Victorian Nursing Chair

A Victorian iron-frame chair reupholstered in Sanderson cut velvet.

A really fine specimen that I decided to shallow-button rather than deep-button because I didn't want to upset the geometry of the pattern.

Great shape on it eh?

This was a commission.

Bus Stop Chair at Meidrim, Carmarthenshire.

Chair now available to bus travellers on the B4299 at Meidrim, Carmarthenshire.

This was a collaboration with artist Julie Ann Sheridan who is involved in various guerrilla art projects often involving leaving landscape paintings in the place they depict.

I upholstered a discarded chair in canvas onto which she drew the very bus stop in which the chair now sits.

And on the seat she drew the view from the bus stop.

Watch out for more collaborations coming soon.

Victorian Chaise Longue in Eleanor Pritchard wool fabric

A late Victorian carved chaise reupholstered in Eleanor Pritchard straw ground fabric.

As 'long chairs' go, this one is pretty long eh?

Very nice.

As ever, I struggled to get the photography right in my workspace so the fabric looks somewhat brighter than it would without light streaming through the window - in other circumstances it might be nearer this colour...

Midcentury armchair in Welsh wool

A midcentury British armchair in the Danish style reupholstered in Melin Tregwynt wool fabric.

Nice eh? Only £300 to you - get in touch quick.

Milking Stools

A succession of new milking stools now being made for me from offcuts of ash by a craftsman from the village

Upholstered by hand-stitching to a tacked piped edge and in various offcuts of Welsh wool - what else?

These are roughly fifty quid each

Want one?

Well get in touch whydontcha?


(Not actually useful for milking cows or any other milkable animals).

Prince of Wales Investiture Chairs

Designed by Lord Snowdon and used by royals and other notable attendees of The Prince Wales’s 1969 investiture ceremony at Caernarfon Castle, the investiture chair was manufactured by Remploy and was made of a vermillion stained plywood and covered in Welsh wool.

Further to this blog entry and with the help of Digger and Mojo I have now finally sourced some of the original Welsh wool for these chairs. It's slightly less orange than the first batch but is exactly right in provenance in that it was woven by the same mill that did the original - the very same man in fact.

 I've done twelve of these in the last two weeks and they look superb in the new cloth.

 So if you have one or more and you live somewhere near me, bring them in. I you live nearer to Wiltshire then give Digger and Mojo a call and they'll do it for you. If you need fabric without upholstery this can be arranged through either of us.

What are you waiting for?

Bus Stop Stool at Neyland, Pembrokeshire.

A Psychedelic stool now available to bus travellers on the B4325 at Neyland, Pembs.

The stool was brought in by a customer but deemed to be 'without enough aesthetic merit to warrant the cost of reupholstery' and so was destined for landfill. I didn't do much to it, just re-used some webbing and foam from another armchair and some scraps of material to make it useful again.

Added a soldier (front leg, look carefully) and it was ready. I was thinking, I know just the place for this having passed the stop late last summer and photographed it. What I hadn't noted was that from our caravan in South Pembs I'd need to pay the 70p toll on the Cleddau Bridge to get to the bus stop and another 70p to get back again. So for the first time ever, this piece of guerrilla upholstery actually cost me money - £1.40 to be exact. That's half a pint in my local.

Who's going to buy me a half to make up for it?

Three Piece Suite in British Wool

A rare opportunity to see some of my work in situ - a lovely little three piece suite reupholstered in Camira wool fabric.

This suite was made in the 90's by Duresta in the UK and is thus very high quality. As it had fire certs and was in almost as-new condition beneath the light-damaged fabric, all I had to do was add feathers to the cushions and re-cover it.

I realise my photography is a far cry from those interiors magazines but the suite looks very smart in this graphite wool fabric doesn't it? And it's not every day I get to place my work in a grand Georgian pile such as this. I just need to remember - 'next time, close the interior doors when you're photographing.'

Look how well the curved back of the sofa would have mirrored the curve of the lamp table - particularly if  I'd closed that door...

This was a commission.

Wingback Armchair in Camira Wool

A 1960's wingback armchair reupholstered in Camira Blazer 100% wool.

