Choosing Fabric

In addition to all the properties of different fabrics mentioned earlier, you have some additional considerations based on what type of prop you are building and whether you are working in theatre, film, or television.

Upholstery fabric is different from clothing fabric. You generally want something thicker and more durable. Large bold patterns are bad for upholstery that gets tufted, pleated, or otherwise manipulated. Save big patterns for larger, unbroken surfaces.

Remember in theatre that most of the audience is viewing at a distance, so small patterns may be lost and appear as simple texture, or worse, as a muddy mess. Also, check your fabric under light to see how the different surfaces catch and reflect it. Super shiny fabrics may be too glaring or cheap looking under theatrical lighting. Shiny and reflective fabrics are also problematic for film and television.

For television, avoid pure white and pure black. Highly saturated colors, especially red, can “bleed” onto other surfaces. Small intricate patterns, like herringbone, high-contrast pin stripes, and checkers, can mess with the video scanning and cause moiré patterns. Actual film does not suffer from these problems, but film shot on digital cameras does.

Purchasing Fabric

The sheer range of varieties of fabrics makes it difficult to shop for them online, from a catalog, or over the phone. Catalogs and websites cannot convey the tactile feel of fabrics. The way they drape over large objects (called the hand) and how they feel when you crush them in your hand will ultimately affect the properties of your prop. Even colors cannot be accurately conveyed through a photograph.

Most fabric shopping, other than for utilitarian cloth like muslin and duvetyn, is done by collecting a swatch, or a small representative piece, cut from the full roll of fabric. The type and price is written on the swatch, or on a card attached to the swatch, and these swatches are shown to the designer, who chooses one. Local fabric stores will cut a swatch for you (don't cut your own swatches until you check that you are allowed to). Online fabric suppliers will send swatches to you for free or for a minimal fee to cover shipping.

Small swatches will not convey larger patterns, so it is also helpful to take a photograph to show the scale and the “repeat.” Some designers will go with you to the fabric store if they can spare the time, particularly when a lot of fabric purchasing decisions need to be made at the same time.

Fabric and craft stores will often carry a variety of fabrics useful for lightweight items like curtains and flags to heavier fabrics for upholstery. Upholstery suppliers may also carry a range of thicker fabrics intended for upholstery. Theatrical suppliers carry a wide range of fabrics for film, theatre, and television, particularly large, seamless rolls of canvas, muslin, and scrim. You can also find companies that will digitally print a custom design to a number of fabrics such as cotton, silk, and linen.

You can buy discontinued fabrics, fabric remnants, and even vintage fabric at factory outlets, antique stores, and online auctions. Be careful that older fabric may have deteriorated and not hold up to heavy use.

Fabric Math

Fabric is sold by the yard or meter. A yard is subdivided into eighths (making an eighth of a yard equal to 4½″). Most dress fabrics come in widths of 45″ or 115 cm. Most upholstery-weight fabrics come in widths of 54″ or 137 cm. You can find many widths in between, with some as wide as 110″ or 280 cm. Obviously, one yard of 110″ wide fabric will give you far more fabric to work with than one yard of 45″ fabric. This can get tricky if you calculate how many yards of fabric you need assuming a 54″ wide roll, and when you get to the store and find the fabric you love, they only have it on a 40″ roll.

With lay planning you figure out how to lay out your different pattern pieces to use your fabric most efficiently. You have to factor in the grain, any kind of direction a fabric has, seam allowances, and hems. If the fabric has a repeating pattern that you need positioned specifically for each piece you cut, you will have to factor in more fabric needed. If you can measure the pattern repeat (how long and wide the pattern is before it repeats), add that length and width to the size of every piece you need to cut out. Once you have your lay plan, you can calculate how much fabric you need.

In most fabrics, the design runs top to bottom along the length, with the selvage edges as the sides. However, you may want a design that is wider than your fabric, such as when you need to upholster the back of a long couch. In railroaded fabric, the design is laid out so the selvage edges are the top and bottom, and the width can be as long as you want.

Marking and Cutting Fabric

When laying out your patterns or making your measurements, you need to consider which way the grain runs; remember that most fabrics have a grain and stretch and drape differently depending on which direction the grain is running. If the fabric has a pattern or design, this will also affect how you cut it, particularly if you want the pattern to “match up” when it is joined by a seam. A nap or pile will also make a fabric directional. If you rub your hand with the nap, the fabric will look lighter than if you rub your hand against the nap. If you sew pieces together with the nap running in different directions, it will look like you made it from different fabrics.

