Fiber Dreams

I have this couch, the Beast. I’ve had it longer than I’ve known most of my friends. It’s older than most people I know. The fabric on it has been there since about the time my mother was born—Grandma chose it, had an interior decorator help her design her living room and choose fabrics, colors, you know… There was a matching chair, done in the same fabric, but lavender. I think my uncle has it in his cabin. For its age, it’s in remarkably good condition. I have no idea how old the couch itself is. It’s made of solid hardwood, and is still stable as a rock. And weighs about as much. It takes a minimum of two strong men to move it; three is better.

It’s needed new fabric for a million years now, its springs re-tied, that sort of stuff.

Rewind to Christmas 2005, Dave’s old computer died a mournful death. My mom gave us a fabulous present in replacing that computer. It was clearly for Dave, but I definitely benefited from it, too. Believe me. I benefited almost as much as Dave did, in some ways more. You’ll have to trust me on this.

The next Christmas, this one just passed, Mom decided that she wanted to give me a nice present, something comparable to the computer; something that I’d love to have, yet something that would benefit Dave at the same time. She decided she wants to pay to have the Beast recovered.

Whoa. Awesome. Oh, man! I’ve wanted to do this for a very long time now.

I know. This is the first I’ve mentioned this. But I’ve only just started looking into having the job done. Looking seriously at fabrics.

About the time Mom mentioned this fabulous gift, Dave saw a small article/advertisement in the local paper about an upholstery firm who specializes in older furniture, G & D Custom Upholstery in Santa Ana. We saved it. I called them. They came out on Monday, gave me an estimate for the labor, an idea of how much fabric I’d need (18 yards if the print is small, 23 yards if it’s large), and dropped off a few sample books. I also called Calico Corners. They’re having a sale on labor and fabric starting March 1. But they priced themselves right out of the market. They weren’t keen on having to re-tie springs, and even with the sale price the labor is twice what it is at G & D. Plus, if I need more than a couple springs re-tied—likely—the price will go up accordingly. G & D will take the springs in stride, perform a nice eight-way tie on them, not charge any more if ten of them need re-tying instead of only one or two, plus if I want they’ll put a wood kick plate (I don’t know what else to call it) at the front of the couch under the seat cushions for stability for no extra charge. I got a really good feeling from these guys. Oh, and G & D will pick up and deliver my couch for only $75. That is so worth it. Besides, they like my couch. They like that it’s been in my family forever. I think they’ll take really good care of it.

Obviously, color is a huge issue. Green is out; Dave abhors it in (nearly) all its forms. So is gray; his pit group is gray, and I won’t do it, I won’t have my couch the same depressing non-color. I also put my foot down last night, no solid black fabrics with red and blue toss pillows. Shudder. Blue is the main contender. The couch is too big for a splashy floral or a small, repetitive print. Dave hates striped couches. Okay. We’ve narrowed things a bit. This is good.

Here are some of the fabrics that are currently under consideration. Some of them aren’t in colors we like; they’re here as pattern samples in hopes that they come in other colors that we’d like better.

As of this moment in time my favorites are the middle one in the middle row (a cotton/polyester blend), and the far right one in the bottom row (a cotton/rayon/polyester blend). Both fabrics are in our budget. Actually, all of these fabrics are within the budget, even if we end up needing 23 yards.

P.S. I lost that pair of tweezers in the couch again. I scraped and bruised my arm again trying to get it out. But I didn’t. The foul Beast has consumed my tweezers, and I had to get another pair. The beast! Hey, I wonder if the upholsterers can retrieve those for me. I always liked that pair.

Have you kept with me this far? You rock! Your reward? A photo of my current tiny bit of progress on sock two, and a picture of my helper.

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