THIS SEAT COVER
BREAKS THE RULES!

My client (and friend) wanted me to create something ‘different’ for a needlepoint seat cover to go on her lovely Georgian side chair.

She wanted to put the chair in her entrance hall as a unique piece---like a piece of sculpture.

It’s an exquisite chair, the mahogany beautifully restored with a high gloss French polish.

The wood carving on the rail of the chair back has a symmetrical central motif of the Prince of Wales feathers flanked by two elegant swans.

As mentioned before, the period of a piece of furniture can help determine its upholstery style, but not necessarily dictate it.

So I decided not to be restricted by the chair’s history.

To counteract its high gloss finish and design symmetry, I created an asymmetrical, highly textured design.

The exact opposite!

Inspired by the swan carvings on the back of the chair, I prepared an artist’s impression of a sunlit swan's wing (at right).

 

I positioned it diagonally across the seat of the chair, in a multitude of soft hues of mauve, grey, rose, grey-blue and warm white.

 

The rest of the seat cover is a solid colour of a very dark navy blue to coordinate with her décor.

 

 

What a dramatic effect!

 

 

After I got her (delighted) approval, I hand-painted the needlepoint canvas. It was very time consuming because of the amount of colours juxtaposed to create a textured natural effect.

 

 

Considering the size of the canvas, my client, an experienced ‘stitcher’, decided to put it on a frame stand.

This enables her to see the entire needlepoint tapestry as she works
on it. She feels that this allows her to ensure a consistent application
of the myriad of colours.

This close-up photo below of the tapestry allows you to see the ‘Impressionist’ (almost pointillist) design of sun light and shadows on the swan’s wing and back.

You can also see that this tapestry is still in progress. The bottom left of the photo shows the needlepoint painted canvas yet to stitch.

I’m looking forward to its completion. With her artistic eye, my friend is executing a truly stunning seat cover!

For other needlepoint seat cover designs from the ZIVA Collection, click here

Go back to Home Page to see other needlepoint designs in the ZIVA Collection.

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