Upholstery pursues elegance and comfort
The first meaning of tapestry that the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) mentions in its dictionary refers to a set or combination of tapestries . A tapestry , meanwhile, is a large cloth or fabric that is used to cover the floor or other surface .
Main meanings
The concept of upholstery can be used to refer to the fabrics that are used to cover a piece of furniture , create curtains or decorate . Upholstery is also the trade, work and trade of the upholsterer (the person who makes, installs and repairs tapestries ).
Through upholstery, the seats are covered with fabric . In this way, the upholsterer selects and prepares the fabric and then is responsible for fixing it using staples, tacks or other resources. The activity may even consist of reconditioning the seats by incorporating foams or other materials to offer greater comfort to the user.
upholstery tools
Upholstery requires the use of various tools. Scissors , sewing machine, needles and measuring tape, for example, are essential in the work of the upholsterer.
It is important to keep in mind that upholstery is an artisanal work . Beyond the academic or formal studies that the upholsterer may develop, the skill is generally acquired through practice . Furthermore, the creativity and skill of each subject is of great relevance, since the use of machinery is less.
In some contexts, upholstery becomes a true art . That is the case of those who specialize in the restoration of antique furniture , to mention one possibility.
Brief history
Upholstery is one of the oldest crafts that remains alive to this day. We can be sure of this thanks to the chairs made by the Egyptians five millennia before Christ , which were found in pharaonic tombs, for example. Nomadic people used to use cushions and rugs as the base of their tents to make them more comfortable.
As the centuries passed, tables and chairs emerged that took advantage of this technique for similar purposes. It is believed that the craftsmen who had made the shops until that time were the same ones who later dedicated themselves to using the upholstery in the furniture, as can be seen in various engravings that are preserved to the present.
Despite its age, the upholstery is still essential
Throughout the Middle Ages, on the other hand, members of royalty and nobility relied on the work of their own artisans , who were in charge of manufacturing wooden chairs and armchairs with upholstered and stuffed seats, using materials such as leather, fabric, plant fibers and animal hair . Already in the Renaissance, this and other furniture became more elegant and sophisticated thanks to the close collaboration between upholsterers and cabinetmakers.
Although in recent decades materials from nature (such as goose down or animal, vegetable or mineral fibers ) have fallen into disuse in favor of synthetic ones, such as foam, to fill seats, stools, sofas and chairs, the former continue to be the most sought after by clients with greater purchasing power.
The techniques
We can distinguish three fundamental techniques of upholstery, which are the following:
* the traditional one : it uses horsehair, often placed on springs that are held by straps;
* the contemporary : uses profiles and synthetic foam ;
* the semi-traditional : it is a kind of fusion between the two previous techniques. The traditional is seen in the straps and springs, while the contemporary is in the use of foam for filling.