Reply To: Upholstery Training Level 2

[mitchellreid]

Steve,

If there are no plans for future advanced upholstery classes, could we do some advanced demos at the next convention?

The reason I am asking is that I have customers asking me to do more complicated work. This work includes things like chairs that have upper and lower sections with mushroom shaped decorative nails, booth backs with buttons and pleated seams, high back waiting room chairs that are completly upholstered on every visible side that are more recliner shaped, and other work that is basically further advanced then the booth bottom and chair cushion wrap and staple type work that I have become somewhat proficient at. There is hardware that is brand new to me when I disassemble a “new” type of chair. I try to be especially careful with this hardware because I do not have any on hand to replace it and I would have difficulty describing it to someone so that I could order more of it. There are tack strips and hidden seam hardware, etc. that just need a little daylight shed on them so that we can continue to provide a greater service to our customers.

If I am asking too much about having classes, would it be possible to get a list of Dr.Vinyls who do these types of upholstery work and see if they would be willing to give classes at their facility?

Or maybe just posting videos on the Dr.Vinyl website of this type of upholstery work would be enough. That way people could see how the work is supposed to be done without the classes. Myself and others have been scouring Youtube for help in this arena. Some of the videos are legitimate and some are not. The problem is that sometimes without experience it is difficult to separate the two. I would have a great deal more confidence in instruction coming from Corporate Dr.Vinyl then an “upholsterer” who has an online video but at best unfounded credentials.

I know you all at corporate are busy but you could help many of us in the field with this information. For example, I spent 6 hours taking apart, recovering partially, and putting back together 1 of the waiting room chairs mentioned previously. 80-90 % of this time was dedicated to taking the chair apart. I had to be very careful because I wasn’t sure that I could recover the unit or not, until I got it mostly disassembled. It was like exploratory surgery in unchartered waters. Sewing took 20 minutes. Reassembly and stapling took about 30 minutes. So the unknown and unfamiliar really hampered the process. This is where help is needed. The other 5 chairs will be easier now that I have a grasp on the previously unknown. It just seems that everyone should not have to spend the 5+ hours I spent, every time they come across this chair that is “new” to them.

Please just think about it.

Thanks from the Wandering Upholsterer,

aka Mitchell Reid