When tracing a pattern or marking cuts, you want to ensure the fabric is not stretching in any direction; use a table or surface large enough to lay the full piece of fabric out flat. An ideal cutting table is at least 45″ (115 cm) wide (the common width of most fabrics) and 6′ to 8′ (180 cm to 245 cm) long. You should be able to stick pins into the table surface to hold patterns and fabric in place. Some shops use thick cork sheets, while others wrap muslin or paper around a sheet of fiber wall board such as Homosote. A cutting table can be improvised by placing a covered sheet of Homosote onto a regular table or even sawhorses.

Make your marks on the wrong side of the fabric. Tailor's chalk works well, though regular school chalk can work on some fabrics. Tailor's pencils and regular pencils can also be used. Be careful with fabric-marking pens and other types of ink-writing utensils as they may bleed through some types of fabric.

Use scissors specially made for cutting fabric. Use them only for fabric; even cutting something as innocuous as paper will dull your scissors, which leads to ragged edges and more effort exerted cutting fabric. Never, ever, borrow someone's fabric scissors to cut anything but fabric. Most shops will specifically mark which scissors are reserved solely for fabric.

Cuts with the scissors should be done with the fabric lying flat on the table rather than holding it in the air while cutting. Tailor's scissors are designed with one edge flat so it can run smoothly along the table's surface. A rotary cutter is like a pizza cutter made for fabric. These cuts are best done on a self-healing cutting mat. It is easy to slice your finger if you roll these without taking care where they are going. Nonetheless, they are great for making long straight cuts along a straight edge or for detailed curved cuts. Using a razor or knife will pull the fabric as you cut, making a less accurate edge.

Machine Stitching

A sewing machine is vital for constructing soft goods and fabric props. Besides saving time with plain stitches and seams, it can automate many tasks that will otherwise take a lot of setup to do by hand. While sewing machines can vary greatly, most share some basic parts and adjustments.

The majority of sewing machines one finds in a prop shop, costume shop, or home studio create a locking stitch. A locking stitch requires two threads; one comes from the spool above; another is wound in a bobbin usually located in a compartment below the sewing machine needle.

The path a thread takes from the spool to the needle is fairly convoluted; it passes through a number of guides, take-ups, and tension regulators. Many problems arise from an improperly threaded machine, so be sure to follow the instructions to do it correctly.

Figure 12-2: 1. The spool pin holds your spool of thread. 2. The bobbin winder holds a bobbin that needs to be filled with thread. Run the thread from the spool pin to the bobbin winder (your machine's instructions will indicate the path the thread must take), and when you press the foot pedal, it will spin the bobbin and fill it with thread. 3. The balance wheel or hand wheel allows you to manually run the machine either forward or in reverse. 4. The stitch length regulator sets how long each of your stitches is. For machines that allow zigzag stitches, blind hems, or other types of stitches that incorporate side-to-side movement, you will have a second dial called the stitch width regulator. 5. The power switch is typically located on the side. Turn the sewing machine off when making adjustments to the needle or changing parts out. 6. The thread take-up pulls the thread up and down rapidly; be careful with this part as the machine runs. 7. The upper tension regulator controls the tension on the thread as you sew. Different thicknesses of fabrics, different types of seams and stitches, and different weights of thread all call for a different amount of tension on the thread. Too much tension, and the fabric will bunch up or the thread will break; too little tension, and a bird's nest of tangled thread will form on the bottom of your fabric. It is good practice to run a piece of scrap fabric through when you are drastically changing the fabric, thread, or type of stitch you will be doing next. This scrap fabric should be the same as the real fabric, and the other variables should be as close to the real stitch as possible so that you can home in on the correct tension to use. 8. Around the back is the presser foot lifter, which raises the presser foot so you can lay your fabric down. Always stitch with the presser foot lowered. 9. The needle pushes the thread through the fabric. Different machines take different needles, and each machine has a number of different needles it can use for different situations. 10. The throat plate or needle plate is a metal plate underneath the presser foot. It usually has markings to let you accurately create seam allowances of various widths. 11. The presser foot holds the fabric down. Most machines allow you to hook a variety of different kind of feet on for different types of stitches and fabrics. Below the presser foot (hidden here by the fabric) are the feed dogs. These toothed strips grab the fabric and pull it forward as you sew.

The speed at which the fabric travels through the machine is usually controlled with a foot pedal; the farther down you push the pedal, the faster the machine pulls your fabric through.

A domestic sewing machine can handle lighter-weight fabrics, and are easily configured to perform a number of stitch types and processes. An industrial sewing machine usually does straight-stitch only, but it can plow through several layers of heavy upholstery fabric without slowing down. A walking-foot machine is a type of industrial straight-stitch machine that feeds both the top and the bottom of the fabric at consistent rates. These are useful for heavy fabrics and bulky seams (you can also attach a walking foot to a regular sewing machine). A commercial or semi-industrial sewing machine is kind of in the middle, offering some of the versatility of the domestic machine with the robustness and speed of the industrial.

