So what do you do when you have a one of my original silk paintings in your bedroom and need a small chair for the corner? You commission a chair using the the paintings design of course.
Tracey and Andrew Thatcher who have been customers of mine for around twenty years own this original painting of Moths disguised on Lichen. Inspired by those grey blue dry stone walls covered with bright orange and yellow lichen on which moths and butterflies of the same colour would camouflage themselves.
A wonderful contrast of crisp colours that creates a contemporary look.
The chair I suggested for the room was this one that I found. Desperately in need of reupholstering but with a shape that I could create a unique design around that retained the contemporary feel of the original design.
Bit of a labour of love this one as it had eight layers to strip off. Five different top fabrics dating way back to when it was first made, plus two layers of calico and a layer if wadding. What was worse is all these layers had been glued together by a repair job when someone tried to fix the piping cord back on. When faced with these things you have to keep in mind your vision of how beautiful it could look.
I chose to use different parts of the original design on the front sized perfectly for the seat and back, A large repeat for the back again sized perfectly to fit. Finally to bring out the shape of the chair and add to the crisp contemporary look I chose to use a charcoal piping and inset piece along the arms.
All fabrics were printed including the particular shade of charcoal to be used for the piping and inset on a super soft luxury velvet.
Firstly I stretch the main fabrics into place. I like to do these in one dramatic piece (often done in three pieces) for a sleeker look.
The next stage is to make the piping, pin into position and hand sew into place to create the lovely curve following the edge of the chair.
Then its time for the Charcoal inset piece. Again this is pinned into place and hand sewn.
And here is the finished piece.....
Do you have a tired looking chair that you'd love me to bring back to life for you with a bespoke and unique design?
Contact me with a picture of the chair, sofa, chaise etc, along with some basic sizes and we can discuss all the possibilities, meikiecakie@hotmail.co.uk or on the contact button.