There's nothing quite like putting into practice, what you've just been taught, so when the chance of the "Crapaud Chair' came my way, literally days after my first two weeks at the Traditional Upholstery Workshop, I jumped at it. Definitely an original with one castor missing, springs protruding from the bottom of the chair (never a good thing) and perhaps signs of a previous mouse or two, it was surely in a bad way.
Before my course in Wales, I would have probably have taken to the chair with a pair of scissors and some pliers for the tricky stuff, but I'd learnt that the successful way to reupholster your chair was to see how it was built originally. So several photographs later the chair was down to it's bare bones and I had two bin bags full of fabric and filler, unfortunately far too worn and smelly to be reused. However, it was now in the state to be rebuilt. If I'm honest, I didn't get it quite right and there were definitely areas that I wish I'd known more about - like the rolled sprung edge of the chair seat. It's tricky to do properly and takes time and patience - which obviously, this being the first chair of this type I'd done (and desperate to see the finished article) I was lacking in ! But the great thing about furniture is - it loves a makeover ! I fully intend to redo the areas that aren't quite right and recover it, but the problem is I haven't found a fabric that I love quite as much as this original linen, chosen from my favourite fabric shop in Portet nr Toulouse, and until I do it has to sit at the top of the stairs as a reminder of France (and perhaps a lesson in patience).
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