Update your Furniture with New Fabrics

If your furniture is starting to look old and dingy, perhaps it’s time to try giving it a makeover with some new upholstery fabric. Overtime, fabric can start to fade or get damaged. Instead of buying all new furniture, reupholstering furniture can save time and lots of money.

Whether for indoor or outdoor patio furniture, there are many options to make your furniture new and beautiful again. Outdoor patio furniture upholstery fabrics have come a long way. They are now made with UV blockers that help keep out the suns rays and greatly reduce fading. The materials used are also naturally stain resistant.

Another great thing about patio fabrics is they do not promote the growth of mold and mildew, an often common problem with outdoor patio furniture fabrics. Simple cleaning with soap and water will keep outdoor patio furniture fabric clean. Indoor furniture has a great range of fabrics available.

Upholstery fabrics can be chosen in all types of materials. Some are just prints, while others can be woven, double woven, tapestries, damask, silk, chenille, and many, many more. These types of fabrics vary greatly in price, with very intricate fabrics becoming quite expensive. Both types of material offer lots of variety. Indoor fabrics have numerous materials and designs to choose from. Outdoor fabrics also come in a variety of colors and patterns, so you can get a definite match for your room or patio.

There are so many options for fabrics, so be sure to shop around when selecting a new look for your furniture. Look for a fabric that suits your needs, whether it be low maintenance for outdoor furniture, or timeless elegance for indoor furniture.

Dawn Rowlett

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History of Needlepoint

There are conflicting opinions as to the terms describing needlepoint. The differences may result from the fact that needlepoint has come down to us from various countries and in various stitches. Briefly, needlepoint is embroidery on canvas, the most common stitch is half of a cross-stitch, which is also called ‘Tent stitch’.

Needlepoint-tapestry is an often-used expression which shows the relation of needlepoint to the tapestry designs of the middle ages. This is especially true when the needlepoint is worked in an upright Gobelin stitch, which gives the effect of woven tapestry. This early work was done on a loosely-woven material like coarse linen. Later, canvases were made specifically for the purpose; both in single thread canvas, or with threads arranged in pairs to make ‘double thread canvas’.

This was often worked in needlepoint combining the fine petit point stitch, used for detailed shading, with gros point used for large flat design areas. To make this combination, the double thread canvas was ‘split’ – that is, the meshes opened with a needle or pin to form a single thread canvas for working in petit point.

As with all forms of embroidery it is very difficult to give exact dates, and even places where the technique originated. Canvas work dates back to the sixteenth century, but reached its peak during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Needlepoint was extremely popular in Colonial America where it was used for pictures, as an upholstery fabric, and for fashion accessories. During the Victorian era, Berlin work came into popularity. It is often characterized by brilliant worsteds and combinations of geometric and floral designs.

The majority of designs were developed as hand-painted patterns on squared paper, especially made for copying in needlepoint or cross-stitch on canvas. The best of these designs came from Berlin, hence the name. It then became popular again in the late twenties, and continues to increase in popularity with a renewed interest in handicrafts. Designs and ready-to-sew packs are available in many speciality shops all over the country.

Jo Kefford

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How to Choose the Right Fabrics when Decorating Your Home

Home decorating fabrics are meant to compliment a room. Beautiful fabrics can improve any space. Home decorating fabrics are used in upholstery, couch covers, slip-covers, bed coverings, window treatments, table coverings, etc. A room without fabric is plain with a cold feeling. Using fabrics, a space can be transformed into an inviting, warm and cozy place to relax and enjoy with family and friends.

Because they are an essential part of decorating a space, it is important to choose those that correspond with the other objects in the room. It’s easier to pick fabrics if you are using advice and suggestions for a particular decorating design. Without any direction, your interior decorating project can become frustrating and discouraging. Instead of working toward your dream home, you’ll find yourself caught up in a nightmare.

There are plenty of home decorating themes to choose from. Each of them has their own color and style. With a theme to guide you, choosing fabrics shouldn’t pose a problem. For example if you choose a tuscan theme, the choices would include woven textures such as burlap, fabrics made from the abaca fiber and fabrics made from the banana tree fibres, savannah cloth and tobacco cloth. Tuscan fabrics tend to be heavier but they are very flexible and versatile. If you use the tuscan theme as your guide, these home decorating fabrics could be used for blinds, drapes, slip-covers and even perhaps even area rugs.

If you decide you like the cottage theme, you would include floral patterns and bright colors. Cottage decorating, with regards to upholstery and the various projects requiring fabric, suggests bold and colourful patterns. Although a floral pattern is the most popular in for the cottage theme, printed fabrics with vegetables or fruit are also quite often used.

Choosing the Victorian theme would suggest you choose fabrics such as velvet or brocade in rich colors of blue, green, burgundy and so on. Victorian fabrics are meant to be quite feminine as well as elaborate. These materials are used for curtains, bedding, slip-covers, etc. You might even want to trim these with lace, beads or ribbons.

These are just a few examples of home decorating fabrics used in relation to different themes. You must choose fabrics that speak to you. It’s also important to remember that they can be quite expensive. Once you’ve decided on a fabric and purchase it to use in your home, you may have to live with it for a long time. For this reason it is best to be absolutely certain before making that final decision. Home decorating fabrics often require special care for washing. If you’d rather a fabric that is easy to care for, make sure this is considered when choosing fabrics.

