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.

1920s Caned Armchairs

A pair of 1920s caned armchairs re-upholstered in Sanderson tweed.

These chairs were in the house I grew up in and were originally upholstered by my dad. He was a trimmer in the car trade for Aston Martin, Vanden Plas and London Transport. His great claim to fame was that he upholstered the ejector seat in the James Bond Aston Martin. He also did re-upholstery from home and would make me stand around and pass him tools when I really wanted to be in my bedroom listening to The Smiths and generally being a whining teenager. The rest, of course, is history.

When my dad died a couple of years ago, I took these chairs and agreed to re-upholster them for my eldest sister - so here they are. The problem is that my brother always wanted them but had nowhere for them so my sister stepped in - I just hope he doesn't suddenly want them back...

I loved the fabric she chose, Sanderson Highland Weave - Skye, is 100% wool so my favourite material to work with. It really took some time getting these small checks to line up I can tell you, at times it felt more like tailoring.

This seat had to be re-caned, (not my favourite job in the world), but the other had already been re-caned by my dad in the 1980s so it was nice to have his work next to mine.

Many thanks to my sister Carmel for stumping up the cash to have these done, it's a pleasure to see them in use again. Please don't tell my brother or my other sister though - there'll be a regular Sheridan bun-fight.

Danish Chair in Melin Tregwynt Wool

1970's teak chair covered in Melin Tregwynt Mondo Sage wool. I think it's Danish but really can't be sure.

I've just secured a trade account with Melin Tregwynt and have invested in quite a bit of this pattern, so expect to see a few chairs in this in the coming months. The mill is one of very few still producing double-cloth in Wales.

This chair has been made for sale at Tregaron craft centre and is pretty expensive, but if you're fashionable enough to commission a chair in this outstanding fabric I can do one for you at a very reasonable price.

Parker Knoll Armchair in Bute Tweed

I'm always trying to persuade customers to go for good quality fabric, particularly wool. Quite often they go for it as with this armchair. It's the best fabric to use - very warm and comfortable, which, unsurprisingly, is a useful characteristic for an armchair.

But they will nearly always go for the muted, neutral colours.
'Doing up the house' programmes have a lot to answer for.

Really nice though, eh?

Bus Stop Chair - Nantgaredig, Carmarthenshire

During some extensive hedge trimming along the A40, the council recently uncovered this bus stop that had been more or less claimed by Mother Nature. It was as though they had done it just for me so I had to make a chair for it.

As the bus stop isn't watertight I used some old vinyl from another chair and painted the whole thing in waterproof acrylic - a camouflage pattern was the obvious choice.

I added a suitable soldier just to, you know, bring the whole thing together.

Small Armchair in Bute Wool

A 1980's armchair of no real quality that a customer told me she really loved. Now covered in Bute tweed and looking comparatively fantastic.

Fabric of this quality makes everything look good. It's great how it moulds around the arms and edges.

Many customers who come to my workshop are discouraged  by the cost of re-upholstery and often I advise against it if the item is not high quality to begin with. But when something is really loved or has other sentimental value, it's well worthwhile. How else would you get a small armchair covered in such great fabric for under £200?

This was a commission.

Llanspyddid, Powys - Bus Stop Chair

Here's a chair I fished out of a skip, now available for travellers at a bus stop on the A40 half way between Llanspyddid and the Cwm Camlais turnoff.

I painted the chair and covered it in a nylon offcut from a 1970's curtain.

I added this grotesque character to offset the rather 'Auntie Norah' upholstery.

Organic Wool Wales Project

I was asked to contribute to the Organic Wool Wales Project and decided to re-upholster a 1960's mini-chair. Here's a daft little film of the chair from start to finish:

 

The woolen fabric is not strictly upholstery weight, but worked very well on this little chair.

The chair will be on show at the Wonder Wool Wales show in Builth Wells later this month.

1930's recliner chair

A 1930's recliner chair (or steamer chair as they're also called) re-upholstered in an Ercol fabric.

Well smart.

This was a commission.

Victorian Armchair

A Victorian armchair re-upholstered in silver velvet.

A traditional horse-hair and hessian restoration of a Victorian chair that a customer rescued from a skip. It was in a sorry state but not any more.

Traditional upholstery takes ages but I love doing it so I always price low to get these type of jobs - I could do one of these for you for under £400, can't be bad.

This was a commission.

Bird Hide Benches

A local bird hide with very rough-topped benches is now considerably more comfortable by these deep-buttoned pads covered in a 1970's floral linen.

So bird enthusiasts in Talyllychau won't get sore backsides when looking out over the lake for smew or whooper swans (you'd have to wait a long time to see either).

I made the pads up before installing.

And fixed them with screws.

I was accompanied by a photographer for Pretty Nostalgic magazine who were doing an article on my exploits that you can buy here. Thanks to Rae Edwards and Pretty Nostalgic for use of these photos.

Bus Stop Bench

When do two chairs become a bench? When you bolt them together of course.

This bench is now available to bus travellers on the A40 at Trecastell, Powys.

I extricated these two chairs from a skip and connected them with a couple of pieces from a broken easel. I re-upholstered the ruined seats with waste stuffings and covered them in a 1970's fabric offcut.

I added a plastic Cowboy and Indian in conflict because that's the sort of person I am.

Oh, and I've taken to dressing as a gorilla for my exploits because that's also the sort of person I am.

Bus Stop Chair

Here's another chair from the rubbish tip that's now available for weary travellers to take a seat.

It's now on the A476 near Carmel, Carmarthenshire.

The chair is now covered in a garish print and hosts a chubby plastic Churchill/Admiral thing on the leg.

And why not?