We've Moved!

Well, the dust has finally settled and we are in new digs! Whew! The move was a real feat of strength and endurance but SO worth it. Since we are out with customers as often as we are, it was not working to have our large workroom, office and showroom in the downtown location. Now, we only have the showroom in that area... just around the corner from our old upstairs place. It is inside the Galleries at Southside at 1404 Cowart Street. Being part of this collection of retail stores, the showroom can be open and attended by the staff there....even during the times we are buried under a ton of work, stitching on a hot project, or we are out at a customer's home for consultation or installation.

Its working wonderfully to meet customers at "The Galleries" to receive fabric and/or to chat about a project. I am there and available quite often during the week and customers can phone ahead to set a time to meet ...or to just catch me while they are browsing through some of the great kiosks located at this shopping destination. Also, there is a new lunch spot connected to the Galleries that is turning out to be a HUGE hit called Virginia's Southside Cafe. The regular menu is amazing and there is always something new and delicious on the daily specials.

Furniture to be slipcovered is mostly going to our Red Bank workroom, but occasionally we are receiving pieces at our E.Brainerd shop. But as always, anything that will fit in my little Subaru can travel with me from the downtown area. Our out-of-town customers can call to get directions directly to our workroom with their sofas and large chairs!

Above is a picture of my office door ...which is the entrance to the ORIGINAL Brick Path Studio! (If you every wondered how we got our name....!)

Scalloped Slipcover for Rocker

This chair is just adorable. It is like it is wearing a tailored summer dress. This belongs to a customer that drives from Alabama to Chattanooga to get her slipcovers done. The fabric is a slightly off-white denim that is fairly heavy in weight. It makes the skirt hang nicely and the buttoned tabs lay so neatly.

She brought us the chair, we consulted on the design, I gave her fabric yardages, and she went shopping locally for the linen. She found it in a great old shop on Dodds Avenue called Associated Fabrics. They have been in business since the dawn of time! It is always an experience to visit….with the creaky old wooden floors and an overwhelming amount of fabric in stock. You can also sit and browse through stacks and stacks of fabric sample books to custom order that special fabric in just the right color. The staff is very knowledgeable and can help you find most anything you need.

When this customer brought the fabric back to us later in the day, we rolled it out, cut it into manageable sized pieces and washed it. It began very smooth and flat, but came out of the dryer all plumped up and slightly rumpled….beautiful! I was so pleased with the comfortable washed look. The customer now has the option of ironing it with a hot iron to get a smoother, pressed look…or to use it the way it is (my favorite!) We give our customers the opportunity to wash their own fabric or to have us wash it. Either way, we like to serge the raw edges of the fabric prior to washing to prevent those THOUSANDS of strings and the raveling that occurs. In fact, the completed slipcover is completely serged on the inside as it is sewn to make it longer lasting.

Boxed Pillows with Pearls!

These pillows have boxed down-filled forms and are done in an incredible taupe silk that had seed pearls all over it in a random pattern. They were incredibly time consuming to create because the pearls had to be picked out of the seam allowances one at a time before being sewn! As you see, the triplets sit almost like glamorous starfish on this canopied bed.

Silk and Down Custom Bench Cushion Creation

We created this bench cushion with 25/75 down/feather fill and covered it in this fabulous silk stripe.
If you ever wonder how a project like this happens, here's the basics:
The customer (in this case the interior decorator) called us to make a custom cushion for this bench that sits in the homeowner's entrance hallway. As you can see, the bench is a beautiful thing...just by itself. But this hallway was rather "cold" looking and needed softgoods to give it some warmth. I started by going to the customer's home with a large sheet of butcher paper and traced a pattern that fit the contours of the piece. I also brought with me a couple of pillow forms in different sizes. While I was there, the decorator and I played with the pillow forms to see which ones were suitable to the porportions of the furniture. At the same time, we made the decision as to how thick the bottom cushion was to be. We call this the "boxing height" as this is a boxed cushion style. We also do knife edge cushions for similar chairs and benches (which is just the top & bottom pieces sewn together at the edges) but in this case we added the boxing that we made about 4" or so. When the pattern piece/sketch got back to our shop, Lori altered it to create a "crest" ....this is what makes it "pouf" up on the top and bottom and takes out the flat, boxy look. This crested cushion look doesn't happen because of the type of fill on the inside alone. The pattern pieces are cut to create that luxurious plump appearance.
We immediately got busy sewing the cushion & pillow covers while sending the pattern to our custom down supplier. There they created the cushion "insides" following our pattern & instructions. By the time this down form arrived at our shop, we had all the covers completed! We zippered-on the beautiful silk cover, loaded it in the car with the completed pillows and popped them in place in the entrance to this wonderful home. The whole process took 2-3 weeks!

Monogrammed Slipcover

This is an incredible project we recently did for a customer moving into a new home. She brought in this fabulous old sacking type fabric. I have no idea where she found such a treasure, but it lookded really old, but in great shape. Also, it was fat, kinda rough, and amazingly textured. She found a co-ordinating fabric in a khaki color to create the outside pattern pieces and the welt cording. We cut the inside back piece and sent it with her to the monogrammer's. This wonderful design is what she came back with. We promptly sewed the slipcover together and sent it to it's new home. Can you believe it...this was actually one of a PAIR. I didn't get a chance to see them in their new home, but I'd love to. They went with a great old Chippendale sofa and the whole design package had that elegant/rough/casual look that is so wonderful.

Old Fashioned Casserole Covers

This casserole cover is patterned after an original I purchased at Ketner's Mill craft show in Powell's Cross Roads, Tennessee more than 30 years ago! I have loved it over the years and wanted to create a few to sell in the studio, at The Brick Path Mercantile, and on our Etsy site. Lori faithfully duplicated the design and created several in our high-saturation colored twills. You have to see these things to really appreciate the amount of careful and meticulous sewing/assembly that is involved in each one of these gems! No cheap, assembly-line look here! Your grandkids will be using them years from now!
Here is a picture of one with a small casserole dish inside and one laying flat. You can use a variety of dishes with them as you can gather it to suit the shape and size. Notice how the handles kinda "pop" when it's ready to go. Your favoite recipe will arrive piping hot or deliciously chilled to the next covered dish event. Basics like these never go out of style....and of course quality isn't a fad either.
We are selling these for $30 and will be offering them for a limited time (we're not sure HOW long... we're playing it by ear!) They can be charged by phone and mailed if you like.

PS: They're washable 100% cotton and available in a variety of colors!

New Pillows for Spring Shopping!

We're excited to have available a new pillow style at our Brick Path Mercantile! We call it the Bette-Bo (long "E" and long "O") & it has an oversized fabric bow on the face. They are over-the-top and make a show stopping statement on a bed or a special chair. Several colors are available...here's a couple!