27th January 2022
Bringing a piece of furniture back to life is always so special and rewarding. When buying a new home, this conservatory set was left for us which was fantastic. We loved the rattan of it and decided to give it an upcycle to breathe new life into the set using our William Morris fabric. We chose our licensed William Morris Willow Bough in green to recover it, it’s perfect in every room, but in the conservatory, against the garden, it looks absolutely wonderful!
To recover the set, we used our heavyweight fabric. We have lots of designs within our licensed William Morris collection printed on heavyweight cotton fabric. If you’d like a sample, we’re happy to send free samples within the UK.
After a quick paint of the room, we set to work on the cushions! Now, there were many more than we initially thought – you get to the end of one and then realise there’s 14 to go! The main thing is to have a good audiobook or telly programme on whilst you work, recovering when you’re not a professional isn’t the easiest, but its very rewarding at the end once it’s all done.
To start, let’s cut the pattern. We used the existing cushions for our pattern, unpicking them with a seam ripper to measure out against the new fabric. You could also use the measurements, but as all of our cushions are different sizes and shapes, this seemed the easiest method for us. It meant that there was less chance of us going wrong by using it as a pattern, we wanted them to be the exact same size so that we could reuse the cushion pads and make sure the base cushions fit.
We even reused the piping, we’ve never done this before so it seemed the easiest method. We knew by reusing it that when we put it round the cushion edge that it would be the right size because we knew it would meet in the middle at the back. The cushions are feather so they wouldn’t hold a shape when measuring so it was much easier to do it this way to recover the cord to keep the shape. It meant we were reusing most parts of the original sofa too, from the cushion pads to the zips!
With each cushion having different sizes, we made sure to do one at a time so we could carefully cut, iron and press the pattern, cut the fabric and then the binding so we didn’t get confused!
We pattern matched across the top cushions, the base cushions and the sides of the cushion. We were lucky that the pattern match for Willow Bough Green is only a small pattern match at 29cm so we didn’t waste much fabric. The fabric left over from this, we used for the binding, to make sure we utilised all the fabric and didn’t create lots of waste from the project.
We even reused the zips as they were a lovely quality, it made sure that the cushions were all the right size and the zips fit – it just seemed the easiest way for us to do it as we’re not professionals so were a little unsure what we were doing! Taking them apart bit by bit and then recreating it from the new fabric seemed the most logical way to do it.
We’re no experts at reupholstering, so it was a daunting project for us, but we’re so pleased with the result, it’s made the conservatory set look completely refreshed and new. We hope you love it as much as us!
Willow Bough is such a beautiful design, it was first designed by William Morris in 1887. It was actually first produced as a wallpaper design which his daughter, May Morris, used to decorate her bedroom. Later, it was adapted for fabric in 1895, where it was block printed in Merton Abbey.
We hope you like the project as much as us! If you recover something using our fabric, be sure to tag us, we’d love to see it!
Posted in William Morris by Laura
Obsessed with this tree with all the vintage ornaments on the tree this year ✨ They were all grandparents so very special 🎄 having a little coffee and cake whilst the lights twinkle is so lovely ✨ This is our William Morris Golden Lily tablecloth, beautiful year round 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #vintage #vintagechristmas #vintagechristmasornaments #floraltable
It’s a blue and white Christmas over here 🙋🏽♀️ We went to the beautiful Christmas event at @harewoodhouse by the wonderfully talented @interiorcurve and we’re so inspired to have a themed blue and white tree and we’re so glad we did! 🤶🏻 This is our William Morris Merton blue, isn’t it beautiful, and so lovely to be able to dress it in various ways throughout the year, it’s so versatile ✨
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#williammorris #blueandwhitedecor #floraltablescape #flowerarranging #floralchristmas
What design are you having on your Christmas table? 🎄 We’re debating a few - our new forest green colours, our strawberry thief red, or maybe a Christmas blue and white… ✨
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#williammorris #christmastable #christmastablesetting #strawberrythief #floral
Christmas tablescaping all month long ✨ are you feeling festive already? 🎄 This is our Brother Rabbit blue design, isn’t it gorgeous 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #christmastable #floraltablescape
BLACK FRIDAY ENDS TONIGHT! ✨ use code; BLACKFRIDAY at checkout on our website to take 20% off everything - go, go, go! 🎄 We also have free gift wrap available at checkout so we can send gifts directly to loved ones or back to you gift wrapped and ready to go, we’re in the festive spirit so will gift wrap whilst we sing along to some festive songs 🤶🏻🎄
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#blackfriday #williammorris #wmorris #morrisfabric #floralfabrics
A very floral Christmas🎄 Our William Morris Sweet Briar design looks so beautiful dressed up for Christmas! ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #sweetbriar #floralchristmas #christmastable
One thing that is wonderful about timeless design is that you can use it year round- dressed with Christmas candles and foliage, springtime blooms, summer florals and autumn pumpkins - it can see you through it all 🫶🏻 That’s why we want to show them in a Christmas setting so you can see they’re a perfect gift for your loved one or for your own table ✨ Which is your favourite season to dress your table for? 🎄
