Closely related to the last fabric term I posted about, "railroading" refers to the direction of a fabric nap or design as it was woven at the mill. Usually the nap or pattern of a piece of fabric runs up the roll (toward the cut edge). A "railroaded" piece has a pattern or nap that runs from one side of the fabric to the other. To you fabric-conscious folks, we're talking from selvedge to selvedge. (And to you fabric-unconscious people, the selvedge is the woven edge on each side that keeps fabric from fraying.) Maybe this diagram will make things clearer.
OK, I can hear the wheels turning. Some of you are thinking, "What's the purpose of railroading?" The answer is simple. Most upholstery fabric is 54" wide. If you are using an upholstery fabric with an obvious pattern or nap and have a cushion or back that's wider than 54" you may want a continuous piece of fabric covering it, rather than having a seam where two pieces of fabric were sewn together. That's where railroaded fabric comes in handy.
A solid-color cotton or vinyl, a plain tweed or a leather doesn't have an up or a down, so it generally can be railroaded. Even some fabrics with patterns, such as a square or a diamond pattern, can be railroaded, as long as the pattern looks the same in each direction.
Fabrics with a nap, like velvet, chenille, velour, corduroy or a hide with hair, obviously cannot be railroaded. However, some napped fabrics are woven that way so they can be used on large items.
From interiormall.com
Fabrics such as these look the same either direction, whether applied regularly or railroaded.
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Knoll vinyl
modern-fabrics.com |
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Carnegie Pebble
modern-fabrics.com |
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Momentum Boom
modern-fabrics.com |
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Maharam Checker
by Alexander Girard
jandofabric.com |
A fabric that might look at first glance that it could be turned either way is this Maharam
Pavement by Irving Harper for George Nelson, but even though the circles are identical, if railroaded, the "arrows" would be going the wrong direction, at least to a person who is familiar with the design. The same is true of the Alexander Girard
Quatrefoil, since there is more space between the lines of Xs one way than the other. While it might work from an upholstery standpoint, it would be a little like hanging a famous painting sideways.
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Maharam Pavement
by Irving Harper for George Nelson
jandofabric.com |
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Maharam Quatrefoil
by Alexander Girard
jandofabrics.com |
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Railroaded bench
marcofabrics.com.au |
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Railroaded drapes
tonicliving.com |
