Classic Sofa

Times: 9.00-4.00 weekdays only
Duration: 15 days
Cost: £1425 divided into 3 payments of £475

Are you completely new to upholstery, thinking about our Business Course in Modern Upholstery but want to ease yourself in with some smaller projects, whilst developing a core set of transferable skills?
Or
Are you considering entering the world of upholstery but want to focus your efforts on smaller upholstered items?
Or
Do you already do some upholstery and want to take it to the next level and convert your hobby into a business?

Designed as a precursor to the Business Course, or as a course in its own right, we have developed this course after witnessing many Ministry of Upholstery students make very successful businesses by focusing on a smaller core set of products; such as footstools, dining chairs and headboards. The beauty of this is:

• They are small, so a kitchen table can provide sufficient working space
• They all focus around a core set of skills, which will be mastered during this course and refined very quickly through repetition
• These skills can be easily transferred from one project to another. For example: deep buttoning can be transferred from a footstool to a headboard and vice versa
• You will reduce your set-up costs by concentrating your efforts around a smaller set of products and
• In turn, this will maximise your profits.
• By taking this course before the full Business Course in Modern Upholstery, you can already be establishing a business, taking a wage and learning and developing your core set of skills, at the same time as developing new ones and expanding on your offering

This 15 day course is taught at our fully equipped, state of the art Manchester workshop and has been carefully structured so that you will cover a concise range of skills concentrated around a select few pieces of upholstery. The skills are transferable so actually, the range of projects which can tackled after this course is vast.

This course takes the student through a structured programme of practical work including a dining chair pad, different styles of footstools, varying styles of headboards and an opportunity to tackle your choice of project at the end!

On your first day you will be eased in with a thorough induction and introduction to the pneumatic staple gun and tools of the trade. Once you are up to speed and feel confident, we will provide you with a drop-in dining seat pad and our expert upholstery teachers will guide you step-by-step through each process until you complete the task. With this basic introduction under your belt you will move onto our contemporary stool, expanding on the basic prepping skills and introducing you to piping, borders and modern upholstery materials such as backtack strip. After this you will complete the first of two headboards. This can be a single or double (you choose) and will introduce you to borders. You will create a sleek modern headboard with loads of transferable skills. Next up is a large deep buttoned footstool. This is a meaty module, covering loads of skills. We’ve also incorporated Van Dyking into this module; the method of joining two pieces of fabric together, hidden in the pleats of deep buttoning. It allows you to work on bigger items and keep the pile running the correct way. The must-have technique in any upholsterer’s toolbox; think headboards and bench seating. After this you are onto the second of our headboards which features a more modern take on buttoning; the square buttoning technique. Then it’s our gorgeous statement cocktail chair, which combines the best of modern and traditional techniques and incorporated a fluted back; yet another transferable skill for your arsenal. Finally you get to work on something that you choose. This could be something you provide yourself or a frame you buy through us. We’d recommend something like an upholstered dining chair, but of course the choice is yours.

Ministry of Upholstery is a modern upholstery school, so you will be coached in modern upholstery skills and using modern upholstery materials. This makes for a course which is more accessible, the skills are easier to master and therefore you can up and running your new business in no time. Throughout the course you will be encouraged to build up a photographic and video portfolio of your work, which will document the techniques used and skills gained. This record will provide an invaluable reference tool to enable you to go on to independent work at home.

Course Content at a glance

Module 1	Drop in seat – all materials included
Module 2	Small Contemporary Stool – frame and materials supplied, you must supply fabric
Module 3	Single (90cm x 90cm) or Double Headboard (135cm x 90cm) with a border – frame and materials supplied, you must supply fabric
Module 4	Deep Buttoned Footstool with van dyking – frame and materials supplied, you must supply fabric
Module 5	Single (90cm x 90cm) or Double Headboard (135cm x 90cm) with square buttoning – frame and materials supplied, you must supply fabric
Module 6	Cocktail Chair with Fluted back – frame and materials supplied, you must supply fabric
Module 7	Free Learning – materials supplied except any specialist foam, you must supply (or you can buy through us at extra cost) frames and fabric

 

All frames are all included in the cost of Modules 1-6 and are brand new frames made by our expert frame-makers. Everything you require to upholster these jobs is also included in the cost of the course. You will only need to supply the fabric and any fire retardant interliner, should you require it. You will also be given a full induction in sewing and how to use a sewing machine, led by our expert sewing tutor. The pieces that you make are all yours to keep. If you sell these you can expect to recoup around £1500! We also sell kits for all products, so once your friends and family start to ask you to make for them, you can hit the ground running and start your business! If you don’t have the tools and space to get you going, don’t worry, we have 3 equipped self-contained workshops (or Pods), which we rent out on day rates to students. It’s as simple as:

Learn the skills          Buy the Kit            Rent the Pod or use your own space           Make the product          Start the business!

