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has anyone used the wrong side of the fabric purposely?

16 years ago

I finally ordered the fabric for our kitchen WT, even though the background is a little more gold than I'd like. When I opened the package, the fabric was "bad side out" and it looks great. It's less gold, but then again all the colors are muted. Almost like a Ralph Lauren washed out version of this vivid jacobean fabric.

I'm tempted to have the WT made with the wrong side of the fabric. Has anyone done this?

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Comments (8)

greenmtn
16 years ago
Yes, I have done this when the right side had a shininess or a "water pattern mark" that I did not care for. I normally line my WT so nobody ever knew the difference. I say go for it if you like that side better.
sheesh
16 years ago
I've use the wrong side for garments many times! I haven't made WTs that way, but I've made many garments "wrongside out," including a gorgeous dark blue plaid wool jacket. I don't think the fabric cares which side goes where.

Sherry
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amcofar
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Yes. At a garage sale, I spied some woven pillow print squares in a box of fabric. Every time I picked up the "red" fabric, I found that the right side was mostly green. I ended up buying the two squares and using the wrong side that was woven with red threads that appeared as a few accents on the right side.
DLM2000-GW
16 years ago
I had a sofa upholstered that way. The upholsterer didn't want to guarantee it but I couldn't see any differenc in the fabric stability-wise from front to back so I took a chance. Loved it and never had any problems with it at all. I think it depends on the type of fabric. Anything with a weave that has threads more exposed on the backside would obviously be a risk.
meg711
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks everyone. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a practical reason not to do this. I like both sides but am afraid the finished WT on the right side will be too golden against our tan walls. I was even toying with the idea of using front and back together in a placemat but then it would be obvious that one side is right and one side is wrong.
jaybird
16 years ago
I often use fabrics backside out...I like the more subtle prints/colors...."faded" if you will :^)
decorpas
16 years ago
I use backside out for WT and I reupholstered a sofa like that, too. some fabric just has more life to me when you use the back.
kim2007
16 years ago
I've done this several times when I wanted a softer, subtler version of the fabric. The first time I ever saw this done (in the 1970's) was a shirt my brother who lives in Hawaii had. It was a somewhat tropical or tiki-like print that looked really interesting on the wrong side.

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