What 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.
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Above: Vintage sofas covered in frieze upholstery, contributed to the blog over the years.
Above: Another example from my hoard. I have quite a few yards of this. No design, per se. Just neverending gobstopper frieze.
Astro participates in all photo shoots!
Kelly M says
Are there any sources for this fabric nowadays? I’m going to be recovering cushions for my vintage trailer this winter …. this would be durable … I remember it so well.
Pat in PA says
I have a gold frieze (exactly the same color as your picture) chair that I can’t part with. It’s so comfortable! It was from a set that also had a dark green couch, and I wish I would have taken that as well when a friend was getting rid of them (free) years ago. However, it sits in my computer room and my cats also have a love affair with it. Needless to say, the one corner has become almost bare to the frame from their scratching. I let them do it to deter them from my living room furniture, but wish I would have not made that decision, nor let them sleep on it with their hair, although I’m pretty consistent with cleaning it and it’s held up to some pretty rough vacuuming. I would love to get it re-upholstered and, Pam, if you want to want to part with your beautiful fabric, it would be the perfect replacement! I would like to find a person who re-upholsters in the Erie, PA area if anyone on this website knows of someone. An elderly woman I know who use to do re-upholstering says about the frieze, “It wears like iron!” By the way, I just looked under the cushion and the “Do not remove this tag under penalty of law” is still there! Written on the tag is “Elmira Gold”. 🙂
pam kueber says
Hi Pat, my piece is actually quite small… and I think I have plans for it…
Pat in Pa says
Thanks, Pam! 🙂
Barbara says
A few years ago I was lucky enough to find a three piece sectional circa early 60s that was upholstered in frieze fabric. The furniture itself was in great shape but unfortunately the fabric had burn holes, stains and much wear on the edges. I really liked the tufting on the sofa and asked the upholsterer to do the same when I was getting it recovered. Got a call from the upholsterer saying it might be a challenge to get the same look because the “tufting” on the frieze wasn’t sewn, but heat melted together! He ended up doing a fab job with the new fabric, but who knew about the heat melt?! Anyone else have this with their frieze?
pam kueber says
Wow! That’s old-skool for sure!
Jamie Longson says
I have the Kroehler sofa in turquoise above in my garage – waiting for recovering. The fabric wore very well for being loved for 50+ years – it’s now stained and worn through only on the corners.
Carolyn says
When I was a real little kid in the early ’60’s, we had a maroon couch that was probably from the early ’50’s or ’40’s. That was replaced with a turquoise couch and Dad’s chair. What I remember is you could trace in between the floral pattern, pretending you finger was a car on an “adventure!”
Forever ago, I picked up a free gray couch that had been rose but faded from the sun and bought a pink arm chair but space constraints forced me to donate the couch and give my chair to an upholsterer that was dubious until she turned it over to see the maker. I made her happy.
So, I don’t remember the scratchy, only the cool factor.
Of course Astro monitors the photo shoots – keen eye under them bushy eyebrows!
Judi says
I think original Frieze was a wool/nylon blend.
There were a lot of copy cat fabrics when it took hold of the 40’s. Not all quality was the same.
I have looked for years to find a modern source but I really do not think it is made anywhere.
I ended up going with mohair.
Maria says
When I lived in Maine, I went to the Salvation Army and bought a vintage medium-pink sofa of frieze upholstery, and I loved it–solid construction, yet light and easy to move. Took it out to California with me, then eventually had to sell it.
My grandparents had a three-cushion sofa in gold-and-yellow frieze, which occupied their living room for some 45 years or thereabouts. My father eventually got it, then we had to get rid of it when he moved out of his senior living facility. When I flipped it over to make sure there was nothing in the cushions or underneath, the wood on the underside looked factory new!
ineffablespace says
The super scratchy patterned frise like above, favored by companies like Kroehler, are probably all or mostly nylon.
If you are trying to find something new that is loopy and patterned, which is probably pretty difficult to find, I think most modern frizes are going to be tweedy looking.
I have found some that look more like the vintage material by searching for “epingle” which is another looped fabric, and I have gotten images. They mostly appear to be contract fabric offerings. You used to be able to search a number of major fabric companies for fabric based on weave using terms like Frise, Frieze, Epingle, –all of which are looped or looped/cut, and other specific things like Lisere, Lampas, and Ottoman, which are specific types of weaves.
Most of the companies seem to have removed terms like this, probably in an attempt to streamline and make more user friendly, but what it really does is make it harder when you are looking for something specific, and you end up wading through hundreds of random fabrics when before you could find specific things more quickly, if you knew what you were looking for.
Nikki says
I’d love to find a source for frieze. Anyone know of one? I wish the fabric manufacturers would resurrect this fabric. I loved it back in the day and still do…
Astro is soooooooooo cute!
Nancy says
In 1959 my folks bought a turquoise sofa and brown chair in this upholstery. It never wore out. In the 1970s she gave the chair to me! Scratchy.