Antique chairs ready for business

UpholsteryJournalMag.com | February 8, 2012

By Jessica Sellers

These three antique leather chairs were to go in an executive’s office, but the brittle, ripped leather was far past its prime. Robert Burkart of Sewline Upholstery, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, transformed them into better versions of the original.

Using stressed texture Capri burgundy leather from Vanville Leather Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, Burkart was able to preserve the original antique look. The seats were completely redone. Burkart rewebbed the bottoms with three-inch jute webbing and hand-tied five-inch coils.

Cotton batting and medium-density foam padding rounded out the seats’ shape. The corners are pleated, in keeping with the chairs’ original look.

The chairs’ backrests of original straw and cotton were still in good condition. Burkart added 1/4-inch foam to freshen the padding, and covered the curve in eight pieces of leather. Over each seam, reinforced strapping finished the look.

The edges feature new, carefully spaced nails, provided by the customer. Burkart stripped the wood himself before restaining, finishing and gluing.

The entire project required about 18 hours of work.

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  LAURIE GALLAGHER

  Feb 22, 2012
  6:50 am CST

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