Classroom Sessions Covered

In addition to the practical side of the course we have also selected some core classroom sessions, designed to give you the knowledge to maximise your new business. These are:

• Fire Regulations
• Fabric Knowledge
• Job Costing and pricing
• Foam knowledge
• Question & Answer

Practical Techniques and skills covered

• Full health & safety induction and introduction to tools and materials
• Sewing machine induction
• Shallow buttoning
• Deep buttoning
• Borders
• Cutting and applying foam
• Fluting
• Costing jobs
• Pleating
• Tool selection
• Piping
• Applying ply grip
• Applying backtack strip
• Fabric knowledge
• Fire regulations
• Close nail studding
• Sewing
• Webbing
• Prepping
• Cutting
• Measuring fabric and fabric guide
• Use of machinery
• Workshop set up advice
• Information about setting up in business
• Fabric design and printing

If you are looking for a course which is more in depth and covers larger projects, then why not consider our Business Course in Modern Upholstery

Availability
This course can be taken on a totally flexible basis. The core hours are 9.00-4.00 Monday to Friday but you are not required to attend 5 days per week. You can even do this course on a day/ week basis if this suits you so please call us for a chat if you would like to discuss this in more detail, we’re always happy to help. Please note that there is no specified timeframe within which you have to complete the 15 day course as it is entirely flexible.

Booking is simple, to book a place you can pay your first instalment of £475 using the Buy button on this page and selecting the first week of attendance. You can then call or email us to book the rest of your time.* If you wish to book odd days or discuss availability, then please email us on  or call us on 0161 222 4243.

*Please note that we have a maximum class size of 16 and classes are booked on a first come, first served basis. If you want to check availability for the whole course before you book then please contact us.

Payment
We appreciate that this course is a large amount of money to pay in one go so we have devised a payment scheme that allows you to pay for it in three smaller, more manageable instalments.

Upon booking your first week, which you can do online, you are required to pay the first instalment of £475. Before you attend your 6^th day you are required to pay the next instalment of £475. The same again before you attend your 11^th day. This allows you to stagger the payments according to your attendance rate. If you attend once per week for example, then you’ll only make a payment every 5^th week!

Times: 9.00-4.00 weekdays only
Duration: 5 days on any weekdays, subject to availability
Includes: Everything you need to make the chaise except 5 metres of fabric

Sometimes only a chaise will do! When that’s the case, then this is the course. This is our modern take on a traditional chaise. It’s elegant and sleek but also contemporary, basically it will suit any interior.

The frame is made by our team of expert frame-makers, so you rest assured that it’s the best quality wood and built to last.

This course will cover all the basics of upholstery; an expert induction and introduction to all the tools of the trade, plus how to master the all-important compressed air staple gun. You’ll learn how to web up your frame, the materials used to build the shape and structure of the chaise, you’ll master the sewing machine, creating that beautiful tailored look using our twin needle sewing machine for that professional finish. Don’t worry if you’ve never used a sewing machine before, our top of the range Tysew machines do all the hard work for you and you can even set the speed at which you feel comfortable working. This course is suitable for beginners or people with some experience.

This course is available to book on any 5 weekdays and runs from 9.00-4.00. You can either book a full week using the dropdown box above or contact us to discuss days if you wish to attend on 5 chosen weekdays.

Availability

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 take all your dates in one week, then please select that week from the dropdown box. If, however, you wish to spread the course over more than one week, then please do contact us via phone or email to discuss availability. If 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.

Please note that 5 days is the average completion time for this course but we do not guarantee that you will finish in 5 days as everyone works at different speeds. If you do need an extra day these are chargeable at £85/ day.

Times: 9.00-4.00
Duration: 7 days, weekdays only
Includes: Everything you need to make the wingback chair except your fabric and fire retardant interliner if required

If you want to get stuck straight into a meaty project without the hassle and time of having to strip an existing project, then the Queen Anne wingback chair is a large project that covers many techniques.  As with all of our courses you will start your first day with a thorough induction, where we will introduce you to the pneumatic staple gun. This chair can be tackled in different ways, depending on the skills you wish to cover or the way you wish your chair to look. Take a look at the pictures above of the various ways past students have tackled the piece for some inspiration! Over 7 days* you will construct the whole piece from bare frame to completion and all you need to bring with you is the fabric. At the end of the 7 days you will walk away with one of these stunning armchairs for your home and a whole raft of upholstery skills.

For this project you will require 7 metres of plain fabric or 8 metres of patterned or striped/ checked.

Availability

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 take all your dates in one week, then please select that week from the dropdown box. If, however, you wish to spread the course over more than one week, then please do contact us via phone or email to discuss availability. If 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.

*Please note that 7 days is the average completion time for this project. We do not guarantee that you will complete in this time, as everyone works at different speeds. If you need an extra day this will be chargeable at £85/ day.