Over the past few years we have commissioned some beautiful furniture from Forest Edge Woodcrafts. Gerrit Rietveld produced some amazing pieces of furniture which can be copied once for personal use. The 1919 Rietveld buffet is simply stunning and the Steltman chairs are beautiful. https://durhamweaver64.blogspot.com/2019/09/
Martin wanted a couple of chairs for the kitchen/dining area but the design he liked had no instructions and we have not found any examples in museums in the Netherlands. Jamie from Forest Edge Woodcrafts, https://www.instagram.com/forest_edge_woodcraft/ was set the problem of making a chair. Fortunately as he had made Rietveld furniture before, he had gained useful insights into how these iconic pieces of furniture were designed and assembled.
Here is a detail of a corner of the chair. It was originally made in 1925.
We wanted a cushion pad for the seat in navy blue. I wove the material and decided to try to make them myself. This was a mistake. I can manage simple sewing but a fitted cover with piping was a new departure. I watched several videos on YouTube and through that I would be able to manage. I wove a long piece that would do for the top and bottom of the cushion pad.
The cover is woven in 16/2 cotton for plain weave at at 22 epi. I then wove a narrow length for the piping cord edging and the side panels. I thought that it would be useful to add in two pale blue ends in the warp to indicate where the material could be trimmed into a strip for the piping cord.
The process of making took much longer than I anticipated and was much more difficult. I started by making one cushion cover. I measured and cut accurately but assembling the pieces was not as smooth as the YouTube video had shown.
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| My effort was ill -fitting |
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| The corners were particularly difficult. |
It was the corners that I found most difficult and I was rather disappointed with the result. I decided not to risk the second cushion to my inexpert sewing but took the remaining material to a stall in our local Indoor Market. https://durhammarkets.co.uk/ This indoor market was established in 1851 and is less than 10 minutes walk away.
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| The Market Hall entrance in the Market Square. |
The market is an absolute gem! I had recently bought curtains and purchased the foam inserts for the cushions from Stitches Textiles. I was delighted to learn that she also makes cushion covers. The second cover was ready in a few days and I collected it this morning.
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| professionally made new cushion cover |
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| The corner is so neat! |
The difference is wonderful. I think I will have to weave some more material and have a second cover made.
Happy Weaving
Susan J Foulkes August 2021
