Mid-Century Modern Chairs

My paint, Chalk Paint®, has been influenced by the painter’s palette, which means that it is perfect for recreating any style – and mid-Century Modern is no exception. I adore this modular streamlined look, made bold by use of colour and pattern. For this project, these mid-Century chairs have been transformed into something quite tremendous using just a small set of products from my range. This is a project that would be fairly straightforward to try at home. The chairs I used here were languishing in an attic, having been cast aside as too dated – yes, really!!

1.The first thing was to strip the old shabby velvet from the seat pads and add a new piece of polyester wadding and some fire-retardant calico before adding a new fabric covering. I chose the Gentleman fabric from my range – it’s perfect for the Modern Retro look and, as a natural cotton fabric, it’s so simple to dye using my paint, Chalk Paint®. 

 
2. Use masking tape to mark out the area you’re going to paint and get a good clean line. If you look carefully at the set of chairs you’ll see the colour is painted over different sections of each seat pad – the devil is in the detail! 

 
3. Mix the paint with water until you get a loose consistency, roughly one part paint to ten parts water. If you apply it too thickly it may dry with a crust (this can be brushed off, but it can be a messy job). Better to layer washes of paint, until you reach the intensity of colour you’re after. Use a small, flat brush and make sure to work it into the fabric as you apply it. 

4. For the frame, I wanted to contrast the colour of the seat pads with something stark that would make the colours sing out. I used Graphite on the legs and supports for the seat back, but kept the panel in its original grain, polished with some Danish oil to bring out its natural lustre.

5. Once the paint is dry, apply my Clear Soft Wax and take any excess off with a dry cloth or rag. 

6. Pop the pad back into the seat and they’re good to go!

I’m so pleased with these chairs – they work really well as a set, but, individually, each one works just as well on its own.

I hope you enjoyed this project – follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and please, please, please share your own projects with me by sharing your pictures with me there.

Yours, Annie

The 12 Crafts of Christmas - No.5: The Stocking

Today, for the fifth of my 12 Crafts of Christmas, I'm sharing this super easy sewing project with you! Rudi who works in the fabric department at Annie Sloan HQ made these adorable Christmas stockings to hang along the fireplace.

Using fabrics from the Annie Sloan Fabric Collection and a simple template (see below, and please note the 1cm seam allowance), Rudi cut out 2 pieces of fabric that would make the front and back of the Stocking and sewed along the top straight edge to create a neat hemmed edge. She then laid both pieces on top of one another –so that the right sides were facing – and pinned them together.

Earlier in the day, we had dyed some cotton web tape, using my paint Chalk Paint® as a dye (take a look at my earlier blog post to find out how to dye fabric with Chalk Paint®). Rudi cut the tape to 12cm lengths and pinned these in to the top inside seam, to create a loop. She then wizzed the sewing machine along the side and bottom edges, leaving the top open and turned the fabric inside out, so the right-sides faced out – and there you have it!

You can also add a sweet detail by adding a heel in an alternative fabric. Rudi dyed Pure Linen with the same Chalk Paint® dye that she had used on the cotton tape and added this to some of the Stockings that were made from some of the simpler patterned fabrics (such as Pinstripe Mattress Ticking or Gentleman). See the templates above for this.

I hope you're playing along with my #12CraftsOfChristmas and having fun! Don't forgot to share pictures of your projects with me!

Yours, Annie

Follow #12CraftsofChristmas on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

The 12 Crafts of Christmas – No. 2: The table linen

For the second of my 12 Crafts of Christmas, I'm sharing a super simple and effective way of creating festive linen for your Christmas table! To make a runner like the one above, all you need is some masking tape, Blu-tak, and of course, some of my paint, Chalk Paint® and fabric. I used my Pure Linen fabric and chose a palette of Burgundy, Scandinavian Pink and Old White – a colour combination inspired by Carl Larsson's very traditional Swedish paintings. 

I made another table runner with Kirstie Allsopp at the Handmade Christmas Fair in Manchester, UK, a couple of weeks ago. We used Olive-dyed Pure Linen (see this post to find out how to dye fabric with Chalk Paint) and my Antheia stencil (applied using my new Sponge Rollers). This is a no-sew table runner, so really couldn't be simpler. I let the fabric edges of the runner fray a little – I love the rustic effect!

Another really fun and simple project that you could try is painting a napkin for your Christmas table.
For this you can use one of my stencils to create patterns and images on the linen. I particularly like the way that sections of my Bell Flowers stencil can be used and overlapped to create a poinsettia-like image. Experiment with different designs in my range – I think Petrushka or Tallulah could be very festive, too. I edged my napkins using fabric tape which I stencilled in the obligatory red and green (or Olive and Emperor’s Silk!) using my Circles and Bell Flowers stencils. Simply fold the tape over the napkin edge and a basic running stitch using embroidery thread, or even wool will secure it in place. Of course, you could use any pretty fabric scraps you may have to hand for your own finishing touch.

If you already follow me on social media you may know I was in Poland last week. Such a beautiful place, and I just adore the way they use colour. I have to include this example of stencilling on Pure Linen from a workshop I did with Polish bloggers. No, it’s not a traditional Christmas design but wouldn’t it make a lovely present?

Thinking of trying this project out at home? Remember to share your projects with me!

