Tartan Upholstery David Waterhouse

David contacted us to discuss all things tartan fabric when he was looking to embark upon his first Tartan Upholstery project. He was kind enough to keep us updated throughout his progress and now that his chair is finished to perfection we thought we'd find out more about David's project.

David, when we first spoke, you mentioned that you were studying at Ministry of Upholstery, what inspired you to sign up for a course?

I was meant to start my upholstery course at the Ministry of Upholstery on Monday 30th March 2020. Unfortunately, this coincided with COVID pandemic starting to take hold in the United Kingdom at this point, so my course had to be put on hold for the health and safety of everyone involved. However, as the severity of the COVID pandemic eased I was eventually able to start my course Monday 6th July. I was inspired to learn upholstery, because I have always been particularly good with my hands and so I thought that it would be a useful trade to learn.

You took inspiration for your project from rugby legend Doddie Weir, have you always been a big Rugby / Doddie fan?

Being born and raised in Widnes, meant that I was always going to be a rugby fan, as it is a strong rugby league town. However, this does not mean I don’t like rugby union, I still watch the six nations and I think it’s a great competition. When I saw Doddie Weir story highlighted on the BBC as an accompanying sports piece to the six nations coverage, I came intrigued about Doddie’s battle with motor neurone disease and what he was trying to accomplish with raising awareness about MND I was blown away. A recent interview between Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow (ex Leeds Rhinos player) a fellow MND sufferer, prompt me to do this chair to raise funds for MND research.

Is this first time you’ve upholstered anything?

Before starting this course, I had never upholstered anything before in my life. The format of the Business start-up course at the Ministry of Upholstery slow teaches you all the techniques you would need to become a modern upholster. The course starts out with a small Queen Anne footstool, then a deep button stool, before progressing onto a plain wingback chair. The course teaches you a range of upholstery techniques, with the previous project enabling you to complete the next project, as you slowly build up your knowledge and skills in upholstery.

What have you found the most challenging and rewarding aspects of the project?

The most challenging aspect of the wingback chair is the pattern matching process itself. However, once you have mastered the pattern matching process the end result is something to behold and that’s the most rewarding aspect of the project. When you see the final project completed and you can say to yourself, I did that.

Did you enjoy working with a tartan fabric, how easy was it to keep all of the tartan lined up?

There is a definite skill to pattern matching and it’s not as easy as it looks, that’s for sure. But working with a 16oz tartan fabric is an absolute joy as it’s tuft and easy to work with and if I was to give anyone a tip for choosing a fabric to pattern match with it certainly would be tartan.

Will you continue upholstering?

I hope to do upholstering as my career, as it was one of the main reason why I chose to do the Business start-up course at the Ministry of Upholstery and is something I hope to continue with into the future as my career.

How did you calculate how much fabric you’d need for your project?

The good thing about learning upholstery at the Ministry of Upholstery was the structure of the course provided me with all the necessary information regarding how much fabric I would need. Also, the knowledge of the tutors was invaluable when it came to determine fabric for any given project.

Do you have any tips and tricks for anyone thinking about embarking on their own upholstery project?

My advice to anyone thinking about doing an upholstery project is to check if there is an upholstery course in their local area. What I have learnt while doing this course at the Ministry of Upholstery there is no substitution for experience. If people want to try and learn upholstery off youtube they can do, but once you end up in difficulty there is going to be no one there to help you. So, my advice to anyone interested in doing upholstery is to find a reputable course and learn the basic, this will then provide you with the necessary skills for you to tackle some of your own upholstery projects.

Are you connected to a tartan or do you have a favourite tartan?

I’m not connected to any tartan by family name, however I think the Buchanan Ancient tartan provided to me by the Scotland shop is a fantastic tartan for this project. It’s a traditional Scottish tartan, however the vibrant colours lend themselves to be easily worked into a modern piece of furniture.

You are going to auction the chair off for the MND Foundation, how can someone place their bid?

The plan is for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation to auction the chair at a future date with all proceeds going to motor neurone disease research.

We want to say a big thank you to David for talking us through his upholstery journey and for his huge generosity raising money for MND, a cause so close to our hearts. We will share the details of the auction of this magnificent chair as soon as a date is set and look forward to seeing what David is going to create next. For now we are inspired and I am off to have a better look at those dining room chairs of mine!