What Does upholstery Mean
The first meaning of tapestry mentioned by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary refers to a set or a 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 used to line a piece of furniture , create a drapery or decorate . Upholstery is also the trade, work and trade of the upholsterer (the person who makes, installs and repairs tapestries ).
Upholstery pursues elegance and comfort
Through the upholstery, the seats are covered with fabric . In this way, the upholsterer selects and prepares the fabric and then is in charge of fixing it using staples, studs or another resource. The activity can even consist of reconditioning the seats incorporating foams or other materials to offer greater comfort to the user.
Upholstery Tools
Upholstery requires the use of various tools. The scissors , the sewing machine, the needles and the tape measure, for example, are indispensable in the work of the upholsterer.
It is important to note that upholstery is a craft . Beyond the academic or formal studies that the upholsterer may develop, the skill is usually acquired with practice . In addition, 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 for those who specialize in restoring antique furniture , to mention one possibility.
Brief history
Upholstery is one of the oldest jobs that is still alive today. We can be sure of this thanks to the chairs made by the Egyptians five millennia BC , which were found in the Pharaonic tombs, for example. Nomadic peoples used to use cushions and rugs as the base of their tents to make them more comfortable.
Over the centuries, tables and chairs emerged that took advantage of this technique for similar purposes. It is believed that the artisans who up to that time had made the tents were the same ones who later used the upholstery in furniture, as can be seen in various engravings that are preserved to this day.
Despite its age, upholstery is still essential
Throughout the Middle Ages, on the other hand, members of royalty and nobility had the work of their own craftsmen , who were in charge of making chairs and wooden chairs with upholstered seats and fillings, using materials such as the leather, fabric, vegetable fibers and animal hair . Already in the Renaissance, these 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 feather or animal, vegetable or mineral fibers ) have fallen into disuse in favor of synthetics, such as foam, to fill armchairs, stools, sofas and chairs, the former are still the most sought after by customers with the highest purchasing power.
The techniques
We can distinguish three fundamental upholstery techniques, which are the following:
* the traditional one : it uses horsehair, often placed in springs that are supported 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 appreciated in the straps and springs, while the contemporary, in the use of foam for the filling.