The Upholstery Cabin

🛠️ One Day Bespoke Headboard Upholstery Course
📍 The Upholstery Cabin, Ringwood
📅 Tuesday 28th July
⏰ 9:30am – 5:30pm
💷 £315 (includes lunch)

Ever fancied making your own headboard… properly?
Come and spend the day in the workshop creating a bespoke upholstered headboard — made to your design and ready to take home with you.

Your frame (up to king size) will be professionally made by a carpenter ahead of the day, so when you arrive, everything is set up and ready to go.

Here’s how the day runs:

Morning
You’ll build up your headboard using foam, wadding and interliner — learning how to create a really clean, professional shape.

Lunch (included!)
A proper sit down, a chat, and a breather.

Afternoon
You’ll apply your fabric and add the finishing touches — transforming it into a finished piece.
By the end of the day, you’ll head home with a completely finished, handmade headboard.

What’s included:
✔ All materials (except fabric)
✔ Your bespoke frame (made in advance)
✔ Full guidance throughout the day
✔ Lunch

What you need to do:
– Choose your shape and fabric in advance (I’ll guide you through this)
– Send fabric ahead of the course so I can prep piping etc

This is a really lovely one, practical, creative, and you walk away with something properly substantial.

Limited spaces (max 5). Comment or message me to book.

We didn’t exactly start out thinking…’one day we’ll be teaching accredited upholstery courses’

(Swipe to see the evidence…)

Somewhere between those cheeky childhood photos and now, things got a bit more serious:

– 20+ years in the trade
– AMUSF Director & President
– TV, museums, exhibitions
– Podcasting, writing, teaching
– And more chairs than we can count

But honestly.. We still just really love what we do, and we love passing it on.

So this September, we’re launching our AMUSF accredited courses at The Upholstery Cabin.

It’s proper, hands-on learning.
The kind where you actually understand what you’re doing, and why.

If you’ve ever thought:
“could I actually do this?”
We’re here to tell you- yes… you can!

(We’ll show you properly, not just saying that)

📍 Ringwood
🎓 Small groups
🛠 Real workshop training

⚠️ Limited spaces remaining:
Stage 1 – 3 places
Stage 2/3 – 3 places

Courses are by application / informal interview
👉 Drop me a message to find out more

Are you thinking about turning your upholstery hobby into a career?

The Upholstery Cabin is now an AMUSF Training Facility!

From September you can take the AMUSF Diploma with Vicky Grubb and Ray Clarke in Ringwood Hampshire.

Find out more here:

AMUSF Accredited Diploma in Upholstery - The Upholstery Cabin If you're ready to turn a passion into a profession, The Upholstery Cabin has just the course!

At this time of year I’m always reminded how lovely it is to make something; to slow down, learn a skill, and bring a tired old chair back to life.

Every term at The Upholstery Cabin I see people walk in a little unsure… and leave beaming because they’ve created something with their own hands. It’s honestly one of my favourite parts of this job.

If you’ve got someone in your life who loves crafting, fixing, or just trying something new, I offer gift vouchers for my workshops. No pressure, just an option for anyone who wants to give an experience rather than “more stuff.”

If you’d like one, just comment "Gift Voucher" and I'll send you the details.

Vickyx

Today marks 24 years since my sisters and I lost our beloved dad, and I wanted to take a moment to honour the incredible person he was.

Born in Scotland, his childhood was shaped by his own father’s wartime trauma and the resilience of my Yorkshire-born and very unfiltered (but lovely) grandmother, Flo. He somehow ended up in Slough, teaching at the local college, where fate intervened and he met my mum on a night out.

Driven by his socialist heart, he went on to study Social Sciences at university, where he played a major role in the LSE student occupation in 1968 and contributed to the landmark Townsend poverty study.

Dad was a man of many callings: mostly a Social Housing CEO, but also a paramedic, a dedicated Samaritans call handler, a speechwriter for MPs, and a business owner selling industrial workwear. If he saw someone in need, he was the first to help, and my sisters and I often tagged along, whether cutting hedges for an elderly neighbour or assisting in a care home. Our childhood was filled with his acts of kindness.

With the motto “work hard, play hard,” my father was the type to live life to the full, always booking holidays, events, and evenings out. When he passed away at just 58 years old, he left a huge hole in all our hearts. This was so clear from the many people who came to his funeral to share stories of how he had helped them.

Growing up, he taught me about empathy and feelings, often having long chats with me in the kitchen, always in his underwear 😂. He was endlessly curious, making me question everything and always telling me, “you can achieve anything (with the right education).” I often wonder what he would have made of my career as an upholsterer. He always allowed my creative side to flourish, letting me stencil nearly every room in our house (it was the 90s, after all).

I miss his energy, his positivity, his passion for always pushing forward and making change. I miss his support, his random phone calls, and his daddy cuddles. He was charismatic, formidable, and the most loving person.

We miss you every day, Dad. Your legacy of care and change lives on.

Apologies for jumping right in with events, but I have a few fun things going on! 🥳

I just had the best weekend at the Festival of Upholstery, it was brilliant meeting so many of you lovely people in person! I'm back in my studio today and ready for the week ahead.

Here’s what I have planned:

🧵 WORKSHOPS (A couple of spots just opened!):

This Saturday, Oct 18th (10am-4pm): Upholstery Workshop! Perfect if you have a footstool or a drop-in seat project needing some love. It’s £115 and that includes all your materials AND a delicious two-course lunch.

Friday, Nov 7th (9:30am-3:30pm): Lampshade Making with Nessa. Come and learn a traditional skill, enjoy lunch, and take home a beautiful shade! £130 total.

💸 VINTAGE FABRIC SALE (Tomorrow Night!):
I am finally doing my first WhatNot Live show tomorrow evening! I’ve been hoarding some amazing vintage fabrics and it's time for them to find a new home. Prices start from just £1! (You can use this link for a £10 credit: https://whatnot.com/invite/sit_on_this )

Hope to catch some of you at one of these events soon! Drop me a message or comment if you want to book a spot! ✂︎🍁

One of my past leisure students, Sam, covered her late father's wing chair in a gorgeous House of Hackney fabric and used it as her logo for her business "Fiction Prescription" (If I could work out how to link it on here I would send you to go take a look!) The premise is therapy through books. She invites you to talk about what memories you have of books and then prescribes you more reading from the session (this is simplified - there is more to it!). It really is such a unique idea. Next week Sam is holding an event called The Quiet Chapter "for those that love reading, but are not necessarily into group discussions or debates" Please do check it out - I know it will be fabulous, just like Sam # # #

Ditto! I had some lovely visits yesterday during carnival. Many thanks 🤩

great day today - ringwood carnival - thank you to everyone that popped in - back in tomo 11-4

Such an adorable chair finished by Sherrill this week. This is a little chair for her youngest grandchild. She upholstered it in an Emma Shipley fabric and a coral fringe. I’m looking forward to Sherrill working on her next project too: this gorgeous art deco chair for her home.

Nessa has sent me a few more pics of her lovely lampshade creations from her students. These are wire frames and require traditional techniques to attach the fabric and they also come with this gorgeous fringe (I think I shall make mine with a mustard fringe - very on trend!).

On my workshops I really like a relaxed atmosphere and lots of tea and chats. I like to provide a filling two course lunch usually a jacket potato or homemade soup in the winter with a cake personally baked by yours truly. It's a lovely day of creating and meeting new people and I hope to see some of you there!

Now booking for 7th Nov (please see website for booking directly)