Surprise Surprise!

One of the joys of upholstering old furniture are the unexpected surprises which pop up. In the case of this old folding stool, with a home-made upholstery covering of someone's lovingly hand-stitched tapestry...

...it was finding this - a numbered piece of crisp(ish) cotton with beautiful stencil logo 'Australia - Sydney - Sheeting'. (Does anyone out there know what it would originally have been used for?)...

... and this - a little scrap of old newspaper (above) dated 1893 which fell out of the flocking,  and the two layers of old fabric underneath, this chintzy one (right), still as bright as the day it was used.








Here's some of the process me and my trusty assistant - my Mum, Viv (my first upholstery teacher!) - went through to bring the little stool back to its former glory... replacing the old planks under the seat with webbing, glueing the loose joints, restoring the timber, very, very carefully hand-washing and stretch-drying the tapestry, and then reupholstering the lot.

As good as new?