Recovering old furniture is a great way of revamping tired pieces, without spending a fortune. Corinne rescued this dressing table stool from a neighbour’s skip, and with some simple patchwork piecing using pretty Tilda fabrics, she gave it a new lease of life as a useful sewing caddy– ideal for keeping your essential sewing kit, or a cheeky bar of chocolate, to hand.
Stitch a sewing caddy
Prepare a dressing table stool by unscrewing the seat from the base and removing all old fabric and foam if necessary. Clean and paint the woodwork. Replace the foam block and hold it in position with a tight covering of plain cotton. Fix to the underside of the seat with a staple gun.
Measure from the base of the seat, over the dome of the padding and down the other side in both directions. Add 10cm to both dimensions to give you an indication of the size of patchwork panel you will need to make.
Divide each measurement by six, then multiply the two results to work out the number of patches needed. Cut this number of 7cm squares from patterned fabric. For example, if your measurements are 54cm x 66cm, divide each by six to get nine by 11. Multiplied together, this makes 99 squares.
Arrange the squares into a panel ensuring no two pieces of the sa