Basic Hand Stitches

Not every seam can be stitched with a machine; making three-dimensional objects in fabric, for instance, will require at least the last seam, or last few inches of a seam, to be closed by hand. Hand stitching is also necessary for fabric that is already attached to materials which cannot be maneuvered through a machine, or when you have to make a stitch on set far from any sewing machine.

Figure 12-3 to 12-7: A sewing knot is a quick knot at the end of a piece of thread to keep it from being pulled through the stitch as you hand-sew a seam. Wrap the thread once around your middle finger. “Roll” the bottom of this loop (where the thread crosses itself) by rubbing your thumb forward against your middle finger. Grasp the thread just in front of the spaghetti mess of raveled thread with your main finger and thumb, and carefully pull them back over the knot and toward the end of the thread. This should pull the mess into a more compact knot; be careful not to pull too hard as you may pull the knot apart.

Figure 12-8: A running stitch is a simple stitch for joining two pieces of fabric, and for gathering and mending. The needle goes in and out, making even, alternating stitches on each side of the fabric. A basting stitch is like a running stitch but with larger stitches. It is used for temporary stitches because it is easy to pull out.

Figure 12-9: On a back stitch, the needle goes into the back and travels forward two stitch lengths. It comes out and travels back one stitch length, and back in and travels forward two more stitch lengths.

Figure 12-10: A whip stitch is useful for creating a hem. The thread moves forward going in and out equally in a zigzag pattern. This leaves a row of diagonal stitches along both the front and the back.

Figure 12-11: An overcast stitch is a whip stitch done over the raw edge of fabric to keep it from unraveling. It can also be done on the edges of two pieces of fabric, such as on the seam allowance of a plain seam.

Figure 12-12: A cross or catch stitch is used on hems or facings. The needle moves backward, catching two threads on the hem, and then crosses over itself and moves backward to catch two threads on the fabric. This creates an almost invisible seam from the front and gives the seam some movement.

Figure 12-13: A slip stitch is useful for closing up two fabric panels from the front. The needle goes in the crease of a fold, slides along the inside for one stitch length, and then exits back out the crease of that fold. Insert the needle in the crease of the other panel directly opposite where the needle exited from the previous panel. A curved needle is helpful on this stitch. As you pull the thread taut (but not too tight), the thread will become practically invisible.

Figure 12-14 and 12-15: One method to finish off a seam and lock the thread is to make a very tiny stitch perpendicular to the seam. Before you pull this stitch taut, pass the needle underneath it. Do another one of these for more strength; start the next one directly on top of the previous one, or even slightly behind it. Pull everything taut, and snip the thread as closely to the fabric as possible (I've exaggerated the sizes of the stitches in the photographs above to show you what's going on; you can make the stitches as small as you are able).

When hand stitching, you must maintain the proper tension on the thread manually. You want the thread to be as tight as possible within the stitches, but you don't want to pull it so hard that the fabric bunches and puckers. The seam should remain flat and unstretched.

Laying Out Stitches

When you are learning how to stitch and sew, it is helpful to practice on scrap pieces of fabric first. Be sure to practice on similar fabrics, because different weaves and different weights can cause different fabrics to behave differently.

Threads, such as woolen yarns or cotton threads, may have directions or piles to them; if you run the thread through your fingers in one direction, it will feel smooth, while running it through in the opposite direction can feel rough. Make sure the thread feels smooth when you run your fingers in the direction away from the needle to prevent snagging and other sewing mishaps.

Figure 12-16: These two pieces of fabric have been pinned and stitched. The pins are perpendicular to the stitch to prevent the two pieces of fabric from shifting along the stitch line. The fabric on the outside of the stitch is the seam allowance.

When laying out and drawing your pattern or measuring the size of fabric you need, leave a seam allowance for the edges that will be sewn. This is the distance between the stitching line (or lines) and the edge of the fabric you are sewing. Most prop projects use a seam allowance between ¼″ and ⅝″ (6 mm and 15 mm).

For most seams, you will be laying the right sides of the fabric together. If you are sewing any sort of three-dimensional piece, you will essentially be constructing it inside-out. Line up the stitching line on both pieces of fabric and pin them together.

Figure 12-17: In the world of soft goods, pressing something means ironing it. After finishing a stitch, press it open. First, press the seam as sewn from both the front and the back. Then, lay the fabric out flat with the seam allowance facing up. Use the tip of the iron to coax the seam allowance apart, and press the seam open. You can then flip the fabric over, and press from the other side for an even flatter seam. Besides giving you a crisp and flat seam, pressing your seam open strengthens the stitch. When pressing curved seams, use a tailor's ham (also known as a dressmaker's or pressing ham); this is a tightly stuffed curved pillow (shaped like a ham).

