Specialty Fabrics Review July 2020 - 43

damask patterns in a shade of silver so specific
it took Becker months to source and then
match when upholstering and painting the
furniture. The search for silk to line the
gold room's walls, featuring a Newport leaf
pattern, wasn't any easier; it had to match
the room's stained glass windows.
Before scouring dozens of mills and
fabric stores, Becker met with members
of the Galveston Historical Foundation,
who provided photographs of the original
property and research support throughout the
project to ensure consistent alignment on and
approval of the selected fabrics and patterns.
"When you're giving a tourist attraction like
this a makeover, it has to retain that 'wow'
effect," Becker says. "We kept very close
contact with the foundation."
Mills across Europe helped Becker and her
team fine-tune all of the patterns. "We just
waited very patiently for samples; you can
go through hundreds on projects like this.
It's time-consuming but very important for
matching the patterns and dye lots," Becker
says. "We were fortunate to be able to find
the right colors, but it took nearly a year of
going back and forth with both the mills and
the foundation."
The final products included 50 yards of
silk damask from France for the music room,
along with a raised chenille silver damask
pattern for the upholstery of the silver-leafed
furniture, and 68 yards of gold Scalamandré
silk from Italy for the gold room.
SERIOUS CRAFTSMANSHIP
Most of the artistic expression shines
through during the next phase: installation.
Historical preservation projects like this
are undertaken infrequently, so the liners,
adhesives and technique must be of the
highest quality for long-term durability.
Before applying the silk to the walls, Becker
and her team sewed the patterns together
using industrial upholstering sewing
machines and silk thread.
A custom liner was applied first to protect
against moisture-an important consideration
for the island-based location. The silk was
applied over the liner using special adhesives
and cording placed around the fabric to hold
it in place along with industrial, stainlesssteel staples. It took six days and five people

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Specialty Fabrics Review July 2020

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