Source for upholstery fabric; uphosterer
I have done some research on fabrics for reupholstering some chairs I bought from Eddie Hibbard — they are women’s club chairs – very lovely French style shape — but need to be reupholstered. I am looking for Linen/silk blend fabric and checked at Beckensteins (W 20th St) in Manhattan. They had some nice stuff,…
I have done some research on fabrics for reupholstering some chairs I bought from Eddie Hibbard — they are women’s club chairs – very lovely French style shape — but need to be reupholstered. I am looking for Linen/silk blend fabric and checked at Beckensteins (W 20th St) in Manhattan. They had some nice stuff, but off the charts expensive. Their reuphostery charges are also extremely expensive as well (650 per chair exclusive of fabric). Some people on Brownstoner have recommended Das as a good uphosterer.
Might any of you recommend a source for fabric and/or an upholsterer with whom you have had a good experience? Thanks so much for your help.
The shop on Cortelyou is called DAS Upholstery.
I had nearly the same project you are describing. After a lot of researching I used Teddy’s Upholstery in Bay Ridge. He was great, came over, gave me an estimate for both chairs that was very affordable, took the two chairs in his van, and dropped them back off 4 days later, beautifully done, whereupon I paid him for his services.
I provided fabric that I ordered in advance from jandofabrics.com (whom I would also recommend). It’s the website for a brick and mortar South Jersey fabric superstore. They can order fabrics that they don’t have in stock with cut-rate prices, and fast delivery, and they are very responsive via email. You can look at their website and if you don’t find what you need just email them a description or picture and they will get back to you right away.
Teddy contact info: 505 73rd St
Brooklyn, NY 11209 (718) 836-0005
Best of luck!
Thanks again and I will look at the blends, Tinarina. I am guessing that the person on Cortelyou road is Das – he has been written about in the archives. I will check some of this out this weekend. Thanks very much.
I had four old chairs reupholstered at a place on Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, around 75-77th street. Nice job and about $75 per wood kitchen chair (seats only on each).
Hi Donatella–
One other thing worth mentioning–as beautiful as it may be, an all cotton/linen blend may not be the best upholstery fabric. It’s very strong and will clean well, but it also frays. Keep your eye out for the linen/cotton look you want, with a bit of poly thrown in. Unlike fashion fabrics, some poly is not a bad thing in upholstery, IMO.
Have fun shopping! I love looking for fabric!
I can recommend a very good upholsterer. He’s on Cortelyou Road between Rugby and Argyle, a few doors down from the food co-op. He is very reasonable and does excellent work. He has many fabrics, plus he can order what ever you want. Check him out. We had two chairs re-done, and he did a great job.
Thanks very much. I was looking at a silk/linen blend – they wanted 95 dollars a yard at Beckensteins! I will check out Spence as well. Thank you.
I second the motion on Harry Zarin on Grand St, Lower East Side. Their upstairs “warehouse” is fully stocked with first quality fabrics at great prices. I’ve purchased Waverly fabric (for drapes/pillow shams that I made myself) at $15 yd versus the regular retail price of $45 yd.
Yep, once Beckenstein moved to their new digs from the LES, they became fancy and unaffordable. It used to be such a great place. Here are some recommendations:
Fabrics:
Zarin’s and Joe’s Fabric (closed on Saturday) on the LES. Both are good, but Zarin’s upstairs discount warehouse is really good. You generally will be able to find very high quality fabrics in the $25-$45 range.
For more contemporary stuff, try Mood Fabrics in midtown.
For upholstery, check out Spence on Myrtle between Hall and Washington on the north side of the street. He doesn’t have a phone in the shop–you need to stop by when he’s there, which is most days and Saturday morning. He’s very, very reasonable, but you have to know what you want.
Good luck.