Types of Seams

A plain seam or open seam is the most basic seam used. Besides being the fastest seam to make, it is the only one to give you flat seams on heavier fabrics. It leaves the seam allowance on the back side with raw edges. This is fine for a lot of upholstery and other pieces where the back side is never seen or touched. Use a zigzag stitch to make a plain seam on knit or stretchy fabrics.

Figure 12-18: For a plain seam, put the right sides together and make a stitch along the edge, leaving a seam allowance. Open the fabric and iron the seams open.

Figure 12-19: With a French seam, put the wrong sides of the fabric together and make a plain seam with a seam allowance of ⅜″ (10 mm). Trim both allowances to ⅛″ (3 mm). Press the seam to the side and refold the fabric with the right sides together. Press it again and run a second stitch with a ¼″ (6 mm) seam allowance. Your raw edges are now completely encapsulated.

Figure 12-20: The end result will have a little “flap” on the wrong side of the fabric along the seam. Open the fabric and press this flap to whichever side works best.

Figure 12-21: A mock French seam is used where you wish to match a French seam but cannot. For instance, French seams are difficult to sew around tight curves, so switch to a mock French seam for those portions. Lay the right sides together, and stitch a plain seam with a ⅜″ (10 mm) seam allowance. Tuck the raw edges in toward the center of the seam allowance “flap,” and sew this shut as close to the edge as your machine will allow you.

A French seam is strong but inconspicuous. It completely encapsulates all the raw edges of the fabric, making it ideal for pieces that are seen from both sides. It is good for lightweight or sheer fabrics, such as those used for curtains and tablecloths. On heavier fabrics, the seam may become too bulky.

Figure 12-22: A flat-felled seam starts off like a plain seam with a seam allowance of ⅜″ (10 mm). Cut one of the allowances to ⅛″ (3 mm).

Figure 12-23: Lay the fabric wrong side up. Fold the longer seam allowance over the shorter and press in place. Fold it again to tuck it under the shorter. Press and pin in place.

Flat-felled seams look nearly the same on either side so are good for items seen from both sides. They add a bit of structure but are not very good for tighter curves. Prop builders may use them on items like bags, totes, blankets, and tents.

Figure 12-24: Run a second stitch as close to the fold as possible.

Curved Seams

Curves can be tricky to perfect without the fabric “puckering” or gathering up into little bumps. A plain seam is the easiest to stitch in a curve.

If you are having trouble with a curve, try a shorter stitch length and slow down your sewing machine. Mark your entire stitch length so you know exactly where to place your stitches. You may even come to portions where it is easiest just to turn the hand wheel so you can place the needle more precisely. When the needle goes up, lift the presser foot slightly so you can pivot the fabric into position for the next stitch. It may help to think of a curve as a series of very small straight lines; the thread itself is not curved.

Figure 12-25 to 12-28: Seam allowances need to be cut or notched when a seam is curved or creates a corner. On an outside corner, the seam allowance is cut off at an angle as shown on the first picture. On an inside corner, a slit is cut. On a concave seam, V-shaped notches need to be cut to allow the seam allowance to bend and to keep it from getting too bulky. On a convex seam, slits are cut, though notches can also be used to reduce the bulk (note that these pictures show the opposite because the fabric is the wrong side out; when you sew a convex line, it becomes a concave seam after turning the fabric out to the right side). A seam allowance can also be trimmed to keep the seam from getting too bulky. Always be careful not to cut the seam itself.

Finishing the Edges

An unfinished or raw edge of fabric is likely to unravel and become more ragged as time goes on.

On plain seams, you will have a raw edge along the seam allowance. For upholstery and soft sculpture, the raw edge is on the inside where it is less likely to fray. Pressing the seam open is often enough to “fix” the edge for the lifetime of the prop. For seams that will see a lot of action or particularly delicate fabrics, you may need some help to stop the frays.

Pinking shears cut a zigzag pattern of triangular notches along the edge, which makes woven fabrics less likely to fray.

Special glues can be applied to keep the edges from unraveling. They have names like Fray Check, Fray Stop, and Stop Fraying.

For edges that are not part of a seam, prop builders will either add a hem, serge the edge, or add binding. A hem is one or more folds sewn in place so the unfinished edge is no longer seen and cannot unravel.

Figure 12-29 and 12-30: A rolled hem involves rolling the edge of the fabric on the wrong side so that the raw edge is completely hidden. This is easiest to do on a sewing machine with a rolled hem foot; as you feed the fabric through, the foot automatically rolls the edge and stitches it in place. A rolled hem is useful for lightweight and delicate fabrics. We frequently sew rolled hems on the edges of napkins and similar small items.

