Classic Sofa

Times: 9.00-5.00
Duration: 3 days
Includes: Everything
Cost: £370- £395

You’re reading this because you want to do something different and we want to challenge you to think outside the box, as well as give you the tools to be confident in doing so, enabling you to create your own fabric design and upholster a showstopper!

At Ministry of Upholstery we try to always bring you new courses with new innovations, new technology and, most importantly, offer you an opportunity to do something new and exciting and create something unique! With our latest course, we feel that we’ve taken things to a whole new level of unique! We have invested in the latest printing technology so that we can give you the opportunity to not only design your own fabric but to print it in-house at our Manchester workshop. But of course we are not a design school, we are an upholstery school, so in addition to guiding you through the fabric design and printing, we will lead you in an upholstery masterclass, so that you can bring your fabric design to life in a piece that you can take home and proudly show off to everyone and anyone.

For this course we have teamed up with the mighty design powerhouse that is Beth Travers from Bobo1325. Bobo1325 is an innovative design house that has fuelled intrigue and interest from a wide range of clients through the visually striking design choices. Beth’s designs have seen her reap praise from the industry. She is distinctive, eye-catching and not to be missed. You can view Beth’s work via her website www.bobo1325.com

Day 1

Pattern is everywhere, it is everything. From the cells and veins in your body to the coffee rim stain on your desk.

Surface pattern encompasses so many design disciplines from graphic illustration, fine art and photography to textile design. We believe in pushing the boundaries and utilising all these concepts to create unique designs, because…why not? There are so many types of pattern and aspects of design.

All of Bobo1325’s designs are constructed from illustrations, textures, mixed media and photography. It takes the designs to the next level, they become a journey of discovery rather than a flat pretty design. It’s a story.

After all anything is possible in this digital age! We are going to give you a design crash course and show you how to create a pattern called  ‘reflect and repeat’ it will hopefully inspire you to believe that you don’t have to be a great illustrator or painter you just have to have imagination, vision and a love to experiment.

The first part of the workshop will be all about getting messy and unleashing our inner Andy Warhol/ Bansky/ Pollock. We’ll be experimenting with mixed media art disciplines from acrylic pours to egg whites and candle wax. Go big, go bold; there are no wrong answers it’s about experimenting and layers. Dare to be different. Approach this course with an open mind.

The second part of the workshop will be the #DesignLab

Here we will introduce you to Photoshop and the skills needed to manipulate your photos and experiment to create your first pattern. Your second pattern will come from the mixed media concept that you have created in the Studio. Using Photoshop we will experiment with this design so that you will end your first day having created two unique fabric designs; each delivering different results and opening your mind to the world of pattern design. After creating your patterns, you will pick your favourite, which you will print at your next visit when Anthony Devine takes over and you upholster your very own design!

Days 2 & 3

We start today with your chosen design all ready to print. You will now turn your design from a paper copy to a fabric. We will offer a range of upholstery weight fabrics to choose from, which you’ll choose on day 1.

You will now start your upholstery masterclass. This will be led by Anthony Devine. Anthony is known for his forward-thinking and creative work on BBC1’s Money for Nothing and Flipping Profit.  His designs are unconventional, uncompromising and always a talking point! For this part of the course, we are offering 3 different options for upholstery. All of these are brand new solid frames.

You choose

THE SQUARE²* (£370)
The footstool that doubles up as additional seating or coffee table. A simple minimalist design classic.

THE #STOFA* (£370)
The design of this curved bench is crying out for the bold and the brave. Perfect for the end of the bed or to brighten up any hallway.

THE CHAIR* (£395)
A balance of form, function and personality. A Louis style carved frame occasional chair.

The upholstery skills will vary from piece to piece but all will include a staple gun induction and serve as an excellent introduction to the craft of upholstery. Each piece will involve the building up from new frame, layer by layer. If you have done upholstery before we would suggest the Chair would serve as the more advanced of the three, but it is also achievable for beginners.

How does it work?

Each day will run from 9.00-5.00 | all materials  included | no experience necessary

The #stofa will include painting of the legs

The Chair will include painting of the frame

The small print

All artwork and rights are owned by you; the maker and will be available to take away on a USB.

Times: 9.00-4.00 weekdays only
Duration: 3, 5, 7 or 10 days on any weekdays
Includes: Everything except project, fabric, fire retardant Calico if required, replacement seat cushions if needed

Do you have your own project that you’d like to tackle? Perhaps it’s a chair that’s the perfect size but the wrong fabric, maybe it’s a sentimental piece that you want to keep but it just doesn’t fit in or perhaps it’s a sofa that quite frankly has seen better days and needs a complete overhaul! Whatever it is that you already have, we have a course to suit.

