A gentleman approached us through a referral as he had a chair requiring restoration, it having been in his family since the 1860’s. The chair was described as a “Sewing Chair” and was apparently made in Victoria.
When clients are trusting you in restoring treasured family furniture we are driven by a responsibility to exceed their expectations. This was the case when we were given the task of restoring a “Sewing Chair” made in Victoria during the 1860’s. The upholstery had been removed and the frame had been partially sanded back. It appears to have been constructed from Victorian Mountain Ash with the timber in good condition but the joints were extremely loose.
The job was to carefully knock apart the chair frame, drill out the broken dowels then re-dowel the joints using a crosslinking PVA. The only variation to the frame restoration was Vic Ash corner blocks were fitted. Paint stripper was used on the show-wood sections of the chair frame then it was carefully sanded. The frame was originally stained a dark “Oak” tone so this was replicated then three coats of 30% gloss lacquer was applied with the frame receiving a final light rub with super fine steel wool.
Traditional methods were utilised with the foundation upholstery. Jute webbing was fitted to the seat and coil springs laced into place with jute webbing also fitted onto the back with a hessian overlay. The coil springs were tied down and a hessian overlay fitted with a thumb roll on the seat front and side edges. Then modern techniques were used fabricating the padding using high density foam and polyester overlays. An Australian made fabric was selected for the upholstery covering featuring a small over-all pattern with the blue tone contrasting well against the stained oak frame.
This job did exceed our client’s expectations with the following testimonial.
