Afrotechicolour therapy.. A wax block print patchwork chair
Before:
This Mid-20th century modern piece was given to me back in 2010 by super talented artist, print & textiles designer and all round lovely lady Hannah Edy.
Although it was very much the worse for wear I faithfully kept it in storage thinking “That’ll be a great chair again someday..”
The opportunity to transform this piece came just after Xmas 2014, when a lovely couple contacted me from Mill Hill, NW7 and then made a few journeys’ down to my studio to chat with me about a piece they had previously seen online of my first attempt, a tub chair, at an waxblock patchwork print from a collaboration with Chantal Koning YouMeWe .
The process of transforming and updating this piece was a totally different challenge from my first version.
..A chair can take 8 hours or, in this case 40+ . It depends on your customers budget & ultimately how much love and care you wish to put into its re-upholstery.
This chair alone involves 74 carefully selected , cut, made compliant and stitched panels.
AFTER:
With new fillings of new rubberised hair and foams replaced the hopelessly deteriorated & crumbly foams. A brand new serpentine spring suspension system, all lashed together(so the springs move in unison)upgraded and replaced the broken dried out Pirelli webbing which was originally stapled to the frame . The buttons are Nobilis Velvet, along with the fabrics, were chosen specifically and carefully between myself and the customer with all fabrics made compliant to the Health,Safety & Fire Regs (1988) through the use of a flame retardant barriercloth.
The Ottoman stools were built from scratch, along with a pair of duck,n,down feather-filled Scatter cushions
My deep thanks go out to Anna who assisted in the rip-down and was a great help for me to bounce off fabric selection ideas, Chantal Koning of YouMeWe for fabric inspiration and sourcing
and to Rick Holland & Katie Pomklova for their patience and input while I put together this work for them.
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