Figure 12-31 to 12-33: With a turned hem, you make the seam allowance twice as wide as what you want your hem to be. Fold the seam allowance in half onto the wrong side of the fabric. It may be helpful to place a stitch where you wish to fold, as the stitches act like a guide. If needed, press this fold in place. Fold this over again. The raw edge will be tucked underneath; if you stitched a line for the first fold, these stitches will now be at the top of the fold. Press the folds, pin it in place, and stitch it together. Many people use a top stitch here; you turn the fabric so the right side is up, and stitch the hem. Since this stitch is visible, using a top stitch gives a more visibly appealing look. In the photographs, two parallel top stitches were used as a decorative accent. Turned hems are the most common and simplest hems to stitch.

Figure 12-34: With a blind hem, begin by folding the unfinished edge under, then fold it under again to the width of your seam allowance. Press this flat and pin in place as shown in the fabric on the left. Now fold the seam allowance under, but leave ⅛″ to ¼″ poking out like in the fabric in the middle.

Figure 12-35: Switch your sewing machine to stitch a blind hem, indicated by this symbol. You will sew along the bit of fold that peeks out on the right of Figure 12-34. Every five or six stitches, the needle will zigzag over for one stitch on the left. You can do a blind hem by hand, though it may be laborious to count out the stitches and place the zigzags precisely.

Figure 12-36: When you are finished stitching, unfold the seam allowance out from underneath the fabric and press it clean. On the left, you can see what the stitch looks like from the back. On the right, you can see that the stitch is virtually invisible from the front; it is even less noticeable when the thread color matches your fabric.

Figure 12-37: If you make a mistake or need to remove a stitch and the thread cannot be pulled back out, a seam ripper can cut apart the stitch without ripping the fabric.

A serge is done by a machine called a serger. It simultaneously stitches a number of threads in parallel lines (called an “overlock stitch”) to the edge while cutting the excess fabric off to create a nice clean edge. The multiple stitches keep the edge from unraveling, but unlike a hem, none of the fabric is folded. It creates a different look from a hem and can be used as a decorative edge, especially when a contrasting thread is used.

Binding the edge is done with bias tape. You can buy bias tape in a range of colors and prints, or make your own when you need to use a more specific fabric. The bias tape is folded around the edge of the fabric and sewn in place so none of the raw edges are visible anymore.

Pleats, Gathers, Tucks

A pleat is a fold in fabric held in place with stitches. Pleats can be either pressed (ironed into a sharp crease) or unpressed. A tuck is a pleat sewn flat (sewn on the top and the bottom).

Gathering is fabric that is folded or bunched together. Curtains and drapes can be gathered by using fabric wider than the rod it is on. Fabric can also be gathered by sewing parallel stitches along one edge.

A fabric's fullness describes the relationship of its original width versus its width after it has been pleated or gathered. “Zero fullness” means the fabric has no pleats or gathers and hangs completely flat. A panel at 100 percent fullness uses twice as much fabric to fill its width. To make a 6″ wide panel gathered at 100 percent fullness, you start with a 12″ wide piece of fabric. Making a 6″ panel at 50 percent fullness requires a 9″ wide piece, and a 6″ panel at 150 percent fullness will use a 15″ wide piece.

Upholstery

Upholstery is the act of wrapping fabric around various materials to provide padding and cushioning for furniture. It can include padding that is attached to the furniture itself or removable cushions and pillows.

Figure 12-38: A drop-in or slip seat is a removable seat for a chair. It makes it easy to just pop the seat off, and reupholster it. Timon of Athens, the Public Theater, 2011. Scenic design by Neil Patel.

The art of upholstery can fill several books and much of it is beyond the scope of this book. I will introduce some of the basic terms and techniques and demonstrate more of the “prop” methods (as opposed to the “real” methods) so that a beginner can upholster a simple piece in a pinch.

The shape and padding of a cushion is built up in layers. For props, a typical “sandwich” of upholstery material includes foam rubber, batting, muslin, and the final upholstery fabric.

Piecing together a few smaller pieces of foam is all right as long as they butt up to each other without a gap. If you need to glue foam together, use barge or contact cement; spray adhesive also works well. These glues require ventilation, respiratory protection, and proper gloves.

You can also cut the foam a little larger than the base so it wraps around the top edge, but you do not want it to wrap all the way around to the back.

Figure 12-39 and 12-40: The foam rubber (most upholstery foam rubbers are polyurethane) may be lightly adhered to the surface of the furniture or to a thin piece of plywood for later attachment. If you need to screw on the seat from underneath, this wood should be thick enough so that the screw does not poke through the top. Trace the shape of this wood onto the foam and cut it out. Thinner sheets of foam can be cut with razor knives or snap-blade knives. Thicker pieces can be cut with electric knives (sometimes called “turkey carvers”). Shops that do extensive upholstery work may wish to spring for the rather pricey foam rubber cutters, which resemble a jigsaw but with a much longer blade that has a fixed plate on the bottom.

