Now we like rhymes, such as “Dan, Dan the Landlord Man” and “Neil, Neil…buy us a meal” It was the 80s and times were hard…however, we still have a tendency to use nicknames. We currently have the teenager driving “Wanda the Honda” and we would like to introduce “Billy the Button Machine”.

At this point, we would like to mention that any naming of a workshop items does not relate to anyone we know either living or otherwise…and that Billy was found online by Cally and is noted in the pre nup that she will have custody if we were ever to divorce.

Billy is a “Little Marvel” by Victory and is a heavy little thing which you need when making buttons. There are many button machines on the market but you really can’t go wrong if you spend some money on something like Billy or an Osborne button press. Do not be tempted by a sub standard copy as they are just not up to the job. Just as important as the press are the dies and cutters that you need to make the buttons. These come in different sizes and need to be heavy duty, again do not be fooled by cheap copies. We were lucky as Billy came with a huge amount of bits which included three different size cutters and dies and if you are looking to buy a second hand button machine, make sure it comes with these bits as the die and cutters are not cheap and each set can be as much as the machine itself.

We thought we would take you through the process of making the buttons.

Firstly, we decide which size button we’re making and use the cutter to create the correct size. Now we use scissors to cut out rather than Billy as we never have a huge amount to do in one go.

One part of the die is placed in the button machine with the back of the button placed in it.

The second part of the die set is used with the fabric.

The button top is placed on top of the fabric.

Using what we call our button “dobber”, the button top is pushed into the die.

This is then placed on top of the other part of the die and the handle is then turned to create the button.

The completed button ready to be eased out.

Ta Da!

As part of our training we had to learn not only the practical aspect of upholstery but also provide a couple of dissertations. One being the history of 20th century design but also the historical use of upholstery fabrics. Now some fellow students absolutely hated this part of the course but we found it to be a fundamental part of the training and more so in the real world when it comes to providing advice. Not only can we offer this knowledge it also helps when trying to date an antique item.

We would like offer the following insights which may or may not be found in any guides:

• Martindale test – measures abrasion resistance, the higher the figure the better. For a high usage item such as a lounge chair we would advise of 40,000 plus.
• Wool is brilliant, especially patterned.
• Thread count – the higher the thread count the stronger the fabric.
• A herringbone weave will be stronger than a plain weave.
• A felted type wool in a dark colour is not great if you own a Golden Retriever.
• Buttons on a check or striped piece of furniture can be a bad idea (wonky lines).
• Linen clothes go baggy after a few outings…just think of the same effect on a piece of furniture. Whilst one may like the idea of using a 100% linen, sometimes a man-made fibre added to the mix is not a bad idea.
• The majority of fabric comes in a standard width, if it is patterned and going on a large item make sure the pattern matching costs are factored in.
• Cats have no idea how expensive the material is.
• Teenagers will not realise that chairs with castors should NOT be pulled across an oak floor.
• Decent fabric costs more than £20 per metre (at least).
• Regardless of how tough a material is, it will not be protected by wine spills, sticky chocolate fingers or items in pockets…not even leather or vinyl will survive a sharp metal clothing adornment.

What was amazing though as we stripped and ripped out these chairs, was how young they actually were. Ours have a date stamp of 1990’s – not exactly mid century!

We believe the chairs were probably used in an office but decided to recover using a vibrant orange vinyl on the armchairs but a grey vinyl on the others. Pictures of the re-upholstery process can be found in the gallery section of the website.

These chairs are incredibly popular but we would like to give potential buyers a few points to look out for:

• The bottom of the seat should have a hole in it with elasticated webbing. If there in a piece of ply board covering the hole, they wont be particularly comfortable.
• Likewise if the elasticated webbing is fraying, the chair seat will need to be completely ripped back.
• Date stamps can be deceiving, make sure that 1969 isn’t actually 1989.
• The way the backs are put together mean it can be tricky to put them back together, check there are no wobbles.
• If the chairs have been covered in vinyl which has rips or tears, it is more cost effective to replace the vinyl rather than patch it up.

Why do many people think that our trade is just “pin money”? A bit of sewing ? Some stapling ? How hard can it really be to shove a £5 piece of fabric over that old dining chair ? Why do people find it is perfectly acceptable to pay £200 per day plus vat for typical trades such as plumbers and electricians but balk at the idea of paying an upholsterer £100 per day ?

The majority of upholsterers are members of Guilds or Associations and have undergone many many years of training or decades of working under a Master Upholsterer through apprenticeships. Most of us are perfectionists and think nothing about re-stitching an edge roll on a piece of traditional upholstery to get it completely perfect. Most of us will temporarily tack calico in place and make sure its perfectly taut before hammering home and that’s not even the top fabric. It doesn’t help with all these interior design programmes popping up and showing how easy it is to re-cover a chair or whizzing up a few sofa box cushions in 30 minutes.  You know which ones we are referring to!

Please take a look at our gallery to see what lurks beneath the cover of an item of furniture and the processes that are involved.

So it isn’t a shock when we provide a quote, please find our price guide below. These prices do not include the fabric (that’s a whole different post!):-