Oceanna, I hope he can fix it to meet your needs. You've spent a lot of time and energy and money getting it ready LOL. Hope you survive the ordeal so you can repose and enjoy your newly updated sofa.

Sky

You are not boring us at all. I think for those of us who have salvaged antiques, we have all been where you are. We buy something because we like it --- we see it as something we can turn into a prize for a song and that song ends up being a hymnal, but it is sweeter in the end than it would have been had it not been all the pain to get to where you want it. Remember every rose has thorns, an appreciation for the sweet beauty of the flower.

Thanks, Sky. It will be a happy day when I can proudly show off a pic of my living room. That's a way off, I'm afraid.

Patricia, thanks for the comforting words. The craftsmanship and beauty of antiques is unmatched today, and to think of the stories they could tell if they could talk. I am hopelessly drawn to them. With any luck, this should be the last time I ever reupholster these three pieces. I'm just afraid of spending too much of my savings and having to eat dog food in my final days. I think I'd better get busy painging Christmas ornaments, huh? lol. Meanwhile, these antiques bring me joy every day just to see them. That mohair has the most astoundingly luscious way of playing with the light, and the f.c. has such graceful lines and pretty wood and carvings.

I'm so glad there are other antique lovers on this forum. The rest of the folks here must think we're nuts!

Oceanna, I think you are making the right decision. It would be a shame to put in all the expense, time and hard work into recovering the FC and not have it structurally sound. I hope he has good news for you. Keep us posted.
Mari

Yep- best of luck with it-- I hope it turns out just the way you'd like, and that aside from the sofa, no fainting is involved. :)

--Jenn

Oceana, I am sure you will not end up eating dog food for the price of salvaging an antique. :) But, painting ornaments is a good thing! You can recoup some of your expense. If I were able to again, I would do furniture painting and antiquing, wallpapering as I have done in the past to supplement my spending habit, but at this point in life, I am not physically able so I will leave that to those of you who are. Funny how when I was younger, I would say "When I have more time...I will ..." Now that I have more time, I cannot, so do make hay while the sun shines.

Are you going to use the Waverly Midnight fabric for the f.c.? I fell in love with it when I saw it in your link.

I'd leave the chair/sofa gimp as it is. When the f.c. gets in the room and you have drapes in there and you've grown used to seeing it on the chair/sofa it will not be something you're bothered by. Actually, I think it's fine as is.

When I moved to Alaska my lawtin sofa was broken, in a spot which couldn't really be fixed (it had a curved arm, and this area was structural). The insurance company for the move paid for it in full, but of course it's disapointing to lose a piece you love (I'd just had it recovered). A year later I saw it (with my custom upholstry fabric) in a local antique store. It had been glued together and was for sale for a price it was worth...if it was sound, which it was not. I always wanted to sit in that store and wait for it to find a buyer so I could warn them :)

Well, it's dog food for us but we eat it on our gorgeous antique table while gazing at the antique chair and the antique.....well you get the picture.

Thank heaven we didn't eat any of that bad Chinese dog food! ;)
Nikki

interesting tidbit

Fainting couches used to be used for women who got the 'vapors.' In other words, when they were gassy.

When my husband heard about that, our faining couch became the farting couch. We no longer have it -
LOL

Have I told you all lately that I think you're wonderful? I do, and this thread is putting a smile on my face.

Mari ~~ I think you're right. Since I can't save money here by DIY, it's time to sell a bunch of stuff around here I don't need any more. When I'm done with that I should make some things to sell. But it's sure good to be able to do for ourselves, isn't it? I'm so impressed by all the reupholstery you've done. You're a real whirlwind! I wish you lived next door; we could help each other and have fun together. How much time did it take you to do all that?

Jen ~~ haha! I love your sense of humor. I hope the bill doesn't make me faint. I've been putting my veterinarian's kids through college lately. I may need that fainting couch for its original purpose. Do you have one? I so enjoy your web site and all the pics of the wonderful things you've done. I'd love to go junking with you.

Patricia ~~ very wise words and this grandmother can identify with every one of them, unfortunately. It's always a struggle between balancing time, money, and physical wherewithall. Seems we never have enough of any of them, doesn't it? Your post is a great reminder to use what we have before we lose it. It's funny how a bunch of things we thought when we were younger didn't turn out to be so true, isn't it? 20-20 hindsight doesn't do much good.

Mona ~~ That was beautiful fabric, wasn't it? I had fabric for the f.c. already. But I bought the other fabric because it looked so good, and also thick and sturdy as that piece wouldn't do in curtain weight. It arrived and didn't look anything like the computer picture. I was a fool to not order a swatch. I'm hoping I can sell it and recoup some of my loss. I'm going to go with my original fabric. It doesn't seem to photograph well, but when I laid it across my newly upholstered red sofa it absolutely sang with richness and beauty. I really like it. Thanks for your comments about the gimp. I'll think about learning to live with it if I can't find a good way to fix it. Are you going to be buying that Waverly and using it on something?

Igloo ~~ that's an interesting story. It must have been heartbreaking when your lovely piece got damaged in the move. I don't blame you for wanting to warn perspective buyers. Your honesty and decency are admirable. Now, can we set up a way to warn other women about a particular man?

