Upholstery and Sail-Building with Kathy Kludy
| Kathy Kludy has been in the Upholstery business for 30 years. She started by helping her mother-in-law with recovering an easy chair. She took classes at Northwestern Community College in Illinois and MATC here in Madison. She ran an upholstery business in McFarland for 20 years, with up to six employees at one time. Kathy is now the resident upholsterer for the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union. In addition to traditional upholstery work she maintains all of the drapes in the various meeting rooms as well as creating flags and banners that are flown all around the terrace. She has over ten years of experience teaching upholstery. |
|
Kathy has also found an exciting way to combine her lifelong appreciation for and experience in sewing with her love of sailing. Kathy teaches a hands-on sail-making course at MATC that is growing increasingly popular each time it is offered.
"The class is designed for pleasure boat owners," she said. "And by the time it's over - in six weeks time - students will have built a sail plus have the knowledge to repair and make other sails."
Students in the sail-building class purchase kits from Sailrite that include all necessary materials, hardware, and instructions to fit the needs of the individual students, and use MATC's well-equipped sewing lab to produce the sails. In past classes, projects have varied from 9-foot to 33-foot sails. Kathy says that students might spend $800 for the kit to produce a 33-foot sail that's actually worth about $3000.
Kathy said that most of the sail-building students have no previous experience with sail-building, and all of the students are sailors with a love of the sport who end up helping each other. No previous experience with sewing is required.
Kathy estimates that roughly forty students have taken the class since she began teaching it in 2005. "The students have really been impressed with their work," Kathy said. "It's a lot of fun seeing the sail take shape and to know that you made it. Plus, we get to talk a lot about our mutual love of sailing."
In Kathy's upholstery classes, beginning students usually start with a small project such as a footstool or a small chair with minimal upholstery as shown below.
One of the first things upholstery students learn is how to do an eight-way tie using coil springs as pictured above to produce a long-lasting and even seat.
More advanced students may choose to work with vinyl; contrasting cording shown on the boat cushions below is a fun design element and an extra challenge.
Class projects often include restoring antique or contemporary residential furniture, or a student may choose to purchase a frame to start from scratch.
Many people like to restore an antique to its rightful beauty. With new fabric and padding, an old piece of furniture can last many more years.
 |
MATC Adult & Continuing Education (608-258-2301) offers daytime, evening and Saturday upholstery and sail-building classes in the summer. Prospective students are welcome to contact Kathy Kludy at 608-838-8632 or at  to discuss project ideas.
|
Photos above © 2004 Kathy Kludy
Last Modified:
July 2, 2008
top
|
