Furniture History (Part 5) : George I style furniture 1714 - 1727

George I, born in 1660, was king of Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 until his death in 1727.

Much of the fine George I furniture was made of walnut and also veneered with walnut (veneering: covering with thin layers)

The serpentine curves, the cabriole leg of rounded section and the claw-and-ball-foot were all features of George I period chairs in England.

Jepara carving: the legend who became the pride of the island of Java

Jepara carving art is sculpture that has the range and patterns are very unusual. beauty and diversity of relief carving patterns that no one could have made memalihkan gaze when looking at the sculpture.  Jepara carving sculpture of a difference with other regions, but the most famous in Indonesia today is Jepara carving.

LEGEND

Narrated an expert on sculpture and painting named Prabangkara who live in the UB from the King of Majapahit kingdom, at one time the king sent Prabangkara to make king consort of painting as an expression of his love for the queen who was very beautiful and fascinating.

Painting the empress without clothes that can be solved by Prabangkara perfectly and of course this makes King UB became suspicious because on certain body parts and secret there is a natural mark / special there are also the paintings and the place / position and shape exactly. By a ruse, Prabangkara with all the equipment disposed tied to a kite that after the laying-up in the sky cut the rope.

In these circumstances hover Prabangkara chisel fell in a village known as Rear Mountain near the town of Jepara. In a small village north of Jepara town until now indeed there are many high-quality carvers. But the origin of the carvings here whether it is correct due to the fall chisel Prabangkara, there are no historical data that supports it.

HISTORY

1. In the reign of Queen Kalinyamat, there was a vizier named Sungging Badarduwung derived from Campa (Cambodia) turned out to sculpt an expert as well. Now his Patih can still be seen at the Old Mosque and Mausoleum complex Kalinyamat Queen built in the XVI century.

2. The collapse of the Majapahit Kingdom has led to the spread of Hindu scholars and artists to various parts of the first half of XVI century. In the development, these artists continue to develop its expertise by adjusting the identity in the new area so that timbulah various regional motifs such as: Motive Majapahit, Bali, Mataram, Pajajaran, and expanding in Jepara Jepara until now.

Jepara carving art now is a very nice decoration to display in the house, either as pproperti and other home appliances, such as: doors, windows, tables, chairs and other.

Jepara carving art is sculpture that has the range and patterns are very unusual. beauty and diversity of relief carving patterns that no one could have made memalihkan gaze when looking at the sculpture. emiliki Jepara carving sculpture of a difference with other regions, but the most famous in Indonesia today is Jepara carving.

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How To Hand Sew

The simple technique shown here is one of the most versatile sewing methods that upholsters use. With it you can close pillows and cushions, make repairs, sew down outside arms and backs, and cover some of your goofs. You'll see other sewing methods where we install seats and so on, in later segments.

Here we're using a cushion stretcher, or cushion equalizer. It's adjustable and locks in place making our job much easier. You can also use upholsterers pins, or that expensive tool, the clothes pin. I'm using a 3 1/2" curved needle and nylon hand sewing twine for this job. I'll use black thread so you can see me working and also so you can see that when this done right, the thread doesn't show anyway (maybe they should teach this in medical school). For light weight fabrics use a thinner, smaller needle and thinner but strong sewing machine thread. Also, it's a good idea to have marked the center of the plates to help you keep them aligned.

Tie a knot in the end of the twine and thread needle. Start by going inside the pillow to the right so as to lap the sewing machine stitch. See above photo.

Next take about a 1/2" bite through the welt fabric, less for lighter weight fabric. Avoid going into the cord itself. Pull tight.

Hold your thread straight up and down to determine where your needle should enter the upper plate. Continue this method untill you've lapped the spot you sewed on your machine. If it looks as if the top plate, for example, is going to have more fabric than the bottom, then insert your needle a little to the left of normal on the top plate. This will help take up some of the slack.

