Bus Stop Cushion at Crai, Powys.

Here's a huge cushion currently softening-up a wooden bench used by bus travllers on the A4067 at Crai.

This cushion took a long time to make, probably a year's worth of waste material stripped from many reupholstered chairs. At 3.2 metres long and 3 inches thick, stuffing it was like wrestling an alligator. The piping was made from lengths of nylon twine collected from Pendine beach. It is stuffed with pieces of waste foam stripped from other chairs which is why it's so bumpy (if I were making a new bench seat it would certainly not have wrinkly edges), the mis-matched piping added to its wonkiness.

Wonky or not, this is seriously comfortable with plenty of room for a proper sleep, so if you've missed your bus after a few pints at the excellent Tanner's Arms, you know where to sleep it off.

Dolaucothi Arms dining chairs in Welsh wool

A mishmash of different dining chairs reupholstered in a variety of Welsh wool fabrics (including Melin Tregwynt and Melin Trefriw) now in the bar and dining rooms at the Dolaucothi Arms, Pumsaint, Dyfed, Wales.

This pub stood empty for years and I would often lament 'another dead pub' as I passed by when all of a sudden the door was open again. Now owned by the National Trust, the pub has had a major overhaul and is now run by young English couple, David and Esther. I went in for a few pints and suggested that their hotchpotch of dining chairs would look superb in a hotchpotch of Welsh wools, they agreed.

They have a simple and excellent menu and some really good ales - I strongly suggest you get up there and try them out. Live too far away? Don't like driving to pubs? No excuse, rooms also available.

Thanks to Jess Jones for the photos. Dolaucothi Facebook page here.

Wingback Armchairs in Sanderson Wool

A pair of late 19th Century wingback armchairs fully reupholstered and covered in Sanderson Woodford Plaid 100% wool.

Sometimes upholstery is like tailoring, and while chairs are certainly less fidgety than people, they can be just as demanding. Those large checks still have to line up you know.

It's fair to say that this shapely pair took more a fair bit longer than anticipated, but worth it in the end I think.

These are a commission.

Enormous Bean Bag

I made this huge bean bag floor cushion as a prop for Jem Moore for his new photography studio in Aberaeron. It's 5 feet long and three feet wide.

I'd never made one this size before and getting 30 cubic feet of polystyrene beans into it soon became a family matter. 2 adults, one eight year old and a home-made cardboard funnel did the trick. So if you need a vast floor-lounger, it looks like I'm your man.

A succession of stools

I've been making lots footstools and dressing stools for sale in local retailers, all covered in Welsh wool and ready for Christmas. Here are a few:

I've been stocking up on small items at the auction houses recently, let me know quickly if you need any for Christmas presents.


(Some terrible photography/Photoshop work here I know but you get the general idea.)

Milking Stool in Melin Tregwynt Wool

 A milking stool in Melin Tregwynt St. David's Cross (Ember) doublecloth. I used the B side for a change, nice eh?

I never expected to make anything cute, but this certainly is that.

Might get ruined if you actually used it for milking cows, but that's your decision.

Bus Stop Chair at Cwm Twrch, Swansea Valley.

Here's a chair I saved from landfill - now available for bus travellers on the A4068 at Cwm Twrch.

I covered the chair seat and back in some damaged sections of one of my wife, Julie Ann Sheridan's acrylic paintings. She's got a new show opening at The Last Gallery in a couple of weeks, you might want to get along to that and snap up some of her work.

As ever I added a plastic toy. A slightly scared looking spaceman.

Appearance on ITV's Alan Titchmarsh Show

Ludicrously I was asked to go on the Alan Titchmarsh Show to talk about Guerilla Upholstery. I said yes. Whatever next?

I did manage to shake Alan's hand wearing hairy gorilla hands, so it was all very worthwhile.
This is a shaky film of the programme on a TV to spare you the rest of the very highbrow programme content.

Parker Knoll Armchairs in Melin Tregwynt wool

A pair of 1960's Parker Knoll 988 'King & Queen' armchairs in Melin Tregwynt Mondo Sage wool.

I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw these in a skip in my local recycling centre. I fished them out and was delighted to find the frames were still in excellent condition.