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#williammorris #wmorris #timelessdesign #classicdesign #merton
Did you know we sell fat quarters in all our designs? 🪡 A perfect gift for the sewers, quilters and crafters in your life, there’s a design for everyone within our collection of licensed William Morris designs and original florals 🎄
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#williammorris #giftguide #quiltersofinstagram #christmascraft #giftsforher
Use code: BLACKFRIDAY at checkout on our website for 20% off everything 🖤
Whether you’re getting your gift list checked off or looking to treat yourself to a little floral magic to brighten your home this season 🎄
This is our biggest saving of the year and remember we’re offering free gift wrap at checkout to make gifting easier this year! 🎁
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#blackfriday #giftideasforher #williammorris #wmorris #floralprinteverything
Absolutely stunning products by @applique.atelier 🎄 We always love to see what all these talented people can make from our licensed William Morris fabrics- they’re always such beautiful products for their small businesses, these would make beautiful Christmas gifts! 🎄✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #preraphaelite #smallbusinesssupportingsmallbusiness #smallbusinesschristmas #christmasgift #womenowned #sewing #sewersofinstagram
Are you team “tree up” or team “it’s not time yet!!” 🎄 Personally, I’d have a Christmas tree in every room if I could 😂 We’ve been busily retaking photos for the website all festive, because why not! ✨Our Compton tea towel looks perfect with our mini tree 🤶🏻
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#williammorris #wmorris #morris #christmasgiftideas #giftideas #smallbusinessgiftguide #giftguide #teatowel #floralkitchen
New product alert! ✨ Our new William Morris table runners are now available in a range of designs, perfect for adding a pop of Morris to your table! 🎄 These are all dressed up for Christmas but we adore how all our designs including this new Forest Green colour way are perfect for year round use making it a perfect present for your own table or a loved one’s 🫶🏻 we’re also offering free gift wrap on all orders on our website you just need to choose it as an option at checkout, making Christmas super easy this year so you can forget hunting round for sellotape and focus on enjoying the festivities! 🎄
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #tablerunner #floraltable #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape #tablescapestyling
Is everyone else feeling Christmassy? 🎄 We absolutely adore Christmas florals on the table, we’re always planning a little table dec 🤶🏻
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#williammorris #wmorris #morris #florals #floralscape #tablescape #myfloraldays #myfloralvibe #christmasfloral #christmasflorals
If you’re looking for gorgeous handmade William Morris Christmas cards, check out @kayehannabuss ✨ With lots of beautiful crafts too they would make lovely Christmas gifts! 🎁 If you saw our post this weekend about supporting small businesses, we are going to share small businesses on our Instagram so if you’d like us to share your products using our fabrics just message us 🥰
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#williammorris #wmorris #morris #florals #fabulousflorals #preraphaelite #christmascrafts #christmascraft #handmadechristmas #handmadechristmasgifts #shopsmall #supportsmall
Tag your favourite small business in the comments to give everyone ideas on where to shop small this Christmas!🎄 It’s so important to shop small and support local businesses that are always working so hard to create beautiful products and give amazing service ✨
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#shopsmall #shopsmallthischristmas #shopsmallbusinesses #smallbusiness #smallbusinesssupportingsmallbusiness #ukbusinesswomen #williammorris #wmorris #myfloralvibe #floralchristmas
Our beautiful new colourway in Brother Rabbit is now in stock in tablecloths and napkins- perfect for not only your Christmas tables but also year round 🎄🔔 Isn’t it stunning ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #preraphaelite #floraldesign #christmastable #christmastablescape #tablescape #christmasfloral
Lovely meeting so many Morris fans today at the shopping event at @ruddingparkhotel 🫶🏻 Lost count of the amount of times I said “they’re all licensed Morris designs printed and manufactured in the UK!” 🇬🇧
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #florals #fabric #preraphaelite #floraldesign #wmorris #christmasfair #uksmallbusiness #ukfabricshop
Come and see us! We’re at the @ruddingparkhotel pop up shopping event tomorrow in beautiful Harrogate 🥰 it’s from 12pm- 8pm and we’ll be having some special offers going on ✨ perfect to get your Christmas shopping started it’s in aid of @mysaintmichaels and @rnli 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisprint #design #popup #popupmarket #rnli #brotherrabbit #fatquarter #fatquartershop #uksmallbiz #christmasgifts
Merton is back 🫶🏻 Gorgeous blue and white, we are such big fans of this on the table 🎀
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisprint #wmorris #preraphaelite #merton #preraphaelite #madeintheuk #madeinbritain #smallbusiness
Lighting sparklers in the kitchen so you know Willow Bough green tablecloths and pvc fabric are back in stock 🎇 We hope you have a wonderful bonfire night tomorrow 🎆 featured; our Willow Bough green pvc wipe clean fabric - perfect for when you create a mess on the table, but please don’t light sparklers in your home we had a lapse of health and safety thought 🫶🏻
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#bonfirenight #bonfirenights #willowbough #wmorris #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #design #englishdesign #englishdesigner #britishdesigner #madeintheuk🇬🇧 #smallbusiness #floralfabric