When you're finished sewing wrap the twine around the needle a time or two and insert it into the pillow fabric or welt. Hold the thread snugly, close to the spot where the needle goes in. This will produce a knot which can stay inside the fabric keeping your work from coming loose. You'll usually hear a little popping sound when you successfully tug the knot into the right place. Cut off the excess twine.

How To Install a Zipper in a Pillow

Cut your zipper length about 1-2" from pillow plate corners. We use #4 aluminuim chain zipper. Put the slide on the proper end. Fold a piece of pillow fabric and sew far enough back across it to leave a small pocket to hide the zipper slide when the pillow is closed. Sew another fabric tab across the other end of the zipper.

Skip this step if your pillow has no welt. Center zipper piece to pillow plates. Start sewing at the plate's corner and the center of the fabric tab, expanding outward as you approach the zipper. Then sew as close as you can to both the zipper teeth and the welt cord. 

Next fold fabric 1/2" and top stitch the other pillow plate to the zipper. Try to cover at least half the zipper teeth. You shouldn't be able to see any of the zipper at this point. If you don't have welt cord on your project, sew both plates in the same manner. Back stitch or sew twice at the beginning and ending corners as you learned in "Cutting and Sewing Basics".

Try to use a thread color that blends with your fabric. The better you can hide the zipper the more you'll avoid the "why didn't you use a colored zipper?" complaint.

How to Make Pillows and Cushions

CUTTING AND SEWING BASICS;

Measure existing pillow with a tape measure, between the welts. The first measurement is up and down. Second is side to side. We'll be using 1/2" seams on most articles in our series, so, add 1" to your measurements to get the cut size. Figure the length of the welt cord. It can be 1 1/2-2" wide, it doesn't have to be exact. Cut the welt material on the bias, that is, diagonally. This will prevent "snaking" or twisting by making the welt fabric more flexible.

Notice the fabric we're using is railroaded, that is, the pattern is run up the roll. It doesn't matter much for a pillow or even a chair but if we were covering a sofa, this fabric could run the entire length of the inside back (IB), outside back (OB), or seat without having to be pieced.

Most upholstery weight fabrics are about 54" wide. We have a 60" wide table by 7' and use a 60" ruler. Most fabrics seem to come cut crooked, so use a framer's square to even out the beginning of the material. Mark with chalk and cut out the 2 fabric squares (plates). Put a"T" on the top so you won't get confused when you get to the sewing machine. Mark everything that you cut, (or you'll be sorry) even the backside of the welt.

Make sure both plates are the same size by laying them face to face and trim where nesassary. Due to the warp and woof properties of fabric they will often pull to one direction or the other even though you may have cut them exactly the same measurements. The plates have to be the same or the corners won't line up. Add a bow to the fabric (as in above photo). Start with about an 1/2" and taper off to nothing in about 4" or 5". See the scrap above the sissors. The bow makes up for the dip (like rabbit ears) that you would see in the filled pillow if cut straight across . Shape all four corners this way on a pillow that you're going to close by hand but not on the bottom of one that gets a zipper.

We use an industrial upholstery machine which features a walking foot and reverse. It takes large prewound bobbins which saves a lot of time. For most jobs we use #16 polyester top thread and bobbins. Three basic colors are necessary: black, white, and beaver (a neutral beige). It's good to have a spool of clear thread on hand, especially for top stitching when you don't have the right color.

Here's picture of a walking foot. This is a zipper foot which I use for most sewing jobs. I've ground the left side of it down a little so I get really close to the welt.

If your welt material is in more than one piece join them now with a 1/2" seam and back stitch or sew twice if necessary. We mostly use 5/32 jute welt cord. Fold the welt fabric around the cord and begin sewing either on the side or bottom of one plate. Never start, end or piece the welt fabric on the top of a pillow or front of a cushion. Use 1/2" seams. The seam (1/2") is the distance from where the needle enters the plate to the ouside of the plate. Get close to the welt, learn to feel for the cord inside with your finger tips. But be carefull, of course, of your fingers when sewing.

