Victorian Iron Back Chair in Bute Tweed

A Victorian iron back chair reupholstered in Bute tweed.

This chair belonged to a customer's grandmother and had been handed down through the family. It was very tired looking with a spring poking through the seat. She bravely decided to go for a contemporary wool fabric, bringing this great little chair into the 21st Century.

As any upholsterer will tell you and iron back chair is a serious undertaking. The back is made in iron strips so there can be no tacks, each stage must be hand stitched to the next. (For an excellent blog post on these chairs see The London Chair Collective here).

This chair was made with real horse and hog hair, a time consuming but quite wonderful process that gives it a hand-made feel in keeping with its age.

To add something extra, the customer asked for an accent piping and we found a great match using Melin Tregwynt Carew wool.

What would the Victorians say?

This was a commission.

Parker Knoll Armchair in stripes

A small Parker Knoll armchair reupholstered in striped velvet fabric.

Something of the boating blazer about it don't you think?

Delighted to say they all line up, even the piping.

Can't say fairer than that.

This was a commission.

Feather bolster cushions in Bute fabric by Timorous Beasties

Here's a pair of feather bolster cushions I made in the terrific Ramshead fabric by Bute and designed by the equally terrific Timorous Beasties.

I don't usually make cushions for customers unless there's some fabric left over from an upholstery project but I've been wanting to use this fabric for ages so jumped at the chance.

Bute have somehow found a way to weave a pattern that looks like a ram's head - how on earth did they do that?

Right, who wants a chair done in this? Just imagine how good that's going to look. Think about it, the chair you sit in every day covered in this fabric. This can happen...

This was a commission.

1970's Wingback Armchair in Bute wool fabric

A 1970's wingback armchair reupholstered in Bute Argyll fabric, designed by Jasper Morrison.

Jolly smart.

This was a commission.

Bus Stop Bench at Sarnau, Carmarthenshire.

A deep-buttoned seat-pad softening up the bench for bus travellers waiting opposite the Cana Chapel at Sarnau.

Made from vinyl offcuts and random coat buttons, it's entirely waterproof but I decided not to fix it to the bench because it looks like the swallows are still using the nest inside - if they are it could get rather messy.

Deep buttoning with different sized buttons into odd cuts of waste foam stuck haphazardly onto board while inebriated does not give you the best finish so this is as much of a close up as you're getting.

But why not eh?