the not too distant future. If that transpires, I might post a more detailed build-up of it on the forum.

I do honestly like some of the very early American furniture. The earliest East coast settlements were a great melting pot of Europeans and much of the furniture they produced was stunning - especially the furniture made from Virginia, or 'Red' Walnut as it was called (the same Juglans nigra as in your chair) but as the colony grew, successive generations of cabinetmakers lost the plot in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

....... You finished that chair frame as well as if it were a cabinet......

Wellll???
Yairs, you're right, I probably did fuss over it a little more than necessary - but it really isn't all that flash, WW. The non-show wood is 'yellow poplar' (Liriodendron sp.) because I read that was a very common choice due to it's ability to take lots of nails & resist splitting, and it's certainly not flash. Edges were smoothed over with rasp & spokesaves and the side cones are straight off the skew. I was really concentrating on getting mechanically sound joints, more than anything as I had visions of this monster being dragged about in its lifetime & I wanted more than the webbing to be holding it together. But I was just guessing at the details of the joinery, not having had your sort of exposure, I had no idea, so I went for lots of M&T with generous cheek areas for lots of glue. Not hide glue, unfortunately - that was back in the era where I was subscribing to all that guff about 'modern' glues being 'better than the wood'.

I have been re-educated a little over the last 25 years.....

Originally Posted by IanW

I have been re-educated a little over the last 25 years.....

Are you talking furniture or relationships?

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Are you talking furniture or relationships?

"all of the above........"

My computer crashes and look what I miss!

Fantastic job, WW. Reminds of furniture I see in museums, except the stuffing isn't lumpy.

Great job, and great WIP. Two thumbs up and greenie from me.

Tex

Cheers!