UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20728, 11 February 1939, Page 19 (Supplement)

UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE

HOW TO TRANSFORM “Yon ©ant make a silk purse. . but it’s quite astonishing what a transformation you can effect in the appearance of your most recalcitrant pieces of upholstered furniture by means of slip-covers, states Victor Barnard in the London Daily Mail. They assist large bulgy sofas to regain their figures, fill out the scrawny angularities ol those spindly little settees, modestly conceal unattractive feet and legs, induce odd pieces to match, and even introduce comfort where formerly no comfort was. The princijles which should guide the intelligent use of the slip-cover are remarkably similar to those which dictate the choice of patterns and models for a woman's clothes. Rough materials with a small simple design make chairs and sofas look smaller, shiny plain satins and silks have the reverse effect. Vertical stripes are slimming, while horizontal stripes and spots encourage any tendency to middle-age spread. These different influences can be combined on the same piece of furniture to correct faults in its shape. Take, for instance, the case of a narrow armchair with a high back. Use a striped material horizontally across the back and seat, and vertically on the arms and from the seat to the floor, and you will find the chair looks wider and that the back seems to be in better proportion to the rest. Suppose that the difficulty j? to combine an assortment of different shapes and sizes of chairs in the same room. Choose a patterned material for the large piece? which allows for their peculiarities —a striped pattern if you have to correct their design, or a floral pattern if the proportions are a bit meagre—and then cover the small chairs in a plain fabric of the same colour aa the base of the pattern

material. Made to Look a Pair Odd chairs can also be made to look like a pair simply by dressing them the same way. The use of quilted chintz is an ingenious expedient for lending an air of comfortable embonpoint to chairs and sofas made in the days before large padded arms came into general use. The initial cost of this type of cover is rather high, but chinz lasts longer if it is quilted. Naturally it is necessary to dryclean a quilted cover. Another similar device is the ruched seam which is easily and effectively employed around the top of each arm where it gives both a look and feeling ( of greater sympathy with the elbows, i Of all the details of a slip-cover however, it is the valance which can j be most widely varied in order to achieve the particular effect desired Use a deep, loose, floppy valance to a cover of flowered chinz in some j large design of roses or peonies, and the most staid Victorian armchair will be transformed into a comfortable, informal piece of furniture. By contrast, a neat row of short, uncut tassels on a straight fitted valance gives a distinct air of propriety, particularly if the chair is covered in damask of a rather con- j ventional pattern. Elegance and delicacy suitable for a lady’s bedroom, for instance, is obtainable by making a shallow valance of taffeta,* frilled, and edged and seamed without a hem to show the frayed edge of the material. The disappearance of the old name “loose-cover" was most opportune, for one essentia! point about the j modern slip-cover is that it should ; be a good fit. Only in the valance is looseness permissible, and then only with a purpose. The methods used for fittirr? covers include buttons, snaps, and zip-fasteners. The last-named sounds attractively trouble-saving, but if you decide on j zippers make certain that your covers are shrunk or else there will be j trouble after their first clean.