"Laura Ashley Retro"

This chair has been restored by Kathy using a quilt made by her mother in law in the 1970's. Its great fro the family to have a "heirloom" by two generations of mothers....

"Downton Abbey"

"Downton Abbey" is a Victorian Chaise recovered on our course w/c 21st March 2011 using  John Lewis Chenille & Linen Fabric......

"Versace"

"Versace" is a Victorian Chesterfield recovered on our course w/c 21st March 2011 using a Harlequin Black & Gold Velvet....

Howard & Sons Chairs with Vintage Bennison Fabric

My posts are like buses....you stand in the cold & rain for hours nothing.......then 6 come all at once......Its actually ages since I have waited for a bus, certainly since leaving London over 10 years ago. I now live in a small hamlet in rural Somerset England where we only get a bus twice a week once on a tuesday & once on a thursday......if you miss one then you have to wait for days.....

This week Iam student less.......sometimes I need a week just to catch up on my stuff & today has been a most marvelous day. I was prettry sure when I saw these chairs in my local auction that they were Howard Chairs......Howards & Sons Chairs are most sought aftet as they opitimise the English Country House Look....with their deep rake & siege du duvet comfort, they really are chairs you can sleep in, they are just so comfortable. They are actually a very very fine quality,  birchwood  hardwood frames with chamfered edges, & this " siege du duvet" feathered cushioning on top of a traditional stuffing which gives it that "sink" into fealing........so I was very pleased to have won them in the auction.

Today I started to strip them off as I wanted to get underneath all the layers of patching that had been done to them since their arrival in someones drawing room circa 1910........to my delight I found the original fabric still in place....& this I believe to be Bennison, although I do need to do some research into this, but its beautiful & these chairs would have been most magnificent at their conception, with this wonderfull botanical fabric with exotic birds & flowers on........which them makes you wonder about the people.......the house......who were they........

1920's French Floral

I managed to find two very small pieces of this beautiful 1920's French Floral fabric rummaging in a box of mixed pieces.....that was all there was, so I needed to find an equally small chair for the fabric to go on & I found a little Victorian Nursing Chair that needed completely restoring & reupholstering. The chair came from a local auction & the fabric came from two English guys who live in France but come over to England for all the antiques fairs, so I usually get to see them @ Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair. On the back of the chair I have used a vintage piece of hemp used to wrap the warm baguettes in @ the Boulangerie......

Vivienne Westwood for Comic Relief

Well how about giving yourself a designer t-shirt by the most marvelous Vivienne Westwood & giving to Comic Relief as well ?.....made from fairtrade cotton & all net profits goind to comic relief...get your Red Nose Day T - Shirts from tkmaxx.com & give give give......Red Nose Day 18th March 2011......There is a selection but hurry they'll all be gone soon.....

MadMen.....

Just discovered MadMenYourself.Com........well worth 3 mins of your time.......My own MadMen Avatar.....love the jazzzzzzz