Glamour

is one of my senior projects at the University of Kansas. The inspiration for the design came from looking at popular culture of the early twentieth century, and comparing it to that of today. The shape of the couch is similar to a chaise lounge of the 1930's, but with a more futuristic twist. The idea is that it makes the person sitting in it look good! I would like to thank CF Stinson for sponsoring this project by providing me with the upholstery fabric.

This was my image board for the sofa. I used this to help me generate ideas about what I want the piece to look and feel like, and also the people that would sit in it.

These are some early sketches from my sketchbook. I then took the basic form and created a computer model. I used Solidworks for the solid modeling, and Keyshot for the rendering.

I started the building process with some quick cardboard mockups. I wanted to get a sense of the overall proportions and make sure everything was at a comfortable sitting height/depth.

This is the frame for the base.

I used sinuous springs so that I could keep the overall profile as low as possible.

A clove hitch knot is used to tie the springs together.

The frame for the arm is divided up into different sections based on material.

The frame for the sofa back.

I fabricated the feet and back supports by welding a 90 degree elbow to straight sections of tubing. The chroming process was new for me. This took a lot of work. The steel had to be sanded down to about 800 grit and then highly polished prior to getting chromed.

I started the upholstery process by sewing and stapling an under layer to get everything tight. I will then come back and sew the top layer for the finished piece.

I chose a soft vinyl for the final upholstery.

I used a top stitch for added strength on all of my seams

The arms bolt on to the base. This allowed me to upholster each piece independently.

The buttons get sewn right through the couch. This was one of the most terrifying stages for me. Once I stabbed that giant needle through the couch, there was no turning back. Aside from the initial anticipation, the trickiest part was determining the button spacing.