Batting is a fluffy fibrous material that smooths the edges, softens the appearance, and prevents the fabric from slipping on the foam. It comes in a variety of thicknesses depending how fluffy or sharp you want your piece to be. Most prop builders use polyester batting since it is the cheapest.

A pneumatic upholstery staple gun offers the most power to reliably drive staples into the hardest of woods. They fire fine gauge staples, which is handy to keep the bulk down when building up a lot of layers. Electric upholstery staple guns work well too, and have the advantage of not needing access to an air compressor. Hand-powered staple guns work in many situations, but for hardwoods, thick fabrics, or multiple layers, they are not powerful enough. Many upholstery staple guns have a nose (where the staples come out) that projects out an inch or more. This is useful for getting into tight or recessed areas.

It may be helpful to either pin the fabric in place first or to add staples halfway (known as “sub-staples” or “staple-baste”) so they are easily removed. Hold the staple gun above the surface so the staples are only driven partway in. You can make minor adjustments with everything tacked in place, and remove the pins or sub-staples as you add the permanent staples. An upholstery tack puller, while obviously useful for removing tacks, is also great for removing staples.

Figure 12-41 to 12-43: Batting should be cut with fabric scissors; tearing it will pull and deform it. Some upholsterers like to lightly adhere the batting to the foam rubber with spray adhesive. Wrap the batting around the edges; if you need the bottom edge to have a sharp corner, cut it so that it does not continue to wrap around to the back. If you want it to have a rounded corner, wrap the batting to the back and staple it in place.

Figure 12-44 and 12-45: The final layer is the upholstery fabric itself. Pay attention if your fabric has any kind of design, stripe, grain, or other directional characteristic. Besides making sure everything is aligned correctly, you want to plan out which part of the design will be centered in the seat (also remember that floral designs “grow” upward). Mark the center of each side of your plywood, and the center of each side of your fabric (you can cut a notch if a pencil or chalk mark does not show up). Staple the front center, then pull the fabric taut and staple the back center. Pull it snugly but not overly tight; make sure the shape it creates in the cushion is not uneven or lopsided. Staple the right center followed by the left. Now staple from each center toward the corners, making sure the fabric remains taut as you go. Stop a few inches from the corners so that you can fold and cut the corners. Fold the fabric diagonally at the corner and stretch it taut. Staple it in place. Cut the excess fabric diagonally across the corner. Miter the fabric at the corner by folding in each side up to the corner and staple in place.

You may add upholstery cambric, a black fabric for covering the bottom of a furniture piece to act as a dust cover and to give a finished look. Fold the raw edges of cambric underneath and staple in place. This is usually a nonwoven synthetic, not the fine woven cambric used for clothes.

Figure 12-46 and 12-47: Many corners require two pleats; fold these so they are as close together as possible. All other pleats and folds along the edge should be on the bottom of the piece you are upholstering. The kinds of corners you make will depend on the fabric you are using and the thickness of the padding you have, as well as the shape of the piece; in some cases, you can pull the pleats completely out, while in others, you will need a more defined fold.

Figure 12-48 and 12-49: In some cases, you may wish to add a muslin layer over the batting before the upholstery fabric. This extra muslin layer holds all the batting and padding in place, so if you ever wish to reupholster your furniture, you do not have to worry about those layers shifting or moving around after you remove the upholstery fabric. It also pulls everything tight and defines the shape of the cushion, so that when you go to add the actual upholstery fabric, you can concentrate on making sure all the lines are straight and all the corners are neat. Obviously, the disadvantages include added material costs and labor time.

Edges

Upholstery is like a puzzle. You need to plan the order of attaching all the pieces so you do not end up with any staples or raw edges visible. Upholsterers have a few tricks for hiding these edges.

Trim is a narrow strip of decorative material that covers the edge of the fabric, hiding the staples and creating a clean line along the transition between the fabric and wood. Gimp is a type of fabric trim commonly used in upholstery. For a cleaner edge with the fabric, upholsterers will fold under the raw edge before stapling or tacking it down or covering it with gimp.

Upholstery tacks are decorative nails with wide heads placed to hold down the edge of the fabric; when they are also used as a decorative embellishment, they are sometimes called nailhead trim. They can be hammered in individually or you can buy strips of decorative tacks that are applied many at a time.

Tacks can be used over gimp as well. Staple the fabric to the furniture first, then cover the staples with the gimp. If tacks are not used, the gimp is traditionally stitched onto the fabric, but many a props person has been known to simply glue it on with hot glue or fabric adhesive.

