Personally, I don't care for the look of tufted checks. If you do go that route, be sure your upholsterer is very talented, so the lines stay straight. Here's an example of a buffalo check with a little tufting.

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Thank you Maddie. I don't care for that at all but I expect it is because of the intensity of the colors and the style of the sofa. I could probably have the back without the tufting. I was going to post a pic of the chair with the fabric sample but the color looked so muddied that it wasn't at all representative of the actual color.

How committed are you to the tufting? I ask because tufting a patterned fabric is hard to do well. You can see on the existing fabric that the upholsterer tried to center those shell type things between the pleats, which didn't work perfectly. It also means that the shell things don't line up from top to bottom. Tufting a patterned fabric is an art and isn't always going to work depending on the scale of the fabric and of the design of the tufts. Those tufts in particular, look a little too close together for the checked fabric.

I think just doing the check flat will be really cute on those chairs. You could do a contrast piping if you want, but even bias piping of the check fabric will set them off.

Just my two cents.

24K rubs is fine for an occasional chair.

I don't think fabric stores usually keep bolts just to cut samples from. Are the stripes woven or printed? If the fabric is printed out of grain, I would avoid it, but if it is woven and has gotten twisted somehow, that is less of a concern.

Love it! I think it would be beautiful.

I think you can tuft it w/o a problem.

Patrick, I really want to keep the tufting but I can go without if it means a better visual. The fabric pattern is woven. It is about $80/yd so it should be a decent quality. Thank you for recommending piping. That should set the chair off beautifully.

Tib, that chair is very well done. I am looking for a local upholsterer now but may have to venture outside our county. If the upholsterer says tufting is a no no I will have them do a plain back but I would think a skilled upholsterer could do it. I would love to see it photoshopped with a non tufted back.

I think the tufting makes that sweet chair! I would find a different fabric before letting go of the tufts. A good upholsterer should be able to guide you.

Thanks Voila. Theses chairs are very special to me and will hopefully be handed down to my children and grandchildren. I can remember visiting "the girls", as they were known. Of course they were old ladies when I was a child so it always made me giggle to hear them referred to as girls. Their home was an old Victorian and the chairs were perfect in their parlor. That home was always dark because of the wrap around porch and it was slightly creepy to a young girl.

IMO-- I wouldn't use tufting with pattern on those chairs-- they already have a lot of ornamentation going on and the tufting + pattern competes as it is. I think a larger scale piece with simpler lines can handle tufting + pattern. Personally, I think they would look stunning in a pattern with no tufting or a solid (I am a sucker for velvet anything) with tufting.

Great to see you, HollyK! You have such wonderful taste. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Lol, May. I never would have put a check fabric on a Victorian chair. Never ever. But...I put the sample on the chair while I was in my library, when I walked back into the room I had an oh my gosh reaction. The bright Aqua and linen color in the fabric just looked fabulous. It made my dowdy little chair look bright and new. Like a plain girl putting on a beautiful gown that transforms her from plain Jane to a beauty.

Anele, it's great to see you too. The upholstery for these chairs was actually at the bottom of my to do list. I figured it would be a year or more until I was ready to do these, if ever.

I adore velvet also but I didn't think a plain velvet would do anything for the chairs. They really aren't much to look at and if they weren't family pieces I may have never bothered to recover them. Maybe they would look great covered in an aqua velvet but I can't picture it. I would love to see a photo shopped pic of Aqua velvet and also the buffalo check but that is not one of my talents.

i also remember someone (Roarah maybe?), who recovered an antique chair in a fabric that I thought was all wrong for the chair. It turned out beautifully. Of course this fabric could look absolutely horrendous on my chairs. I will keep looking but I have this in the back of mind.

I don't think Holly-Kay lives either in the Victorian Era, nor in a museum, so I don't see why anyone should expect her to make the same choices that people in that period were forced to make rather than adapting an inherited piece to suit her contemporary situation (the latter itself an example of thrift, near and dear to the Victorians). The juxtaposition of apparently contrasting elements is an important source of energy and interest in contemporary design.

Says who? :P

Holly, re the velvet-- my personal preference would be to see the checks on that chair. I think it would be lovely. But if you are set on tufts-- I think a solid would be great. I am lazy to like velvet and suggest it. I am sure there are more exciting choices!

Honestly Anele, the fabric just sings to me. So much so that I think I would give up the tufts to make the fabric work. I love the Biron check and ordered the sample for my bedroom chair so if I use the BC on my library chairs I have to find a fabric for my bedroom chair. I really wanted a check/plaid in my bedroom. My coverlet is blue and ivory floral on one side and reverses to blue and ivory stripes. I think a check would be fab on the bedroom chair but maybe a Matelasse or damask would work.

ETA: I think it may have been jlc712 who did her darling chair in an unexpected fabric and it looked wonderful.

Your vision sounds lovely. And if you think you will like the tufts with the fabric-- that is really honestly the only opinion that matters! I think it will be quite stunning either way.