The purpose of this book is to give information concerning the methods by which upholstery work may be successfully carried on in school shops. The added beauty and comfort given to furniture by upholstery makes work of this character worth while. If period furniture is to be reproduced or modified, the worker must understand the art of upholstering.

The tendency to reproduce or copy good old pieces of furniture should be encouraged, for only in this way may a student obtain a proper background, from which may be developed a new style. New ideas, derived from the best of the old, are likely to serve humanity in the best way.

The study of the art of upholstery is an interesting one. It leads into many avenues of interest and profit, such as the history and methods of weaving; the processes of tanning and coloring; the manufacture and history of textiles; and the like. Such correlation is valuable, and each is distinctly educational.

The practical contents have been verified and corroborated by Henry Euler, a practical upholsterer for fifty-nine years, and by Herman Schwartling who has followed the trade for thirty years.

Upholstering in its broadest sense means the furnishing of a house with draperies, curtains and other hangings; bedding; coverings for couches, chairs and stools; and coverings for carriages and automobiles.

The word upholster, or upholsterer, designates the workman who hangs the draperies and attaches textiles or leather to furniture. In the early days of the craft, as well as today, draperies had to be hung in a manner that assured retention of their shape, and textiles required stuffing and springs underneath to give the fabric permanent form. This holding up attribute led to the use of the words "upholder," "upholster," "upholstering," and "upholsterer." These applied also to furniture huxters who held up their wares for inspection when sold at auction.

"The old time castle or baronial hall, with its strong stone walls and stone floors, was, so far as comfort went, little better than the clay hut of the feudal serf; but when the ladies of the baronial family had excogitated, or acquired the art of needlecraft, and had become proficient therein, the "up-holder" sprang into being, as a necessary adjunct to an important family. The ladies' needlework (tapestry) was obviously adapted to drape the rude stone walls of the feudal hall, and the artisan who could drape or hang it effectively and without injury was a useful dependent, or tradesman, who, as he caused the tapestry to "hold up," naturally became known as an "up-holder," or "upholsterer."

"The Egyptians from the earliest times used upholstered couches, chairs, and footstools," says Richard Bitmead. "It is known, too, that their neighbors, the Assyrians, excelled in weaving and practiced the art of decorating draperies by the introduction of gold in the woof. The rich carpets of Persia and the muslins of India were in use for ages before the Romans set foot in Britain, and there can be little doubt but that the Oriental people raised the art to a very high standard, and long before the trade was known in Europe. But at the present time, much more so than formerly, the progress of the arts, the refinements of taste, the caprice of fashion, and the habits and requirements of luxurious ease, which have extended to all classes of society, have given a greater impetus to the trade and a far higher importance to the art of upholstery than it has ever before attained."

Research shows that in the early seventeenth century, at the beginning of the Jacobean period, stools, chairs, settees and sofas were upholstered. Both seats and backs were padded and covered with leather or textiles. Sometimes, instead of tacking the goods onto the furniture itself, loose cushions were made to fit the frame. These cushions were called "squabs." With the introduction of leather in upholstering, comfort was not the primary thought, but in common with all structures of the period, durabihty was a first consideration. So the leather utilized was thick and stiff, thus offering durability, but little comfort.

The Flanders chair shown in Fig. I is done in leather. It is one of two side chairs from the seventeenth century. One has a plain leather back; the other is tooled, illustrating a decorative coat of arms. The leather in this chair is made thick and rigid by the use of a stiff paper core, on both sides of which is glued a jute like fabric, and over this the leather. This makes a five ply composition of almost everlasting wearing qualities, but very susceptible to checking and cracking.

The arm chair shown in Fig. 2 is Italian, from the early seventeenth century. It has carved finials. Webbing is used as a foundation for the seat, over which a jute like fabric is fastened. A canvas fabric is placed over this. The stuffing is placed over this and covered with leather, which is nailed to the structure with large, flat, brass-headed nails. The edging is a fabric gimp with fringed edge. The arm chair illustrated in Fig. 3 is Italian, from the sixteenth century. It has carved finials but no turned work. The leather back is tooled, and gilded with an elaborate design. The leather seat has been blocked up from below to maintain the original appearance, and the leather is not the same grade as used on the back. Round headed nails, of two sizes, and the fringed gimp, complete the ornamentation.


The chair shown in Fig. 4 is an English ladder-back side chair from the seventeenth century. Here we have both comfort and practicability combined. The seat is built up with webbing, canvas and stuffing, and covered with a needlework tapestry. It is finished with a fringed gimp with brass headed nails.

Not only does upholstery add comfort to furniture, but it reflects the conditions in the life of a people. Alice F. Schmall said recently: " With the accession of James I to the throne of England the style of dress changed to trunk hose and padded doublet, and the carven forms of furniture gave place to upholstery. There is a sense of dignity and refinement about a really fine chair; and the modern upholstered chair, which Chippendale developed, shows that our ancestors were fully alive to its advantages in the way of comfort."

Good modern upholstery is to a great extent a copy of the older forms. Newer goods are utilized but old methods of application are retained. The cheaper forms of upholstery are, however, entirely modern. While formerly there existed no cheap upholstery, today wire and band iron are used in place of webbing, and tufting is done by machine.

TOOLS. - The only tools needed in simple upholstery, besides those in the average manual training shop, are a gimp hammer, a webbing stretcher, a pair of scissors, a regulator and straight and curved needles. In Fig. 5, from left to right are illustrated: webbing stretcher, regulator, gimp hammer and a pair of scissors.

The webbing stretcher may be made by driving nails into a formed piece of wood as shown, 3 1/2 inches wide by 7 inches long. Then cut or file off the heads and file each to a sharp point.