After a full restoration, they are now covered in 100% wool by these great people.

'King and Queen' means one is smaller than the other, but in this case they're identical chairs but one has wings. I think we'll call the one with wings the Queen rather than the King if that's ok with you?

These chairs are for sale at £1200 for the pair.

1930's armchair in St. Jude's fabric

A 1930's armchair restored and reupholstered in St.Jude's Treehouse linen.

This customer has a very 1950's style home and when I showed her the St. Jude's early range, she went straight for this pattern. It goes well on the simple structure of this chair.

 Seat detail.

This was a commission.

Bus Stop Chair at Rhosaman

Here's a chair I saved from the dump - now available for bus-waiting purposes on the A4068 between Rhosaman and Cymllynfell.

I painted the chair and covered it in a scrap of damaged Welsh blanket (or carthen), so it looks quite appropriate on the southern edge of the Black Mountain.

And, what do you know? it even has a little plastic sheep tacked to the foot rail.

Ercol armchair in Melin Tregwynt Wool

An Ercol 203 armchair reupholstered in Melin Tregwynt St. David's Cross (Birchwood) doublecloth.

These chairs have now reached the status of Genuine British Classic and need no introduction from me.

The wool is an historic pattern based on early 18th Century Shaker weaves but carries the well-known motifs of centuries of Welsh blankets. Woven in Wales by these terrific people .

The seat cushion is a bespoke fit but I decided not to make a bespoke seat back this time because I wanted the back spindles to be visible for that Shaker look. This also makes the back cushion more versatile, allowing it to be used on other chairs/sofas/etc.

This chair is £500


The chair and the footstool below will be on show along with some of my other Welsh Wool chairs at the Llandovery Sheep Festival this weekend - they're mainly in the Red Giraffe Studio but there's also the Organic Wool Chair I made for Llynfi Textiles on their stall.

Give me a call if you're going and we could meet for a pint.

Long Footstool in Melin Tregwynt Wool

Long footstool traditionally reupholstered and covered in Melin Tregwynt St. David's Cross (ember).

£120 sorry, this was has now sold

Bus Stop Cushion at Llangadog (again)

In June last year I fitted a cushion to a bus stop bench on the A40 at Llangadog (details here). After a year it had become dirty and sun bleached so I thought I'd better replace it with a new one. Here it is.

I hope the people in the nearby houses look after it as well as they did the last one - I would occasionally pass by and it would be hanging down at the back or off the side, but by the time I'd return, someone would have straightened it up again.

Over the past year I've seen people stop to photograph it and seen many people sitting on it. I think this one is even more comfortable.

Armchair in Melin Tregwynt wool

A 1990's armchair re-upholstered in Melin Tregwynt Luna Autumn wool.

This customer spent ages looking for a comfortable armchair to replace their own slightly worn-out one but drew a blank. They gave me a call, I showed them my Welsh wool patterns - and now they have this.

Wool is such a great fabric for furniture because it is warm and comfortable. This pattern is very contemporary but looks traditional on this chair and will fit in to the customer's home well.

This is 100% wool doublecloth, woven in Wales by these fabulous people.
  

This was a commission - if you're cool enough to commission a chair in a fabric as wonderful as this then let me know, it's much less expensive than you think.

Lloyd Loom Armchairs in Welsh Blankets

Two different Lloyd Loom chairs re-painted and re-upholstered using different sides of a Welsh blanket or 'Carthen'.

I love Welsh wool and use it wherever possible but have a policy not to 'cut' them so I never use Welsh blankets that are in good condition, I think they're best kept as blankets. Here I found one that was very damaged and managed to salvage a few useable pieces. There are minor flaws in these too, so these chairs are available at a very reasonable price.

£95 per chair - can't be bad.

1940s Armchair

A 1940s armchair in a rather 1920s style, now covered in Sanderson Trilby Turtle (I kid you not).

I think this should have had a feather cushion but the customer wanted a sturdy foam seat. I think it worked out pretty well in the end.

 

I love the angle on this chair, best seen in this side view.

This was a commission - six metres of fabric on this, so it wasn't a cheap one, but as always with re-upholstery, well worth it.