Our Bring Your Own Course is now available to book for 3, 5, 7 or 10 days, dependant on the size of your project. Don’t worry if you don’t finish in your allotted time, you can always tag on extra days if you need them. How ever many days you go for, you’ll receive the same intensive but light-hearted tuition in modern upholstery. We will teach you how to completely strip your project. We will introduce you to the tools and materials used in the upholstery world, covering a full introduction to the pneumatic staple gun and how to use it safely. Once you feel confident, we will then talk you through your options for re-upholstery and you will then receive step-by-step tuition on how to re-upholster your piece to desired specification.

This course is aimed at anyone who has a piece they would like to re-upholster. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve never even seen a staple gun before, let alone handled one. Equally, if you’ve already got some experience and are looking to build on it. Whether you want to start a new hobby, just simply tackle a one-off piece or tick something off your bucket list, we are here to help!

People work at different speeds and come with different levels of experience but we would advise to book as follows. If you are in any doubt, then please send us a photo of your piece to and we can offer our expert guidance.

3 Days

• Footstool
• Headboard
• Dining Chairs (set of 4)
• Italian style chair
• Louis style chair
• Ottoman

5 Days

• Small wingback armchair
• Small Chaise Longue
• Nursing chair
• Fireside Chair

7 Days

• Large Wingback Chair
• Armchair (not Chesterfield)
• Love Seat
• Some Simple Two Seaters

10 Days

• Sofa
• Chesterfield Sofa
• Chesterfield Armchair

You can of course plan to bring more than one project, which is absolutely fine. Please bear in mind that if you wish to do this, that we operate a one-in-one-out policy.

If you have any queries about the suitability of your project, then please email us a picture to and we will be happy to help.

Availability

This course is available to book on any weekdays. Availability dependant and runs from 9.00 -4.00. Please select the week you would like to take the course from the dropdown box. If you are booking for the 5 day we will book you for all the days that week. If you are booking the 3 day we will contact you to see which 3 days you’d like. If you are booking the 7 day we will book you for the 5 days of the week you have chosen plus the Monday and Tuesday of the following week. If you are booking the 10 day we will book you for the week you have chosen and the following week.

All of our daytime courses are flexible, which means that they can be taken on any weekdays to suit you and spread over one or even several weeks. If you wish to spread the course over more than one week, then please contact us via phone or email to discuss availability. If your preferred dates do not appear in the dropdown box, it does not necessarily mean that we do not have those dates available, it is always worth giving us a shout to discuss, especially if you are flexible.

If you do not finish your project within your course you are able to add on extra days at a cost of £85/ day but please bear in mind that you may not be able to book in straight away due to the fully booked nature of the course.

Times: 6.30-9.30
Duration: 6 weeks, one evening per week
Includes: If you are bringing your own project, then the course includes everything except project, fabric, fire retardant Calico if required & replacement seat cushions if needed. If you are choosing to make a deep buttoned footstool, then it includes everything you need to make the footstool except 2 metres of fabric and fire retardant interliner if required.

Our 6 week evening course comprises of six, three hour sessions, which will run on the same evening each week. There are two ways of taking this course. You can either select your own piece for re-upholstery and we will teach you all you need to know to strip and upholster your particular project. We know people work at different speeds, but you should be able to get a small nursing chair or set of dining chairs completed in 6 weeks. If you are supplying your own project, then we will happily work with you in advance of the course to point you in the direction. Please note that the largest project you could complete on the 6 week course is a small armchair/ fireside chair/ nursing chair. Larger projects may require extra sessions or another course and we do not guarantee that you will finish your project.

Alternatively if you do not have a project, or wish to skip the stripping back stage and get cracking with the upholstery, then you have the option of taking this course as a complete package and include one of our large deep buttoned footstool frames, which measure 1 metre x 75cm!

Either way you approach this course, we keep our class sizes small so that we can help you structure your learning experience around your project. The 6 week course runs over 8 weeks so that if you need to miss one or two of the sessions that’s ok, you can tag them onto the end. But please ensure when you commit to the course that you can attend 6 of the 8 evenings as we can’t make up for any evenings missed. Please note if the course is on a Monday night, that we do not run the course on bank holidays.

This course is suitable for beginners and those who have already done some upholstery.