Fabric · The complete guide
Upholstery fabric: the complete guide
In short: an upholstery fabric is woven tight and heavy enough to be tensioned over padding without distorting. For a seat in everyday use, aim for at least 30,000 Martindale cycles, but trust the fabric house as much as the number. Then choose the fiber and the weave for the chair, its style and the way it will be used.
Fabric is the part of a chair everyone sees, and too often the part chosen last, in a hurry. The right one makes a seat last for decades; the wrong one stretches, puckers, fades or wears through in a couple of years, however good the work underneath. Everything here comes from daily work in my atelier by Lake Annecy.
Find your answer
What do you need to know?
Six questions to ask before you fall for a color.
The basics
What makes an upholstery fabric
And why curtain fabric will not do on a seat.
Durability
Martindale cycles
What the numbers really mean.
The fiber
Natural, synthetic or blended
Linen, wool, mohair, polyester, viscose.
The weave
The main types of fabric
Velvet, jacquard, bouclé, toile de Jouy, leather.
The label
How to read the technical data
Width, repeat, composition, railroading.
Where to buy
Fabric houses
The houses worth knowing.
The basics
What makes a fabric an upholstery fabric?
It is woven tight and heavy enough to be pulled hard over padding without distorting, gaping at the seams or letting the stuffing show through. It holds tacks and staples without tearing and keeps its shape once tensioned. Curtain and dressmaking fabrics are usually too light and too loose for a seat: they can work on a headboard, a screen or a decorative back nobody leans on, but not where people sit every day.
Durability
What do the Martindale numbers really mean?
In Europe, abrasion resistance is given in Martindale cycles: a sample is rubbed against a standard abrasive cloth in a figure-of-eight movement until it shows wear. In the United States you will more often see the Wyzenbeek test, given in double rubs. Either way, the higher the number, the more friction the fabric can take.
| Martindale cycles | Typical use (industry guide) |
|---|---|
| Under 10,000 | Decorative only: cushions, headboards |
| 10,000 to 15,000 | Light domestic use: occasional chairs |
| 15,000 to 25,000 | General domestic use: dining chairs, armchairs |
| 25,000 to 40,000 | Heavy domestic use: everyday sofas, family chairs |
| Over 40,000 | Contract use: hotels, restaurants, offices |
My own rule: at least 30,000 cycles for a seat in everyday domestic use.
Here is what nobody tells you: these numbers are not always comparable. Depending on the manufacturer and its country, the test is not run or read with the same strictness, and the point at which a fabric is considered worn varies. In practice, 30,000 cycles announced by a demanding house like Pierre Frey can be worth more than 100,000 cycles announced by another brand. So read the figure, trust the fabric house as much as the number, and always judge the density and the hand of the fabric yourself. Abrasion is not the whole story either: check pilling resistance and light fastness too, especially for a chair near a window.
The fiber
Natural, synthetic or blended fibers?
Each family has its strengths, and the right choice depends on how the chair will be used.
Natural fibers
The traditional choice. Linen is strong and matte, and creases with character. Cotton is easy to work and takes color beautifully. Wool is resilient, naturally fire resistant and ages well. Mohair gives the densest, longest-lasting velvets. Silk is magnificent and fragile: keep it for pieces admired more than used.
Synthetic fibers
Polyester, acrylic and polypropylene bring strength, stain resistance and color stability. They are the base of most performance and outdoor fabrics.
Blends
Often the best compromise: the look and hand of a natural fiber with the resistance of a synthetic.
Viscose
Somewhere in between: soft and lustrous, but sensitive to water marks.
The weave
What are the main types of upholstery fabric?
The weave changes everything: how the fabric feels, how it reflects light, and how it behaves on a curve.
Plain weaves and twills
Canvas, plain linens and twills are the easiest fabrics to start with: stable, readable and forgiving, ideal for a first chair.
Velvets
Cotton, mohair, silk or synthetic, velvet has a pile, so it has a direction: its color changes with the way the pile runs, and every panel must follow the same direction. See my guide to velvet.
Jacquards, damasks and lampas
The pattern is woven in, not printed. The traditional fabrics of French period seats, from Louis XV to Napoleon III, like the cabriolet: rich, structured, often heavy, with a motif to center on the seat and the back.
