In January 2017 I started a six week upholstery course. I wanted to challenge myself and learn something new so I thought I’d tackle an armchair.
I hoped to find an art deco tub chair but as they are in short supply, bought a fairly ordinary looking one at auction instead.
As I starting stripping away the old upholstery it became clear that this was no ordinary chair. It was an iron framed chair.
Which meant that the only way to re-upholster it was to sew.
And sew.
And sew some more.
Four months later – long after the course finished but still turning up at the studio on my own once a week – and having repeatedly stabbed myself with needles and skewers and with cuts across the sides of my hands from pulling thread, I abandoned the chair shortly after completing the first stage of seat padding.
The chair sat in the corner of the studio gathering dust and moths, until 6 weeks ago when I unwrapped it and pretended 18 months hadn’t passed. And so I started to sew again.
And I sewed some more.
And some more.
And then finally, yesterday, I FINISHED.
My chair isn’t perfect. The frame is a bit wonky. My sewing is a bit wonky. But it is a really comfortable little chair.
My friend said it looked like a hug in furniture form. It feels a bit like that too.