Two or three inches before the corners, stop, leaving the needle in the fabric to secure it, and make 3 cuts to help release the welt fabric to easily make the turn. Make one cut directly across from the plate corner and one before that point and one after. Again, stop sewing when your needle has come to the spot directly across from the plate corner, leave the needle in and lift the foot. Slightly crimp the welt as you turn the plate for the next side.

Finish off sewing the welt by butting the cord ends together and lapping the welt material at least 1/2" to 3/4". We leave no raw edges on any job with the sometimes exception of when we're using vinyl.

 

Be carefull to keep the seam even and close to the welt cord. If you'd like to have a zipper in your project then go now to, "How To Install A Zipper In A Pillow".

If you're going to hand sew your project, place the plate with the welt already sewn, on top of the second plate and line up the corners. Leave just enough space at the bottom to insert the filling. If you installed a zipper start at the corner and back stitch a few stitches. Sew on top of or just to the left of the the previous line of thread. Try sewing a pillow with contrasting thread to test yourself. The thread shouldn't show when you turn the pillow right side out. You can fill the pillow with a pre-made form of down or kapok or make your own . We make a cover of quilted polyester by stapling the sides and fill with leftover loose polyester from wrapping cushions. See, "How To Hand Sew" to finish off your pillow.

The Re-Upholstery of Pair of Bergeres

By Bert Chapman MBE and Michael Barrington

This pair of English made bergère chairs, made in the late 18th Century or possibly early 19th, had been substantially altered, the gilded frames damaged and the upholstery poorly executed. The standard of the frame construction is good but they had been re-gilded without interlagio over the frame joints and there was much consequent cracking in those areas with deterioration of the gilded surfaces which were fairly knocked about overall, down to the bare wood and, in places, beyond . Unlike the right-hand picture these chairs were built to show the two vertical members and horizontal rail of the back which were gilded on their rear surfaces and sides. This was not apparent until the upholstery was removed. The previous gilder had taken the vertical members through the gesso stage followed by the upholsterer who covered them up. Research found pictures of the correctly exposed and gilded back frames and this is the route we suggested and which was approved. The frame pictured below has been re-gilded, this time with interlagio support and the two vertical members and one horizontal member are gilded on the rear and sides. This is plainly to be seen in the first sketch below.

Interlagio is a thin fabric covering applied to sound joints during the application of gesso. Traditionally silk is used but a fine lawn or sea-island cotton is just as good. Beware of using a material past its best which will be weak and liable to part as the joint flexes. The interlagio is pasted over the joints with a first coat of thin gesso and subsequently covered with thicker gesso as work proceeds.

The interlagio material must not be too heavy, or it will be difficult to cover in the gesso coatings. Above all the interlagio must not be so near to the surface that when the gesso is cut back or carved (also known as cutting) that it suddenly appears—so go for a really fine material. The chairs were water gilded and the highlights burnished.

A surprise was the discovery that the cushion covers are of hand-stitched kid leather and presumably original. Bert, had come across five or six examples of white kid being used for cushion cases and quoted that King George II had a travelling bed with a ticking of kid leather. Next comes the upholstery which, in view of the restoration of the back panels, required a new approach. and I asked Bert to write a piece on the proper way to do this which now follows :

Upholstery of Bergère Chairs

Below are two sketches showing how the outside back panel, framed between the two gilded vertical members, is placed and the method of fixing a length of cane 10mm above the seat platform to allow the various stuffing covers to pass underneath before tacking to the top of the seat rail.

The top sketch shows how the back of the chairs will look with the seat cover coming through under the horizontal rail. The centre panel upholstery meets the seat upholstery snugly showing no light.

Many thanks to Bert for these two very clear sketches which should be useful references to any reader faced with the same problem.