Bouclé and chenille
Textured, soft and very popular on modern shapes. Bouclé is made of looped yarns, chenille of a fuzzy yarn that catches the light. Their resistance varies a lot from one quality to another: check the figures.
Printed fabrics and toile de Jouy
Printed cottons and linens bring pattern at a lighter weight. The print sits on the surface, so the base cloth matters as much as the design.
Leather and faux leather
Not strictly a fabric, but a classic for office chairs, club chairs and dining seats. Leather is sold by the hide, not off the roll, and is worked differently from woven fabric.
What is velvet Fabric? An Upholsterer’s Guide to Velvet
The label
How do you read an upholstery fabric label?
Every fabric house gives the same basic information, and learning to read it saves a lot of disappointment.
Width
How much fabric you get across the roll: usually around 140 cm (54 in) for upholstery.
Repeat
The height and width of the pattern: it decides how much fabric you lose when you match it. Estimate the total with the fabric calculator.
Composition and abrasion
The fibers, and how much wear the fabric can take.
Care, light and fire
Cleaning instructions, light fastness and fire ratings. Fire rules vary by country and by use: a home, a hotel and a public space do not follow the same standards.
Direction matters too. Some fabrics can be railroaded, turned sideways on the chair, which saves fabric on a wide seat or a sofa and avoids seams. Others cannot, because of their pile or their pattern. All these words are in the upholstery glossary, in English and French.
Your seat
How do you choose the right fabric for your seat?
It depends on the chair, its style, its use and the technique underneath. A Louis XVI bergère, a dining chair used three times a day and a mid-century armchair do not call for the same cloth. Before you fall for a color, ask yourself who sits there, how often, in what light, and whether the fabric will follow the shapes of the frame. I go through all these questions one by one in this members’ article.
What Type of Upholstery Fabric Should You Choose to Cover a Seat?
On the chair
From fabric to finished seat: covering
A good fabric only shows its quality once it is on the chair. The grain has to run straight, the pattern has to sit in the center of the seat and the back, the pile of a velvet has to run the same way on every panel, and the tension has to be even. And each fabric reacts differently: a stiff jacquard does not fold like a soft linen, and a bouclé does not forgive the same mistakes as a canvas.
Upholstery techniques tutorials for COVERING
Where to buy
Designer fabrics and fabric houses
Fabric houses design and publish collections, then sell them through upholsterers, decorators and showrooms. French houses have a long tradition of upholstery fabrics, from historical reproductions to very contemporary designs. A good house gives you consistent quality, reliable technical data and a color that stays the same from one order to the next. My favorites, and why, in this article. And the collections I am currently eyeing are in the fabrics section.
My favorite fabrics brands
Upholstery fabric: your questions
How much fabric do I need for a chair?
It depends on the size, the shape and the pattern. As a guide, in 140 cm (54 in) wide fabric: about 0.70 m (¾ yd) for a chair seat, 1 m (1⅛ yd) for a bridge chair, 1.5 m (1⅝ yd) for a cabriolet, and much more for a fully upholstered armchair. Add 10 to 15% for a pattern to match, and use the free fabric calculator.
Can I use any fabric to reupholster a chair?
You can, but you should not. A fabric that is too thin, too loose or too weak on abrasion will stretch, show the stuffing and wear out quickly. Always check that it is sold for upholstery.
What is the most durable upholstery fabric?
Durability depends more on the weave and the density than on the fiber alone. Tightly woven fabrics with a high abrasion score, mohair velvet, good wool and quality blends are among the most hard-wearing.
How many Martindale cycles do I need for a chair?
For everyday domestic use, at least 30,000. A high number from an unknown brand does not always mean a more durable fabric than a lower one from a serious house.
What is the best fabric for a beginner?
A plain, medium-weight fabric without a pattern or a pile: you focus on tension and corners without worrying about a motif or the direction of a velvet.
Should I order a sample first?
Always. Colors change from a screen to real light, and only the fabric in your hands tells you its weight, its hand and how it drapes over an edge.
Go further
Fabric is only the visible layer
The Hammer Club
Every fabric, on a real chair
All the tutorials and members-only articles: step-by-step photo tutorials, many with video, on real chairs, from the first cut to the last fixing.
Written by Céline Vanier, running her own upholstery atelier by Lake Annecy for more than 15 years.
