The kneeling stool

Earlier in my blog I shared that I bought this kneeling stool from an antique shop the other weekend for my portrait project. I fell in love with it immediately, with its gorgeous gothic arches and dark wood.

I am chatting with technician Don in the 3D workshop about reconditioning and re-upholstering this piece; using my cross stitch, new padding and braiding to restore it to a functional stool.

This includes stripping back the piece to the frame, mending and reconditioning the wood, and then reupholstering it with padding, calico and finally the cross stitch top layer edged with braiding.

Using this frankly magical tool, I removed the staples holding the old top layer of fabric in place. This took longer than expected. 

Underneath I found a tired, grubby and still intact base of calico, testament to how many humans knees and hands and arses and hearts and minds and souls have connected with the object over the years. This was both gross and delicious to think on.

You can see from the visible original nails that the previous covering was a shade of burgundy.

The padding is totally disintegrated.

I am having a chat with Di from Parish Kneelers this afternoon to discuss the best materials to use for the project. 

Once I have bought the right cross stitch fabric I will work with Don to build a stretch frame so I can get stitching.