Take A Seat!

For years this chair [purchased* around the turn of the Millennium] lived in our conservatory at Kirby Muxloe. It was lovely to curl up in it and read a book or do some knitting. I’d draped an old quilt over it, because it was rather worn in places. Last summer, a spring went Boinngg!!! as Bob sat down, and he’d replaced that. But there is nowhere for the chair to live in Ferndown.

We brought it to Norfolk before The Move. You can see the stains, splits, and general wear and tear. My aim was a Shabby Chic slip cover. The quilt was simply a rectangle of patches, backed with sheeting, made around 1980. There was no padding, interlining or topstitching to deal with.

I draped the quilt over to check there was adequate fabric, then trimmed rectangles for each section and pinned them in place. The seat cushion, I simply wrapped like a parcel, folding and pinning the corners. Then I took the fabric off and replaced each piece upside down, and pinned and tacked everything. Then I took it off and sewed it up. It isn’t high class upholstery – but it makes the chair usable, and it will be good to have another easy chair in the lounge here. And I love the quirkiness of it. Most of the fabric is from the Sanderson Triad Range – a friend in the trade gave me a book of samples [glued to card] when I first married. I painstakingly removed them to make the patchwork -then extended it when we got a larger bed. *The Ektorp chair originally came from IKEA’s Bargain Corner for about £25. Mrs Make-Do-And-Mend strikes again.

Before and after – not bad for an afternoon’s work. We have agreed that we both enjoy being here on holiday, and being able to spend time on projects like this.