Figure 12-50 and 12-51: This armchair shows how gimp that matches the color of the fabric hides the stapled edges and appears to be an integral part of the fabric. Cendrillon, Santa Fe Opera, 2006. Photo courtesy of Anna Warren.

When you need to attach fabric to an edge that cannot have visible staples or trim, place the fabric upside down, staple one edge, then fold the fabric over the staples and attach the other edges. For a clean, straight edge, use a tack strip along this edge first. This is a strip of cardboard placed over the fabric; the staples go through the strip, then through the fabric.

For curved edges, such as along an arm of a wingback chair, you can buy flexible tack strips (with brand names like Curve Ease or Ply Grip).

For the final pieces, you often cannot get tack strips on the last one or two sides. These will need to be slip stitched closed.

Figure 12-52 and 12-53: Tack strips work on the first edge when you can fold the fabric edge, but you cannot do that on the other edges. You can buy metal tack strips with sharp points sticking out along regular intervals. Wrap the fabric over this, then hammer the strip into the furniture.

Figure 12-54: With some upholstery projects, you can wrap a very thin panel of lauan or even heavy cardstock in fabric, and then attach this over the top of an area where the edges of many other pieces have been stapled so as to cover them all up. You can glue this on. You might also be able to fit a brad nail between the threads of woven fabric and nail it on.

Piping is a decorative round edge sewn into the seams to conceal where two pieces of fabric come together. Piping is typically made by wrapping piping cord (just a plain cotton cord sold at fabric and upholstery shops) with a continuous bias strip made from your upholstery fabric.

A piping foot on your sewing machine is helpful for sewing the bias strip around the piping cord because you want the stitch as close to the cord as possible.

Piping is also stapled on separately.

Tufting is where the upholsterer pulls a thread through all the layers of upholstery: the fabric, batting, stuffing, and through the back. This secures everything together and keeps the interior material from shifting and sagging. In button tufting, a button, usually covered in fabric, is attached to the end of the thread to secure it. Tufting is frequently done in patterns to add a decorative touch. Common tuft patterns include diamond, square, cross-diagonal, hexagonal, and bead-string.

Figure 12-55 and 12-56: The piping is placed inside the two pieces of fabric you will stitch together, with the piping's stitch lined up where you want the stitch on the two pieces of fabric. The red line in this picture shows where you will place your stitch to join your two pieces of fabric with your piping.

Figure 12-57: With button tufting, the thread for a button is pulled all the way to the back. It can be tied to a washer to keep it from slipping back out the holes.

Figure 12-58: This headboard is paneled with piping and square pattern button tufting.

Leather

Leather is the actual skin of an animal rather than a textile made up of individual fibers. Popular animals used in leather include cattle and pigs. Other animals such as crocodiles, snakes, and kangaroo, are used to make leather, but these rarely prove economical to use in props and are more likely to have their appearance faked.

Leather must be tanned prior to using, which stabilizes the skin to keep it from rotting away. The most popular process for the leather destined for crafts is vegetable tanning. Vegetable-tanned leather is the only kind that can be carved, stamped, embossed, hammered, and, in some cases, molded into a shell (see Chapter 15 for more specifics on that). Other tanning methods give more of a finished look to the piece, but these cannot be altered.

The thickness of leather is measured in either ounces or millimeters; 1 oz is roughly equal to 1/64″ or 0.4 mm. The thickness will not be exact and consistent over the entire hide because it is an organic material. Tooling leather, the most popular type of vegetable-tanned leather for crafts, ranges anywhere from 3 oz to 10 oz (1.2 mm to 4 mm), though most artisans prefer a skin between 8 oz and 9 oz (3.2 mm and 3.6 mm).

Stitching Leather

With tooling leather, it is very difficult to hide seams, stitches, and raw edges. Most real leather objects show off the stitching in an attractive manner.

Figure 12-59: This leather camera case was constructed from vegetable-tanned tooling leather that has been saddle stitched together with waxed sinew.

Unlike sewing fabric, the holes need to be punched ahead of time. A diamond-shaped awl works best though, in a pinch, any kind of awl or even a small drill bit will work. You do not want the thread to be loose in the holes; it just needs to be big enough to get the needle through. If the leather is thick enough (over 8 oz or 3.2 mm), you may wish to gouge a stitching channel with a stitching groover so that the threads are flush with the surface of the leather. A stitch marker (similar to a pounce wheel) is used to mark evenly spaced depressions for your holes.

Cut the holes in the face side. Then glue the two pieces of leather together. Barge and other contact cements developed for leather and vinyl work best. Now you can finish punching the holes through the back side. The edge can be sanded or shaved down carefully to make it smooth and even.