Remember this is your space, your decision and it should meet your needs. There are thousands to choose from. By using available resources such as home decor magazines, home decorating catalogues, Internet websites and of course fabric stores in your area, you ought to be capable of making a sensible decision and appropriate choice for home decorating fabrics.

Gaetane Ross

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Upholstery Cleaning

When the furniture is stuffed and swathed with fabric or leather cover, it is called as upholstery. Upholstery makes the furniture more comfortable and gives a trendy and rich look to you rooms. The upholstered furniture look beautiful befitting to the home décor.

But their cleaning is also very essential as it cannot be done with ordinary cleaning. The upholstery requires different cleaning and proper care. All the stains cannot be removed in a single way; you need to apply different methods of removing stains depending on the type of stains.

The stains on your upholstery can mar the looks of your furniture; don’t consider the hard and tough stains as a very big problem as simple cleaning tips on different surface materials will help you to do the job easily. The upholstered furniture is no doubt expensive like you have sofa, chair, loveseat and many more. It can get dirty with if you eat on sofa and bits of food falls down and drinks that leave stains on sofa, dirty feet and dirty clothing.

Before initiating the process of cleaning find out the fabric to be cleaned. The best way to clean is to test it in the inconspicuous area to ensure no discoloration or damage is done to the fabric. With the simple steps and different cleaning methods given below can help you to remove stains effectively.

If it is a greasy stain so the best option is to choose a dry cleaning solvent easily available in any grocery or retail stores. Put the solvent on a clean white cloth and blot at the stain, do not rub. Mix a mild ph balanced detergent in one cup of warm water and blot it on the stain, after that use a towel to sponge the solvent and detergent off with clean warm water and let the spot dry.

Some may feel weird but baby wipes can prove effective in cleaning some upholstery. In this too much water and soap is not required and the alcohol in the wipes makes sure that it evaporates quickly. If the stains are mild they can be removed by the inexpensive sprays available. These upholstery sprays work quite well but should be used carefully. These sprays won’t work if the stains are large patch of oil or grease.

The loose dirt which gets collected everyday on the upholstery can be removed by the vacuum cleaner. You should be wary if your sofa or a chair is an expensive one, the upholstery of such furniture usually has lot of organic material inside. In such cases it is advisable to get cleaned professionally rather than trying tips that ca be tried at home as it worth the investment.

It is a common problem to have hair of pet on your upholstery. To remove those hair use a pet rake, velour brush or even tape wrapped around your hand. The light and even strokes will remove the hair from upholstery. If not you can try with the rubber bottom on a clean tennis shoe, even the slightly dampened sponge can be used but see to it that it does not damage the upholstery. The vacuum cleaner with a beater roll or beater brush can be of great help. The place where vacuum cleaner cannot reach one can use a pet sponge. The pet sponge is available at every pet supply stores and is used dry.

David

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The Secret Of Selecting A Suitable Material For Upholstery

Shopping for fabrics for drapery and upholstery can be a daunting task, and if two are involved in making the decision, it can get downright overwhelming. But rest assured, there are some very clear ways to tackle the problem: first, to identify all the various factors to consider and then arrive at some guidelines for making that final decision.

Now when attempting to select the kind of fabrics you’re going to need, you will come across a seemingly endless assortment of patterns, textures and weights from which to choose. In addition, you will need to be aware of each type of fabric’s durability, ease of cleaning, and resistance to dirt and fading.

It can definitely feel like staring up at Mount Everest right at the beginning of the journey. But now let’s zone in on what’s really important during this phase, so that we can clear the first decision making hurdle with ease.

The two most important factors that you must consider when selecting a fabric are form and function. I like to describe it like this: Form is what you want the fabric to look like. What colors and patterns do you want? Function relates to how the fabric will be used. Is it a showpiece that will not be subject to wear and tear, or is it something that will be constantly used by small children? Will there be household pets jumping up and down on it? Are they particularly hairy and prone to shedding? Really think about the variables for a few minutes and you begin to eliminate a lot of possibilities right out the gate.

The answers to the questions you ask yourself will assist you in determining whether you should be focusing on finding a material that is durable and resistant to dirt and stains (and on finding a color that hides stains well), or one that is delicate and not as easily kept clean. It can be very tempting to go for the flashier, more aesthetically pleasing option, but function is critical in the long-term to making the right choice – try to find a balance between pizzazz and practicality.

This list of commonly found upholstery fabrics and their appropriate uses will help you to select which material is best for you:

Acrylic – Synthetic fiber, developed as imitation wool, that resists wear, wrinkling, soiling, and fading

Cotton – Natural fiber that is resistant to wear, fading, and pilling

Linen - Used in formal living rooms and adult-only areas

Nylon – Typically blended with other fibers to make it one of the strongest upholstery fabrics

Polyester – Blended with other fibers to add wrinkle resistance, eliminate crushing of napped fabrics, and reduce fading

Silk – Delicate fabric that must be professionally cleaned if soiled. Suitable for formal living room and other adult-only areas.

Vinyl – Easy-care and less expensive than leather, ideal for busy family living and dining rooms

Wool – Offers good resistance to pilling, fading, wrinkling, and soil

Defining the decision making process and listing the options available to you has hopefully been helpful in shaping the way you will approach choosing the right material for your drapes or upholstery. Good decorating!

Peter Figgins

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