For the last couple of summers I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a summer school. So this year I packed the kids off to Tennis Camp and embarked on my first ever Upholstery week long course. The course ran everyday from 7th-11th Aug 9.30am-3.30pm and included a light lunch. I was very lucky […]

The Great Upholstery Tweet Up 2015
Back in 2014 I had a dream that I met up with some Upholsterers. Without going in to detail (apparently other people’s dreams are very boring!!), upon waking I decided to tweet them all. To my pleasant surprise they all tweeted what a good idea it would be to meet up and we got set on […]

Changing the Shape of a Chair
Do you struggle sometimes to see past the old exterior of a chair? To help myself visualise, I often mock up chairs in photoshop to show the desired shape. I also do this when I’m helping clients choose second hand furniture for their home and last year I started doing it for students too. I […]

The Upholstery Studio on YouTube
I have finally set up a You Tube Channel! Woo! I’ll be giving some upholstery tips from The Upholstery Studio, talking about vintage fabrics and you can see the time lapses I made for my book over the summer. Check it out here: The Upholstery Studio

Upholstery Tools and Materials I’ve never used
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how I can improve my skill level. Whatever job you start in, as a graduate or straight from School, it’s the same. You start knowing very little and as time goes on you accumulate more knowledge, building on your skill. Well it’s the same with Upholstery. The late […]

A Few Resolutions for 2015
I always like to set out a few resolutions at the beginning of the year, it’s a good way to feel positive in January after all the excitement of Christmas. 2014 was good to me; book deal, a couple of articles, some lovely workshops and some good upholstery, plus the most amazing weather in Bournemouth […]

French Brocantes and My Finds
The summer holidays seem a distant memory but the excitement of travelling to a plethora of French Brocantes in August still remains. Every summer I make the trip across to Cherbourg from Poole and then onwards to Bordeaux to stay in my Mum’s house in the Charentes. On route, I pick up a copy of Antiquites […]

Upholstery Time Lapse
I’ve been working hard in The Upholstery Studio creating a time lapse of each of the projects I am upholstering for my Book. Here’s is the first of the time lapses for the Patchwork Nursery Chair.

My Story: From Office Girl to Upholsterer
I had a revelation the other day – a sort of life changing moment… I attended this posh event called The Venus Awards in Poole, Dorset. The room was filled with these fabulous glamorous and successful women from across the county. I watched as each nominee was called up on stage to deliver their speech- I […]

My New Sewing Machine
“ This book is dedicated to women and girls – especially to teachers of sewing everywhere – who enjoy the feel of fabric, the beauty of textures, the precision of stitches, the smoothness of seams, and who delight always in appropriate fabrics carefully cut and made up for a happy purpose” When I read the […]