Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-04

~ OONER or later in the history OF
most upholstered pieces OF furniture
there comes a reconstruction PERIOD
l. Possibly the particular chair. sofa,
etc, may be OF great service IN the
decorative or unitarian scheme of an
apartment, but does not justify much
money being expended upon its rejuvena-
ton. Upholstering, however, is often a
difficult liter, for furniture must be sent
away, perhaps on a long and expensive
journey, for it is only here and there that
one finds a person to come and do such
work at ones home. Most housewives have
tried making loose covers of cretonne, chintz
or linen, and in the majority of cases the
job has never been finished without signs
of relief, especially where material is used
that is stiff to handle and tiresome in a
sewing machine. These covers cost nearly
if not quite as much as regular upholstery
and, unless carefully treated, are very per
ishable. So why not try TO be your own
craftsman?
Upholstering is thought to be difficult
work but with "knack' il is easily &C
compiiShed. Apart from the question OF
convenience, it is fascinating work, and IL
the amateur begins with small piece of
furniture, like chair without back, she
viii soon feel her feet-or rather her hands
and probably bring 1t TO such success
full finish that she VIII he all agog for more
work of the same kind. The very easiest
with remova bic seat. This seat simply lfCs
out and only needs to have the new cover
ing tackled over-it, no gimp or fancy nails
being required to finish the edges.
The amateur upholsterer must have the
proper tools for her adopted trade, but the
outfit is very modest, consisting OF the fol-
lowing items: Seine unbleached calico, fine
sacking, an uphoisterer's hammer, brads
and, finally, that Indispensable tool, the
tack litter or nail extractor. The hammer
is a neat little tool with a very short han
die and a long, narrow head. The tack
litter has the same kind of handle and n
sort of curved claw that plays havoc with
the old nails. You will need nails of two
kinds-furniture brads about quarter OF
an inch long and gimp tacks more sharply
pointed than the brads and with larger
heads. The unbleached calico can be
bought for 8 or 10 cents yard. AS for
the covering, it should be good quality
as one can afford for it never pays to put
ones work into material so cheap that il
does not last. All the shops sell the cush-
ion squares and tapestries and damasks by
the yard are all useful fabrics for chair
seats and other small works.
The first thing to be done in the reno
waiting process is to remove the old nails
by which soiled and faded undercoverings
are attached Often it is ones fate to find
-on good old chair or sofa picked up as
q bargain and that really is a bargain If
you do the upholstering yourself-three or
four covers plentifuliy nailed, one over the
other. 1t may be, and generally is, the
case that some careless person has used
the common tin tack with its long. coarse
stem and big head instead of proper brads.
and, to make matters worse, these may
have rusted in. Old coverings sure to
be full of gritty dust. particularly at the
turned-in edges. This part OF the business
is not exhilarating and should be done
out of doors or in empty room. Having
stripped the article-a chair seat, let US
! say-to the original canvas covering, beat
1t vigorously to drive out the remaining
dust. Then stretch piece of unbleached
calico neatly all over the upper side of the
seat and fasten 1t over the lower side of
the wooden frame with as few brads as
will keep it taut and free from wrinkles.
The edges of this and of the outer cover
ing, which goes on in the same way, viii
not show, because the last part of the b,lsi-
ness win be to cut a piece of the fine sack
ing to shape little larger than the under
meath part of the seat. Turn the edges In
and tack it very neatly over the underside.
The only difficulty in such a piece OF work
as this lies In the corners. and al an ounce
Of example Is worth many pounds of pen