The regulator is a long wire sharpened at one end and used for sticking thru the muslin cover to rearrange the stuffing, to insure evenness. This tool may be made from a heavy wire bent in the form of a ring at one end, and sharpened at the other. Scissors 8 inches or more in length are more convenient than smaller ones.

Two needles are required, a straight double pointed one 12 inches long, and a curved single pointed one 6 inches long. Several other kinds will facilitate work, however. A straight, double pointed 6-inch needle is convenient for sewing springs to webbing and triangular pointed needles are best adapted for sewing leather.

Skewers are upholstery pins, usually 3  inches long. They are pointed on one end and bent in a circle on the other. These are used in doing welt-edged work, or wherever it is necessary to hold goods temporarily while adjusting the work.

All these tools may be purchased from any firm dealing in upholstery supplies.

MATERIALS. - Webbing is our first consideration in the matter of materials. The two best kinds are L. M. C. and B. F. M. The former has a closer weave and is of better quality than the latter. It will withstand great strain before its elasticity gives out.

Burlap is the best material to use over webbing and over springs. It will not rip and tear as readily as most textiles and it is therefore a preferred material. Burlap comes in three weights: light (8 oz.), medium (10 oz.), and heavy (12 oz.). The medium weight is best adapted for our work. This may be purchased for 9 cents a yard. It is 40 inches wide. Used burlap may ordinarily be purchased at local dry-goods stores for about 5 cents per pound. Even considering waste, this is much cheaper and quite as good as new burlap for the work intended.

Several kinds of material may be employed for stuffing. The very best material available is curled horse hair. It is also the most expensive, costing from 30 to 65 cents per pound depending upon quality. The stuffing recommended for such work as ours is tow. This may be purchased by the 100-pound bale at a cost of 2 cents per pound. There are three grades of tow : fine, medium and coarse. The fine variety should be used, for the coarser kinds are hard to manipulate and result in uneven surfaces after a period of use. Even with the medium grade of tow it is necessary to use a layer of wadding over it to prevent ridges showing thru the cover. Other stuffing materials are moss, kapok, alva, and excelsior. Cork shavings are generally used for boat cushions.

When cloth is desired between the stuffing and cover, unbleached muslin should be used. In cheaper work this is eliminated. In our work we will find it advantageous, for it gives to the seat the proper shape, and permits better and smoother work on the final covering. After the application of the muslin, if it is found that the seat is not of the desired shape, more stuffing may be added or the stuffing may be distributed by the regulator. Muslin 36 inches wide may be obtained for 7 cents a yard from any local dry-goods store.

Wadding is a kind of stuffing arranged in sheets. It is used over other stuffing. Its function is to give a smooth, even appearance to the seat or cushion. Wadding is invariably used over curled hair to prevent the ends of the hair from penetrating the cover. It may be purchased in sheets 30 x 36 inches; the one pound quality at 35 cents per dozen sheets.

It is generally desirable to place cloth under the seat to prevent dust from falling to the floor from the seat, and to exclude moths from the stuffing. Cambric is desirable for this purpose. It has a finish which makes it dust-proof, but it tears easily and cannot supplant the muslin used over stuffing. Cambric comes in a 24-inch width and costs about $}4 cents per yard.

There are innumerable varieties of fabrics adapted for outside coverings, and good taste and judgment must be used in selecting proper kinds for certain jobs. It is obvious that office and library furniture require coverings of a different quality and kind from that of the living room; and dining room furniture from that of the bedroom. A footstool may properly be given a covering of different character from a chair seat. In the selection of figured goods great discretion is necessary. The figures on fabrics for a chair seat or back should manifestly be smaller and more subdued than those for a sofa or davenport. A sense of good design needs to be developed here, for proper selection is essential, both as regards color, figure, and adaptability to the particular structure, and its placement.

The first piece of tapestry woven in this country was completed in 1893. It was for a chair seat. The second was a counterpart of the first and is now in the Field Museum of Chicago.

Tapestry may be defined as printing in colored threads. The most perfect work in tapestry is produced on vertical looms, but one-third more work may be accomplished on horizontal looms in the same length of time. A Gobelin workman on a vertical loom produces on an average, one square yard of tapestry in 300 working days. The art in this work is the graduation of shades. In the best days of tapestry weaving, between 1450 and 1 550, but twenty to sixty shades were known, while today we have knowledge of over 14,000.

"Brocade" is the term applied to any material having a raised pattern. Formerly the name referred to materials with embroidered patterns upon colored fabrics. "Chintz" is the term applied to cotton cloth printed with a floral or bird design. "Denim" is a strong, twilled cotton fabric. "Gunny" is jute-cloth. "Burlap" is a substitute for gunny cloth.

There are three classes of coverings in upholstery: genuine leather, textiles, and leather substitutes. Leather substitutes, or so-called artificial leather, is well adapted for beginners in upholstery, and is inexpensive. It is manufactured in 50 and 54-inch widths, and costs from 60 cents to $1.75 per yard. Trade names of leather substitute are Marokene, Chase Leather, Hercules, Victor Leather, Pantasote, Mole Skin, Mule Skin, etc. The better varieties are very durable and very closely resemble leather. Genuine leather costs from 16 to 36 cents per square foot in the whole hide or full skin, and up to 75 cents per foot cut to size. Cloth or textiles cost from $1.00 to $3.00 per yard in the general run of grades. They may cost as high as $10.00 per yard. Tapestry may run into prohibitive costs. Some of the best textiles are tapestries, brocades, velvets, plushes, satins and hair cloth; cheaper ones are velours chintz, reps, and denims.