Nikii ~~ No kidding! The never-ending recalls are scary. I don't remember things ever being this bad before. Someone in power isn't allocating money for enforcement. I'll think of you when I'm eating dog food at my antique table and raise my glass of water in a toast to you! I have a link to a chart of which dog foods are best if you're interested. hehe

Amy ~~ haha. I don't know where you heard that. It's my understanding in the days when fainting couches came into fashion women wore enormously heavy skirts with about 15 yards of fabric in them, and whalebone corsets cinched in so tight they couldn't breathe. Think of Mammy cinching up Scarlett O'Hara in that corset. They aimed for an 18" waist on an adult women! All that cinching shoved one's internal organs around and caused deformity that sometimes caused complications with childbirth. I learned from a woman who collected and sold antique garments that those "Cinderella" type skirts were so heavy that they were not attached to the bodice. They would have ripped the stitching right out. She showed me where the bodice was a separate piece. Can you imagine being dressed in all that on a hot summer day instead of your shorts and sandals? You bet they fainted!

Oceanna - this thread is putting a smile on my face also with all the funny responses. I hadn't heard Amy's vapor explanation before today. lol
I am certainly not a whirlwind. I retired last December and have been slowly doing some of the projects that I have been stacking up for years. Just as Patricia said "when I have time ...." I'm trying to do what I can while I can.
If you ever decide to move to Ohio let me know, I'll check to see if the neighbors are moving! I'd love to have an extra set of hands to help when recovering, suggestions for paint colors (IRL), teach me to tole paint, or do it for me when you see I can't, someone to compare craiglist finds with (and to tell me NO when I need to hear it) ... Oh, and if you have a truck or van -- all the better! :D

Mari, yeah Patricia's words were golden. I'm slow at getting things done these days and frequently go to bed scolding myself about wasting time and not getting enough done, and vow to do better the next day. It's like lather, rinse, repeat. I should do better.

Same back atcha if you decide to move to Seattle. It is SO nice when folks like us can get together. We'd be good friends forever. But with a lot of the things we all love to discuss here on this forum, if you put them out in public people get that RCA Victor dog expression on their faces. Has anyone else noticed that?

I love being creative. If I couldn't create I'd go nuts. I love things to look pretty. I guess we all have our own ideas of what pretty is, too. I love it when folks post pictures of different styles here. I don't like it when everyone's house has to look the same. I'd love to see more Primative and Country and Cabin and Deco and Victorian and other styles pictured here. I could care less what's "in style" as it should always be a matter of personal taste.

I never heard that a fainting couch was for anything other than fainting and with those clothes that could be a common occurance, but I don't know very much about those things.

But, I always wondered why ladies would fan themselves when they had "The Vapors" and after learning what Vapors were I understood the reason for the fanning.

I'm trying to find an excuse to buy that Waverly fabric. I really am in love with it!

I've recovered a few things. I don't know how to fix anything and that is why I'm getting an estimate from Jerry, my refinishing guy, on the Sheraton table and chairs that I bought off Craigslist. Usually, I am most intent on doing it myself or buying something my DH can fix....to save money. But over the years I have learned something about buying used.

You only save money if you buy something that's already ready to use, that you can fix yourself, or that has insignificant blemishes/problems that truly (and I mean, Truly!) don't bother you.
And, if you find that one thing that you love, that something that feels like a "real" find, the sideboard or antique lamp or Eastlake dresser, or jardinie or painting or..........Fainting couch; then, for that piece, it is usually totally worth the time, money, and emotional investment, to fix it up so it shines.
I'm glad you found the right fabric, and I'm glad that you are considering a professional fix. Perhaps you will want the pro to do the upholstery too? (I do an o.k. job, but nothing to get excited about!)

Red

I've been decked out in full Victorian-era kit before and I can assure you, it is MURDER! (And it was even more toward the Edwardian, around 1890-1900, which was simpler, lighter in weight and less confining than the gear from fifty years before!) Even a "simple" walking outfit had multiple layers: chemise/bloomers, corset/corset cover, petticoats, high-necked long-sleeved blouse, heavy skirt, snug jacket (for indoor wear, that is, putting a coat over if going out in cool/cold weather), thick stockings, hat... stifling even at cool room temperature, and how you were supposed to walk further than across the house in it I cannot imagine, but women would walk miles in this rig. I think if it had been 85 degrees I would have keeled right over! I could not get a full breath in that corset because I am used to breathing from my diaphragm which of course makes your belly move, I had to almost pant, breathing only from my upper chest, which doesn't do a lot for your oxygenation. It's hard to sit really comfortably in a corset, too, it was far more comfortable to recline somewhat so I can see why women would have a lie-down every so often!

And yes, long-term corseting can deform the body. I used to know someone who was devoted to corsetry (yes, I know a lot of very odd people LOL... it comes with science fiction fandom) and she looked downright scary without her corset on. Her digestion was terrible - another reason why women got "the vapors" - malnutrition! She had to watch her diet very carefully because of how her insides were all squashed around (it can be compared to very late pregnancy), her ribs were indeed misshapen, and her back and abdominal muscles were a weak mess because her body was used to the bracing of the corset to hold her up.

We are SO lucky in what we get to wear these days!