Leather is sewn with a thick sinew or a multi-ply linen thread (anywhere from 3 cord to 7 cord depending on the thickness of your leather and the strength you need). Cotton, polyester, and nylon are other popular choices for stitching leather, as long as they are thick enough for leather. Both the needles and thread need to be waxed to help them pass through the holes and to hold them in place. Some leather thread is already waxed, or you can wax your own. Needles can be waxed regularly while stitching to help as well. Beeswax is a popular wax to use in this case. Leather needles are generally larger and stronger than sewing needles for fabric.

The saddle stitch is one of the strongest stitches for leather. It requires two needles. Cut a length of your thread and attach each end to a needle. For waxed sinew and some thread, you simply have to pull a little bit through the eye of the needle and twist it around itself; it should hold without a knot. Insert one needle through the first hole (some artisans start a saddle stitch with up to three backstitches). Pull the thread exactly halfway through. Now push each needle through the next hole so that they cross each other. Continue this way down the seam. When you get to the final hole, backstitch through at least two holes, and then cut the sinew or thread as close to where it exits from the hole as you can. There is no need to knot; the backstitch should keep everything from unraveling.

The thread should be drawn snug when sewing, but you shouldn't be straining to pull it tight. You are more likely to tear the thread if you do this.

Make sure you have enough thread or sinew for the seam you are making without running out in the middle of the stitch. Since you are running two threads down the seam, you need at least twice as much string as the length of the seam. You are also going in and out of the holes, so you need to add extra; this will depend on the thickness of your two pieces of leather and how far apart your stitch holes are. Your thread may need to be as much as seven times as long as your seam. It is okay if it is too long; you are trimming it at the end, and thread is cheaper than having to redo a seam. As you gain experience in leather, you will get better at estimating how much thread you need for the thicknesses of leather you use.

Working with Other Types of Leather

Besides vegetable-tanned leather, prop builders also use garment leather and upholstery leather. Garment leather can be sewn and constructed much like fabric with some minor adjustments. The seams cannot be pinned together, so you will have to use pattern weights (small flexible weights you can place around your seam lines) or clamp the leather together (paper clips and binder clips also work well). Less bulky seams can be sewn with domestic sewing machines, though heavier seams may need an industrial machine. Use special leather sewing machine needles, and switch them out as they dull down. A walking foot is helpful too. For thread, avoid cotton because it will rot next to the leather; use nylon or polyester thread instead, and stick with upholstery-weight threads.

Pressing the seams open on garment leather can be difficult, if not impossible. You often need to stitch the seams open.

Artificial leather is a cheaper and easier-to-use alternative for some props. Pleather (plastic plus leather) is a general term for some artificial leather; Naugahyde is a popular brand of pleather. Bonded leather is another artificial leather that contains some real leather particles. Vinyl can also be made to mimic leather.

Figure 12-60: Real fur has coloring differences, direction, and variations in length that are time-consuming to duplicate with fake fur. As You Like It, the Public Theater, 2012. Scenic design by John Lee Beatty.

Figure 12-61: Acrylic and other fake fur can be shaved in parts to make it appear more realistic.

Real fur is basically leather with the hair still attached. Prop builders might use it for making a fake animal, as well as for fur rugs, throws, and other decorative accents. Fake fur (or faux fur) is often acrylic fibers attached to an underlying fabric. Real fur is worked in the same way as leather; fake fur is worked in the same way as fabric. Cut fur from the back with a sharp razor or knife. If you cut it with a scissors, you will be cutting the fur as well, creating a noticeable edge. Leave the fur uncut, and you can brush and comb it over the seams to conceal them.

Manipulating Yarn

As a prop builder, you may find yourself needing to manipulate the yarn itself to create your own textiles.

Weaving anything but the smallest pieces of fabric is often too labor-intensive for props. But you may find yourself weaving larger strands of material. Wicker baskets and furniture are made by weaving strands of reed, cane, rattan, and other plant materials. Cane and reed are woven to create cane seats and cane-backed chairs.

Knitting by hand allows you to create three-dimensional shapes out of a fabric without any seams. Crocheting is similar in theory to knitting. The practical difference comes from the fact that crocheting uses a single specialized crochet hook. Knitting requires two or more straight knitting needles. Crocheting interlocks each loop to the loops next to it, while knitting works a whole row at once.

Braiding, or plaiting, involves twisting three, or more strands together in a variety of patterns. Braiding is rarely used to make a wide sheet of cloth; rather, it is used to make ropes, decorative trim on larger items, or wrapped around handles to create a better gripping surface.

Macramé is related to knitting and braiding but involves joining the strands through knotting rather than twists or loops.