leather

[tomtom]

Hi Everyone

i have been asked to quote for upholstering some chairs. it is from a guy who makes furniture and he will be making the chairs( and a matching table. they are going to be drop in chairs. (everything sounded great until this point) he would like them in leather, and could i source the leather as well as do the upholstery (i now don't know where to start).

could someone help me!! the things that i know or haave found out are that, you by leather in hides, or half hides, that not all of the hide is useable, and that it may come with rips/tears/holes/brand marks/thin areas etc. how do you work out how much you get out of each hide before you buy? how do you make sure you are buying good quality where presumably these problems are less?

I am fairly confident with the upholstery and know that you have to heat it with a hairdryer to get the maximum stretch when upholstering and that you obviously can't pin anything, and use masking tape instead. has anyone got any more tips or know of places that i can find out more information?

the learning curves are so steep sometimes, i just have soft furnishings sort of sorted and then i start doing upholstery, so only myself to blame really.

hope someone can help, with thanks

Mary

[Rosie]

Re: leather

Hello Mary,

I have two local suppliers of hides but have never bought them.... Could you outsource this work and perhaps make a profit (albeit a smaller one than if you were doing the work yourself). It might just be worth it in the long run. Your client doesn't have to know you've outsourced the work and will have no hesitation to use you again for other works and you can make some money for simply organising the work without having to get your hands dirty on this one. I have friends who farm out headboards and pelmets and make just a small profit but no aggravation and, at the end of the day the small profits add up! Food for thought, perhaps.