Newspaper clipping from The Daily Sketch - Sketches by Wyn.....they can  be seen along with prints of her fashion sketches from The Antiques Bazaar Crewkerne Somerset

1920's Stunning Silk Opera Coat

Stunning 1920's Silk Opera Coat....beautiful piped detail on shoulders front & sleeve, lined witha beautiful gold silk with gold metal trim. For sale through Snooty Fox Vintage Country Clothing

www.vintage57.com

How to Upholster a Dining Chair

This lovely Victorian Nursing Chair has been fully restored & upcycled from a single dining chair that was thrown away........so from this

The legs to this Victorian Dining Chair had already been cut down, so we added black & white

webbing using a magnetic hammer & 15m upholstery tacks

Next we put on 16oz Hessian (burlap) & added stuffing ties in barbours linen mattress twine

The a good layer of coir is added tied in by the stuffing ties, this is then regulated to give a nice even finish & then a layer of 10oz hessian (burlap) is fixed on top of the coir using 10m improved tacks spaced out at 1" intervals

Using a double pointed mattress needle& the Barbour linen twine a row of blind stitches were sewn. A further row of stitching but this time top stitch was sewn to give structure to  the seat & define the shape. Through stuffing ties when then added using the double pointed mattress needle & the linen twine.........

Next hessian webbing was applied to the back, note that a piece of webbing had been used to denote the end of the back, this is instead of the usual wooden batten. On top of the hessian webbing a sheet of 16oz hessian ( burlap)was applied. Both the webbing & hessian applied were not pulled tight but were tensioned to suit the chair back & allow for the curve............

Stuffing ties were added to the back using a curved needle & the Barbours linen twine. A covering of coir was added under the ties & regulated to given an even finish. The 10oz hessian (burlap) was attatched using 10m upholstery tacks & a row of top stitch was sewn using a double pointed mattress needle & Barbours linen twine.....now ready for  the next step

More stuffing ties were added with a curved  needle & the linen twine. A  layer of hair was added, we use the cow tail / hog hair mix. This is a very soft hair & is regulated to give a very even finish......

A layer of cotton/wool wadding is then added. This stops the hairs from comming through to the top  cover of the chair. A sheet of calcio is then applied & tacked to the back of the chair. The seat of the chair was then built up with the soft hair, cotton/ wool wadding & calico. We use a special loom state calico that is superb & can be bought from us @ www.vintage57.com

Next we are ready to aqpply skin wadding or you can use poly wadding (dacron). This is essential as this stops the top fabric from "moving"

We have chosen a fabulous linen by Felix Spicer, designed around his collection of antique hairpins. I  love this fabric & have used it a number of times in  different colour ways.......The top cover is attatched & then hessian is attached to the back tightly & a layer of skin  wadding. Then the linen top fabric is pinned in place & hand sewn on using a ladder stitch which is an "invisible" stitch. The  chair then has a piece of 16oz hessian tacked on the underside of the seat to act as a dust cloth. Vintage 57 run upholstery courses for all levels of students please see our website for more details
www.vintage57.com

So from this.........

to this..............

Victorian Antique Chesterfield Sofa

Upholstery Courses @ Vintage57

Rebecca Martin has fully restored this Victorian Chesterfield Sofa from frame up. Using traditional materials & methods the seat of the sofa has been webbed & then coil spings have been hand tied . A layer of coir is hand tied in place & regulated to give an even finish & to sculpt the shape of the seat.  Next a layer of pure hair (hog & cow tail ) is tied in by hand & regulated to an even finish. A layer of cotton wool flock is added & then loom state calico

The back & arms have been hand  made in the same way

The sofa is covered in Abraham Moon Heritage Collection - Skye in the Sage Colourway

French chaise restored by Vintage 57 using Schumacher Bryon Linen www.vintage57.com

Mangle Cloths

I am just putting the finishing touches to a Victorian Drop  Arm Sofa & two Victorian Armchairs using vinatge & antique mangle  cloths. I had a few cloths left over so  made a summer linen coat for me