November, 1917 
35 
because of strong light. Often salt air will 
affect a dye, and so will the heat of a radiator 
or a gas stove. Even the paint on your wall 
may change a dye through chemical action. 
Of course, this latter case is a rare one, but it 
has been known to happen. Then the acids of 
the human body, through perspiration, will 
often affect dyes of the more fragile fabrics 
used for upholstery. 
Where hard wear is wanted, a short, close 
pile velvet will always be best. Long, straight 
piles in cotton or silk velvets mark rather badly 
and should not be put on furniture. Mohair 
velvets are not affected as easily by pressure. 
They are, in fact, the hardest wearing textile 
we have, except perhaps the old-time hair-cloth, 
of parlor sofa fame. The new 
frise or uncut mohair velvets (also 
called frisettes) give excellent 
wear. “Frise” means curled in 
French, and examination will show 
that the pile is actually curled in a 
loop. By cutting some of the loops 
and leaving others uncut, we ob¬ 
tain the “cut and uncut” figured 
or striped velvets. An infinite 
variety of design is possible, and 
some very effective and hard wear¬ 
ing materials are thus obtained. 
The domestic treatment of mo¬ 
hair in this manner is quite per¬ 
fect, but for the silk “cut and un¬ 
cut” velvets, we still have to go 
abroad. We are nowhere near 
perfection in this work, in fact 
most of our attempts have had 
very poor results. On the other 
hand, great improvement has been 
made in the manufacture of plain 
silk velvets here. Probably they 
are not quite as fine as the product 
France used to send over, but we 
are making velvets many times 
better than we did a few years ago, 
and are continually improving. 
The Silk Fabrics 
In many ways, our domestic 
silk goods equal the foreign im¬ 
portations. The taffetas, satins, 
reps, armures and damasks made 
by some of our best domestic 
mills are so like the fabrics made 
abroad that it is hard to distin¬ 
guish between them. 
The weave and the texture of 
the goods is a far more important 
matter than the origin. In taffeta, 
for instance, it will be advisable to discard the 
thin, loose woven, stiff article, with its “pa¬ 
pery” feel. The best drapery silk will be the 
soft, closely woven taffeta which will not split 
or break as the stiffer ones do. 
Much the same can be said of the drapery 
satins and the reps. See that the face of the 
satin which you select is closely woven and 
that the heavy cotton cord or filling of the rep 
is well covered with silk. 
Never use an armure weave if you are look¬ 
ing for a hard wearing furniture covering. 
The design is woven with loose threads and 
such surfaces are liable to wear very badly. 
Armures are very effective wall coverings, and 
are very satisfactory for hangings, bedspreads 
and so on, but they were never intended to 
stand hard usage. This is true of all armures 
—silk, cotton or mercerized. The textile used 
only alters the cost and the appearance, and 
the loose threads thrown to the surface are 
present in any case. The cotton armures and 
their numberless variations have proved excel¬ 
lent drapery fabrics, especially for rooms of a 
light character—boudoirs, bedrooms and so on 
—and even the most inexpensive have given 
very satisfactory results. It is noticeable that 
cotton generally holds a dye better than silk, 
and for that reason, if no other, the mercerized 
and cotton armures are splendid fabrics to use 
in a seaside or country home. 
The Variety of Damasks 
When a rich upholstery material is needed for 
hard usage, it will be hard to improve on dam¬ 
ask. Indeed, few are the wants that cannot be 
filled with a damask of some kind or other. 
There are soft silk damasks for draperies, 
stronger ones—all silk, or silk and linen mix¬ 
tures—for furniture and wall coverings, and 
also cotton or mercerized damasks for less 
elaborate schemes. All these are woven in a 
close fabric with a design of the same color 
(self-toned damask) or a pattern woven in a 
color contrasting with the background (two- 
toned damask). The threads are closely inter¬ 
woven and not thrown loose on the surface as 
in the case of an armure. The result is, of 
course, a better wearing fabric in nearly all 
instances. Printed warps are sometimes used, 
and some very effective color effects can be 
obtained in that way. The warp is printed 
before being used in the loom, and the plain- 
colored contrasting filling helps to show up 
the colors printed on the numberless threads 
which make up the warp. 
Brocatelle is very similar in appearance to 
a damask, but the pattern is slightly raised 
from the background. Brocatelles make won¬ 
derful wall coverings and draperies, but seem 
less successful as furniture coverings. They 
lose their embossed effect after a while and 
wear unevenly, the raised pattern taking most 
of the wear first. 
It is a mistake to believe an all silk damask 
or brocatelle or other material is better wear¬ 
ing than a mixture. There are many uphol¬ 
stery fabrics, mixtures of silk and linen or 
silk and cotton, which will give better results 
than an all silk material. Of course, at even 
weight an all silk material will outwear a mix¬ 
ture, but it is difficult to obtain as heavy a 
pure silk material, and it is much more costly. 
Too soft or flimsy a material should not be 
used on furniture, but should rather be reserved 
for hangings. A fairly firm fabric is best for 
upholstery purposes and for wall coverings. 
A simple test of weaves in general consists 
in trying to part the warp and the 
filling of the fabric by gently 
pulling the surface threads be¬ 
tween your thumb and index fin¬ 
ger, keeping both flat each side 
of the fabric. If the threads give 
easily and leave a gap in the sur¬ 
face, it shows loose weaving; the 
stronger the resistance, the closer 
the weave, and, especially where 
silks are concerned, the better the 
quality of the fabric. 
Cotton, mercerized and jute 
damasks are usually considered 
wall coverings, but seem often ap¬ 
propriate for inexpensive hang¬ 
ings, should the “dressy” appear¬ 
ance of silk be unnecessary. Wool 
damasks, although a little out of 
fashion at present, are reliable for 
both hangings and drapery pur¬ 
poses, but are never so pleasant 
to the touch as their rivals, the 
silk damasks. 
The Brocades 
Of course, the fabric par excel¬ 
lence is brocade, so often called 
silk tapestry in error. This won¬ 
derful material combines the lux¬ 
urious appearance of silk with a 
profusion of colors that prints 
alone can rival. They are the 
richest product of the silk indus¬ 
try and where a really elaborate 
room is desired, they are the 
logical material to use. 
Some brocades, aside from 
their colored designs, have metal 
threads of silver or gold woven 
in. The French call these lam- 
pas, and the best of them are 
imported from either France or Italy. 
Brocades are sometimes so beautifully made 
that they are difficult to tell from hand em¬ 
broidery. This brings needlework to mind. 
Petit point and gros point tapestries (French 
for “small stitch” and “large stitch”) are hand 
needlework on a canvas base, done usually 
with heavy threads of wool and forming a 
square stitch. Antique needlework pieces are 
rare and costly, but many machine imitations 
have been made that give very much the same 
effect, and are just as hard wearing. 
Wool tapestries always seem to have a richer 
look than cotton ones. They are really better, 
but of course more expensive, and it is well 
to know how to select a satisfactory cotton 
tapestry. For wall coverings or hangings they 
will nearly all wear well enough, but not for 
furniture. Many loose or roughly woven tapes¬ 
tries will not wear as upholstery fabrics. A 
heavy texture with a fairly smooth, even sur¬ 
face gives the best results, and the closer the 
weave the better, of course. 
“Fables de la Fontaine,” a modern French, hand-blocked, printed linen, 
showing the fine workmanship attained in these recent reproductions 