Blazer is really just a very heavy duty felt so is great for getting neatly round all those curves - no weave to match and no need to cut anything on the bias.

I really love the splayed front legs on this- make it look very contemporary.

Although it doesn't have a maker's mark, I think the chair was made by Cintique because I recognise the spring unit.

But maybe these units were bought-in by various manufacturers in the UK from a central maker, a bit like in the car industry at the time (ever noticed how Lotus, Mini, Reliant, MG, British Leyland all have the same door handles?) - does anyone know if this is the case? These things are of great interest to me you know...

This was a commission.

Upholstered Crutches

My neighbour suffers from a bad back and has occasional use for a pair of crutches that were "very uncomfortable."

Not any more they're not.

I love my job.

Long footstool in Welsh wool

A long footstool in Melin Tregwynt Carew Smoke 100% lambswool

The legs are salvaged from a 1960's footstool and are very strong and sturdy.

A unique piece of handmade British furniture for just £95 - I think you need this, don't you?

Just a phone call and it's yours - 07719 801672

Fred Perry Love Seat in Bus Stop at Pen Y Fan

A 'love seat' upholstered in Fred Perry polo shirts now available for lovers in the bus stop on the A470 near Libanus opposite Pen Y Fan in the Brecon Beacons.

 

This road is very much on the scooter run route so there'll be plenty of Mod-types passing by in need of a place to stop for a fag and to punch each other on the arm a bit and maybe even look at the mountains. They'll like the Fred Perry angle I'm sure.

A 'love seat' is designed for two people sitting facing one another so that you may stare into one another's eyes. So bolting two dining chairs together in opposite directions is definitely a love seat and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The chairs are covered with two very worn out Fred Perry polo shirts that were no longer smart enough to wear, even when painting the railings.

In fact there was paint on both so I had to cover up corners with opposite sleeves, giving this a bizarre sort of yin/yang look. This is probably a step too far for it to be tasteful but guerrilla upholstery is all about experimentation and once you've started, there's no going back.

I haven't been a full-on Mod since about 1981 but I have been wearing Fred Perry polo shirts (always plain, without the tipped collar) since I was nine years old. They're just the best. If this is advertising them, good. If Fred Perry feel like sending me a new shirt for this free advertising, I'm size medium in a slim fit.

The chairs came from a friend in Yorkshire who used to have a red Vespa that we would ride about on when we were at college. When we were kids, 'rat bikes' were the coolest - these are stripped-down scooters without farings and painted black. A friend of mine was killed on one of these. I put a black rat underneath the chair in memory of him.

#fredperry #guerrillaupholstery

Sofa in Melin Tregwynt Welsh wool

Two-seater sofa reupholstered in Melin Tregwynt semi-plain weave 100% wool.

Some furniture is just too busy to take a patterned fabric so adding a couple of scatter cushions makes all the difference.

I wasn't convinced about the scrolled plinth on this and was going to suggest to the customer that it was nothing a good piece of plywood couldn't put straight but by the time I came to it I had begun to rather like it and if nothing else, it was quite fun to upholster.

I don't often post before and after photos but this really take some beating eh?

This was a commission.

Slipper Chair in Melin Tregwynt wool

A 1940's (?) slipper chair reupholstered in Melin Tregwynt Mini Madison 100% Welsh wool.

I'm not sure if the inspiration behind the Mini Madison fabric design was Madison Avenue, but it's feasible isn't it? The squares bring to mind the New York street grid, to me at least.

Also makes me think of the painting Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian, what do you think?

Might have a job setting up a loom to weave this kind of geometry eh?

Anyway, I love Piet Mondrian and I love Melin Tregwynt and I love this chair, so I'm, you know, really quite happy.

This was a commission.

Art Deco shell-back sofa in Bute tweed

A 1920s two-seater reupholstered in Bute tweed.

Super-wide arms with some serious curves.

And an unusual back that I'm calling a shell-back because of the shape but technically it's just stitched panels with piping rather than the fluted back you'd expect.

And another knockout tweed fabric from Bute.

This was a commission.