Yours, Annie

Dyeing our t-shirts with Chalk Paint

October has become synonymous with the colour pink, thanks to the inspirational and successful campaign run by Breast Cancer Awareness who have urged us to Wear It Pink on October 23rd. We wanted to show our support here at HQ, and I realised that this would be a great opportunity to ‘dye’ our own t-shirts with my paint, Chalk Paint®. I’ve used Scandinavian Pink (predominantly) to customise a wonderful old piano stool and a chair and these will be on sale in my shop on Cowley Road, Oxford (from Monday) with all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Care.

If you haven’t yet tried using Chalk Paint® to colour fabric, do. It’s simple and really straightforward – you just need cold water and Paint – no fixatives or salt, no faffing around.


Pour your Paint into an old tub – I use metal, but you can use plastic although you’ll need to take care to clean it out afterwards. When I’m in my house in Normandy, I do this outside so that any spills won’t matter, but do be careful otherwise.


















Add the water, and mix gently but thoroughly. You’re looking for a ratio of around one part paint, to 20 parts water but, of course, you can play around with this for more or less intense gradations of colour!

Now, add your fabric and make sure it is fully immersed.
Leave it to soak for around half an hour.

The fabric will need to be fully dry before you use it but once dry, you can machine wash as normal.

Natural fabrics (linen, cotton, silk) always work best when you are dyeing material, no matter what you use to colour them. Polyester mixes, and other synthetics may not take the ‘dye’ so well. In my book, Colour Recipes, I describe dying old linen sheets in Aubusson Blue and found that the rustic effect of colouring them by using Chalk Paint® enhanced the natural texture of the fabric in a rather fabulous way. Here in Oxford, where I’m based, we’ve experimented with many different types of fabric, including some rather traditional lace panels which were given a contemporary twist by transforming them with colour.

And here they are, the team (with a few missing) in their pink t-shirts!

Yours, Annie

Abigail & Ryan Bell's Shibori Tie-Dye Fabric

For their final project as Painters in Residence, the brilliant husband and wife design-duo, Abigail and Ryan Bell (of Abigail*Ryan), created this beautiful shibori dyed fabric – using my paint, Chalk Paint® as a dye!

The pair were inspired by Japanese Shibori, a tie-dying method which uses real indigo. They knew that my paint would be a great substitute for indigo – it is highly pigmented and works incredibly well as a dye.

Abigail and Ryan worked with three blues from the Chalk Paint® palette to make different dyes – Aubusson Blue, Greek Blue and Napoleonic Blue. They mixed each colour with water, using a rough ratio of 1 part paint to 20 parts water.

The couple folded their cotton fabric and secured the folds with rubber bands and clothes pegs as they went along. They then soaked the folded fabric in the dye mix for around 30 minutes. Once the colour had absorbed they rinsed the fabric throughly, un-tied it and left it to dry. (I would recommend leaving your fabric to drip dry outdoors or by a heater. Once dry, iron or tumble dry the fabric to seal the colour. Hand wash or wash the fabric on its own.)

The couple used the fabric to make gorgeous cushions, and to re-upholster the seat cushion of their Parker Knoll chair – which now looks fabulous with the wood painted in Napoleonic Blue too!

I hope you've enjoyed following Abigail & Ryan's projects as my Painters in Residence and have been inspired by their love of bright colours and design.

Yours, Annie

Follow Abigail and Ryan on Instagram, Facebook, and their website: www.abigailryan.com

And remember to follow #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my Painters in Residence board on Pinterest.

Abigail & Ryan Bell's Succulent Chaise-Longe

For their first project as Painters in Residence, Abigail and Ryan Bell (of Abigail*Ryan) used my paint, Chalk Paint®, to cover an old Victorian chaise-longe in hand painted succulents. And doesn't it look amazing?

Abigail and Ryan painted the leather upholstery of the chaise-longe in Pure, to create a clean fresh canvas to work on. Abigail then began sketching simple succulent forms on to the surface with a pencil. As soon as she was happy with the shapes and composition, Abigail used a small artists' brush to paint the leaves – using certain colours directly from the pot, such as Henrietta and Emile, and mixing bespoke shades of green from Pure, Antibes, Florence and Provence. Abigail left the paint to dry completely and then used a black fine-liner pen to work detail into the paintwork.

The creative couple finished the transformation by painting the woodwork of the chaise-longe in Florence and the trim of the upholstery in Aubusson Blue. A couple of coats of my Soft Clear Wax were applied to the woodwork and the following day the surface was buffed with a clean cloth – this gives a soft sheen. They decided to leave the fabric un-waxed as the piece is purely decorative and will not be used as a chair.

What do you think? Have you ever been inspired to hand paint a pattern on to your furniture?

Yours, Annie

Follow this blog for exclusive pictures from Abigail and Ryan's residency and follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and her website: www.abigailryan.com

And remember to follow #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my Painters in Residence board on Pinterest.

#AskAnnieSloan February 2015

In January I hosted my first ever live Twitter Q&A – I loved it and held a second #AskAnnnieSloan on Friday. Here are the questions and answers for those of you who aren't on Twitter.

Thank you again to everybody who took part. Stay tuned as I'm hoping to make this a regular thing.

Yours, Annie