One of our favorite vintage, mid-century style upholstery fabrics is what I believe was called a “frieze” — prounced “free-zay”. Definition found by Susan:
- Frieze – a pile surface of uncut loops or of patterned cut and uncut loops.
Typically (from what I *think* I’ve seen and read) frieze was done in a single field of color, like in all those old Kroehler sofas — see photo after the jump.
Another popular upholstery fabric was a “boucle”. Gavin pointed this one out:
- Boucle — a fabric of uneven yarn that has an uneven knobby effect
In either case the real popper was when there was a gold thread running through the upholstery fabric. We also saw this gold-thread effect in drapery fabrics like the gorgeous vintage Waverly barkcloth “Spring Frolic”, and my vintage Waverly “Las Vegas” cloth “Caprice.” When I was reupholstering my two vintage Baker loveseats about five years ago, I looked in about 2,698 fabric books to see if I could find something to replicate the vintage frieze or boucle look – alas, not. Now, I’ve just heard from reader Cliff, who points to three glittery boucles from Beacon Hill that might just do the trick.
Here are a few fabrics that have the “sparkly” threads running through them that I think you are looking for:
Manufacturer: Beacon Hill
Pattern Name: Flashpoint [update: discontinued, but I’ll leave this here for historical reference – Pam]
Colors: Beige Shimmer, Copper, and SilverscreenManufacturer: Maxwell
Pattern Name: Indulgence – Smokescreen [update: website behind a password now, but I’ll leave this here for historical reference – Pam]
Color: #50 TreasureThe glittery threads don’t necessarily show up too well in the online photos, but I got swatches of all of these and they definitely sparkle. Covered 2 lounge chairs in the Flashpoint “Beige Shimmer” and they look great.
Readers, these fabrics do not appear to be cheap. I found Flashpoint online at some discount fabric stores, and the cost was more than $100 per yard — which is not unusual, I believe, for a high-quality upholstery material. Idea: When I had my loveseats reupholstered, I ordered my fabric through a local discount fabric store — in my case, Osgoods. I think this saved me something like 40% off the retail price. My fabric wasn’t QUITE $100 a yard, but as I recall, it still was expensive, and I needed a lot of yardage. For this reason, I personally felt better ordering my fabric from a bricks-and-mortar store, so that I could deal with them personally in case there were any issues (which there weren’t.) Basically: Do your homework in terms of where to buy.
Of course, I wish this “Flashpoint” fabric came in a wider variety of colors — and in some “real” colors. When I get a chance, I’ll hunt down a big store with lots and lots and lots of upholstery books where I can look for more recommendations for fabrics with gold threads. To be sure, I think there are A LOT more upholstery fabrics with a mid century modern vibe out there today than there were 8 years ago, when I needed to reupholster my loveseats. Sigh. Me want gold slubbies.
Frieze fabrics from Knoll / 2018
UPDATE 2019:
The closest I’ve come to old-fashioned frieze — and it’s pretty darned close if you ask me — are two fabrics from Knoll that I found in 2018. See this story.
lekawa says
Very late, I know…but I just found this page. Turns out I’m looking for almost exactly the same thing to re-upholster an old chair from the 50’s. Just wanted to say, I came a cross a metallic thread call DMC Diamante that I’m thinking could be sewn in here and there to add a little metallic. Thinking it would be a LOT easier to find the perfect fabric, in the perfect color if we “delete” the requirement for metallic threads….and then just sew them in ourselves. Thought I’d share the idea. I’m feeling smart :). We’ll see how I feel after I try it. lolol
meb says
Any luck, lekawa?
Pam Kueber says
Hi Meb, try these too: https://retrorenovation.com/2017/01/11/frieze-style-upholstery-fabrics-knoll-totem-mariner/
No gold thread, but very frieze-like IMHO