My name is
Heather, and I am the upholsterer in Fabrication, called Eclectic Chair.
After doing
a degree in French and Spanish, I spent the next 20 years working in the
restaurant industry in Manchester, managing one of the best known restaurants
in Manchester for 10 years until 2006. However, in the year 2000, I started an
upholstery course, and I immediately got the bug for upholstery. I could see a
massive potential for restoring furniture, but also I could see a creative
opportunity.
Upholstery
has been around forever, but it is a wonderful way to recycle. Furniture made
pre 1980s, tends to be made from better quality wood, and it is only the fabric
and stuffings which perish, all of which can be replaced. People don’t always
realise there is no need to throw furniture away. It can be completely
transformed with a little imagination.
I tend to prefer furniture from the 1950s to the 1970s, this period is
known as ‘mid-century modern’, and the furniture has clean, unfussy lines,
often with tapered slightly splayed legs. Because of its simplicity of design,
you can really jazz it up with your fabric.
I love to
juxtapose modern and antique, so either a modern chair with a vintage piece of
fabric, or an antique piece of furniture with something fresh and new in terms
of fabric, colour and pattern.
The best
upholsterers are perfectionists, and I constantly strive to make sure that my
work is of the highest quality.
When
Fabrication came along, it was my dream come true! A shop where I could display
my work to be seen by the people of Leeds, but which didn’t rob me of my
profit. Before it I had nowhere to showcase my work. I have also benefited
tremendously from the knowledge of the other designer makers with whom I work in
the shop, and since it opened 6 months ago, my work has been flying out of the
door, proving that there is a market for it, and giving my confidence a huge
boost. Long may it continue!
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