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Home / Decorating Resources / Upholstery Fabrics

Frieze upholstery fabric

pam kueber - November 7, 2016, Updated: November 9, 2020

img_6383What is frieze upholstery fabric? This subject comes up on the blog now and then. It’s a very desirable vintage upholstery fabric that was used widely back in the day. One example, from my hoard, is shown above. Frieze is a tightly-looped upholstery — probably a man-made fiber — has a plastic-like feel — will likely leave a pattern in your face if you sleep on it (!) — may be looped into a design, or not — generally has a sheen — rough to the touch — but durable as all heck.

img_6385Tip to view photos: On a desktop computer, click the photos and they should enlarge up to 1,000 pixels wide on screen.

friezecoral-chairsofa with frieze style upholsterycopy_0_frieze-couch-1-767c7eaf87ccbe91af112e778590c9cbc6ff5707freize-sofabought-from-orig-owner-100-bucks-storage-in-arms
Above: Vintage sofas covered in frieze upholstery, contributed to the blog over the years.

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img_6393Above: Another example from my hoard. I have quite a few yards of this. No design, per se. Just neverending gobstopper frieze.

img_6391

Astro participates in all photo shoots!

CATEGORIES:
Decorating Resources furniture Upholstery Fabrics

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62 comments

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  1. Allan Gribbin says

    August 28, 2020 at 1:15 pm

    I have an old sectional in orange frieze. I would love to get it reupholstered but cannot find large amounts of Frieze in any colour. Any Suggestions?

    • pam kueber says

      August 31, 2020 at 9:09 am

      Hi Allan, how about these fabrics from Knoll: https://retrorenovation.com/2017/01/11/frieze-style-upholstery-fabrics-knoll-totem-mariner/

  2. James Thompson says

    September 2, 2019 at 6:43 pm

    When I was rooting around the USA for vintage fabrics for resale c. 1982 I discovered a hoard (400+ yds.) of frieze in El Paso, TX which I sold by the bolt over a couple of years to the vintage trade in Los Angeles. The El Paso store bought up going out of business upholstery shops. I had another similar source in Las Vegas. I always referred to it as “nylon” frieze.

  3. Cathie says

    November 11, 2018 at 12:50 pm

    SMS Auto Fabrics in Oregon still produces frieze /frizzy fabrics. They are great about sending you samples. Just tell them the color you are looking for. I was so excited to find this place! There frieze fabrics are amazing and extensive!!

  4. Michelle S says

    September 10, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    I’ve been looking for the name of this fabric forEVER. My folks had a blue/green sofa that my brother and I both recall playing on. It was so scratchy we’d skin our knees on it. But as you said, it was extremely durable and had a lovely sheen to it. My mom doesn’t remember that sofa. I would love to find out if there are any makers of this fabric. I’d love to have a footstool or even a chair covered in it. Thank you for your article!

    • Pam Kueber says

      September 10, 2018 at 6:43 pm

      Hi Michelle, these are the closest that I have found: https://retrorenovation.com/2017/01/11/frieze-style-upholstery-fabrics-knoll-totem-mariner/

  5. Dannlh says

    November 10, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    First off… that pink. Its an Eisenhower thing.

    Now, why I mention that is I have a rocking/easy chair that has the same color as that couch! Similar pattern too. However, the leaf pattern on my chair is much smaller. It looks like small maple leafs (or similar) about the size of half dollars.

    Anyone seen something like this in the vintage fabrics? Desperately looking! Thanks!
    dan

    • Pam Kueber says

      November 11, 2017 at 5:38 am

      It’s a MAMIE Eisenhower thing: https://retrorenovation.com/search-results/?q=mamie%20eisenhower

      For frieze, here are some proxies I found recently; there may be more out there: https://retrorenovation.com/2017/01/11/frieze-style-upholstery-fabrics-knoll-totem-mariner/

      • dan says

        December 4, 2017 at 10:23 pm

        So glad I came back to this thread! I must have missed the notification of your reply.

  6. Lauren J says

    December 6, 2016 at 10:23 am

    Love, love, love frieze!!!!! I buy every inch in every color I can find. And I’ve actually used one piece in a spruce color to reupholster my dining room chairs. The rest is saved (read hoarded) for the perfect place to be used.
    My main memory of frieze is being home from school in the 1960’s with my sister, both with chicken pocks, and both of us laying on my parents frieze covered couch. I was so stiff and rough we could actually scratch our chicken pocks by just wiggling around on the fabric. lol
    Pam, still loving your blog after all these years!

  7. Lola says

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    My sectional sofa has this fabric. It’s from the 50s in a gold color. I love it and was really excited when we got it. But last year we got a puppy as a wedding gift and he has since ate a hole on the one side of it. So I’d love to get it reupholstered but I can’t seem to find this fabric anywhere. Anyone have any ideas?

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