Weekend beginners upholstery class - Saturday mornings

Description

***Beginners & Improvers Welcome**** Saturday morning classes are a great way to gain confidence and develop the skills needed to breathe new life into your furniture. This is a 4 week course (booked as a block) taking place on a Saturday morning from 10am-12:30pm. A morning class with Meticulous offers a chance to really enjoy learning traditional or modern upholstery techniques in a mixed class, where all students work on different items of furniture. You'll benefit from seeing a variety of works being completed alongside your own project. The benefit of a weekly class, is the time available to work on your project between classes (if you wish to) to make the most of tuition during your upholstery class - and you can achieve even more! Class sizes: A maximum of 3 students per session ensures you will get plenty of guidance. You will learn new skills and techniques to achieve professional results. Projects: So what are the best pieces for beginners to start with? Anything with straight lines is always a safe bet – things like footstools, ottomans, dining room chairs, and even simple headboards. You could complete one project over the 4 weeks or bring along a number of small projects - such as drop in seats. Bear in mind upholstery is a skill which takes years to master, wing chairs are a much more advanced project and for a beginner, a piece such as this (including a box cushion) would often require 12 x 3 hour sessions. This can be reduced if you are happy to work on your chair at home. Please bear in mind: Recovering = Taking the top fabric off and replacing with new - the structure of the seat is in tact and strong enough to last many years of usage. So this process is quicker. Reupholstering = In need of ripping all layers off to bare frame, and rebuilding - uncomfortable to sit on, saggy, wobbly joints, springs falling through the base etc. Prepare to spend twice as long completing the fascinating upholstery rebuild process. Traditional or modern methods are both taught... traditional methods are more time consuming, but fascinating and very rewarding. They involved layers of traditional stuffings such as Coconut Fibre, which are hand stitched into place rather than modern foam stuffings. Upon booking, Katie will request that you email a photo of your project so she can check that it is a suitable piece; all chairs are different. Ideally, your wooden frame should be sound and not require extensive repair. This 4-week upholstery term is very much dictated by what your chair needs. Please be prepared to book another term or a 'hop on and off' day class to complete your project if necessary. Techniques: traditional or modern techniques taught, full re-upholstery or recovering. Tuition: appropriate class demonstrations and one-to-one work with Katie. Skill level: Beginners or those wishing to gain more confidence. Preparation: bring along a chair or stool frame and supply top cover fabric. If you are struggling to find a project, Katie can arrange a good quality and reasonably priced new footstool frame for you (purchased separately). There will be no stripping down of the frame and you can dive straight into the upholstery process! If you bring your own frame, you are welcome to remove coverings during the class to receive guidance on the proper use of tools and stripping techniques. In this case, it is advisable to bring the piece along to the first session to receive tuition and then complete the process at home before the following session. This makes the best use of the time. Tutor: Katie is an experienced furniture restorer, upholsterer and teacher with 10 years experience teaching craft skills. After completing the City & Guilds Diplomas in Traditional Furniture Making and Upholstery she qualified as a City & Guilds Trainer/Assessor and taught at a City & Guilds training centre in Bristol. She is also a qualified design and technology teacher with a degree in the History of Art and Design. Venue & Facilities: Venue & Facilities: Meticulous' studio is located in the Courtyard at the historic, Bishton Hall, a stunning Georgian mansion and grounds in the Staffordshire countryside. The Courtyard is home to a number of independent businesses and Sparrow's Tearoom, where course attendees enjoy a 10% discount. The Tearoom serves homemade food and cakes daily, in the former chapel. The grounds are also free to enter. You are also welcome to bring or buy your own lunch to eat either within the workshop or the Courtyard. Tea and coffee is supplied. Missing a session: We are unable to offer 'catch up' sessions due scheduling issues and the complexity of running an upholstery business alongside teaching classes. If you need more time, you could consider attending a 'Bring Your Own Project' day, which runs on a Friday.

What's included in the price?

Tuition, loan of tools and equipment, sundries (e.g. staples, glue and tacks) and refreshments - tea, coffee and lots of biscuits are included! Materials required for renovation are available to purchase. You are also welcome to buy them online/bring your own. Top cover fabric is to be supplied by the learner - although Katie often has spare materials from past projects she can provide if requested before the course.

Cancellation policy

Medium - Cancellation and a full refund can be obtained up to 4 weeks before the course starts

Maker

Meticulous Restoration

with Craft Courses since 2019

Message the tutor

Katie is an experienced furniture restorer, upholsterer and teacher with 8 years experience teaching craft skills. After completing the City & Guilds Diplomas in Traditional Furniture Making and Upholstery she qualified as a City & Guilds Trainer/Assessor and taught at a City & Guilds training centre in Bristol. She is a qualified Design and Technology teacher with a degree in the History of Art and Design. She now runs a small upholstery business in her home-town, Stone, and teaches locally.