03x04 - Arts and Crafts Armchair

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop,
where cherished family heirlooms
are brought back to life.

This is the workshop of dreams.

Home to furniture restorer
Jay Blades.

Nowadays,
everybody spends a fortune on stuff

that, once it's broken,
they just bin it.

But everybody has something that
means too much to be thrown away.

And that's where we come in.

Working alongside Jay will be
some of the country's leading
craftspeople.

Every piece has its own story.

It's amazing to think that some of
my work becomes part of that story.

I've always played with things,
I've always repaired things.

And I just love it.

There is a real pleasure in bringing
people's pieces back to life again.

Each with their own unique
set of skills...

Right tool for the right job.

..they will resurrect...

..revive and rejuvenate...

..treasured possessions

and irreplaceable pieces
of family history...

Wow! She's fantastic!

..bringing both the objects...

Oh! This is what I remember!
..and the memories that they hold...

Wow! ..back to life.

Oh, my God!

In The Repair Shop today,

these three experts have got
their hands full.

Kirsten with a delicate
reconstruction of an antique

Hungarian vase...

This is where I hold my breath.

Feels really wobbly.

..while a piece of military history
gives up its secrets

to leather expert Suzie.

Steve? What have you found?

Oh, my goodness!

That's incredible! Yeah.

But first to arrive at The
Repair Shop, Michelle Deadman,

here to see upholstery expert
Sonnaz Nooranvary.

Nice to meet you. And you.

Oh, wow!

She's brought a cherished chair
that has seen better days.

What an amazing chair! Thank you.

Absolutely fabulous.
The design and the finish.

Well, this is my grandpa's chair.

As a small child, I would sit in it
a lot in my grandpa's house,

up in Leeds, and whenever I see it
now, it reminds me of Grandpa.

I took possession of it

when he passed away in '91. Amazing.
So, lots of memories attached.

I used to go up there as a child for
two weeks in the summer holidays.

Right. He would look after me.
Would he?

And we'd get up to mischief in
Leeds. Love it.

But most of the time, it was spent,
really, in his front room.

We'd just sit there, we'd talk.
And generally have cups of tea.

Would you? He sounds like a
fabulous character. He was.

He was very gentle.
A gentle, quiet man, actually.

Was he? Mm. Fabulous. So, when you
see this chair...

Yes, it brings back memories
of him standing there,

in front of his coal fire.

And making funny noises
with his hands. Yeah.

And just memories like that. Yeah.
Precious. Very precious.

Looking at the chair,

it tells me that it's from
the Arts and Crafts period.

That kind of movement was
about 1880 to about 1920.

So you can see it's very stripped
back and it's very sort of

simple, but there's an elegance
to it, as well. I like it.

The woodwork's got this fantastic
patina on it. Yes.

From where you and grandad have sat
in it and it would be a shame

really to polish any of this sort
of special patina out. Yeah.

It's something that only time
can create. Yeah.

And it's still sort of that
connection to those memories.

I like it as it is, in actual fact.

It would seem odd if it
suddenly changed. Yeah.

But obviously, here,
it's seen better days, so doing this

and replacing these studs here,
just bringing it back to life. Yeah.

Lovely. It's feeling very sad.
It needs some love.

It would be an absolute joy to give
this chair some upholstery love.

It would mean a lot.

It will be really emotional,

being able to sit in it and use it
again and it will be lovely.

Really nice to sit there and think -
I'm finally back in Grandpa's chair.

I think when I first sit in it,

I'll probably wish Grandpa was
somewhere near me, that I was

back in those times, that I could be
there in his front room with him.

Because I do still
miss him, actually.

The Arts and Crafts movement was a
distinctive school of design,

which developed in the 19th century
as a reaction against the

growing industrialisation
of Victorian Britain.

It's typified by its simple style
and in recent years has

become very collectible.

So, you know this is a very
important chair, right?

An extremely important chair.

So you're going to have to do a
brilliant job on this. As usual!

You always do a brilliant job.
Yeah. As usual.

So, what are we doing now?

The real idea of this piece
is to preserve it,

rather than restore it into
a new chair. Yeah.

Because it's really important to
Michelle that when she looks

at it, it's as she remembers it.
It still holds those memories.

So that's the main thing.
Absolutely. But the seat...

Seat base, right. I'll show you
the seat base. So, you can see,

I'd say that's probably never
been recovered before.

Or reupholstered certainly in its
life. I mean, this hessian is old.

What I do know at this stage is
that it is coil sprung.

Can you see those in there? Yeah.

Traditionally, so I think a chair
like this, you can't not put

traditional coil springs back in
and stitch a horse hair base in it.

Yeah. Again. So, you're going to
reupholster this the traditional

way - or the Sonnaz way,
I should say.

Which is the proper way.
The proper way. Exactly. Cool.

We couldn't put a bit of foam
on this. No, no.

It would just be a travesty.
No, it would. Good luck. OK.

Sonnaz's first task is to strip
the old upholstery from the frame.

It soon becomes clear that
the chair has arrived at

The Repair Shop in the nick of time.

You can see how brittle
everything is.

And it's literally falling apart,
just by me pulling it.

I don't think I've ever been able
to rip the hessian and the

fabric off quite so easily
as this before.

Stripping is the worst job out
of the whole process cos it's

just so messy and dusty and gross.

And it can take so much
time, as well.

So now, I've got this whole seat
base stripped out and now

it's time to build the whole
thing back up again.

Next into The Repair Shop is
ex-military man Ian Matthews,

with a family heirloom for the
attention of Steve Fletcher.

Is it Ian? It is, yes. Hello. Steve.
Pleased to meet you. Hi.

What have we got here, then?

It's a riding crop.
A riding crop? Yes.

Not had a riding crop
come in before. Ooh!

This looks very interesting.

Suzie? Yeah. Would you like to come
over and have a look at this? Sure.

Steve will be joining forces
with his sister,

leather expert and master
saddle maker Suzie.

Oh, my word!

Yes. So, how did you come by this?

It was my great-uncle's.

Um, it was passed down to me by
his brother and it's been in the

family ever since.

It was relatively in that
condition when I got it.

OK. So he was a rider, obviously.
Yes, he was in the military.

He was in the military. Yes.

Royal Field a*tillery.
Is it a ceremonial thing?

It was presented for being
best wheel.

And what exactly does that mean?

That's being in charge of the g*n
carriage. That's of him in uniform.

OK. And that's at a time
when he'd be using this?

Roughly about the same time, yes.

Do you know how old
he was at this point?

When he went in,
he would have been 17, going on 18.

I see there's, um...
an engraving on the top there.

DR Matthews. And AC? AG.

AG. Albert George.

Ah! OK.

How old were you when you were given
this? I was about 12. All right, OK.

Oh, really? And what did it mean to
you when you were 12?

Um, not a lot.
Well, I was wondering that!

It was actually used like a toy.
Yeah. Oh! For many years. Right, OK.

But it's become more important to
you as years have gone on

because you've known the history.

Yes. Being in the military
myself and then,

you can appreciate the military
aspect of it. I think it's stunning.

I would be very excited to own
something like this.

I think it's beautiful.
And what can you do to restore this?

So, the collar and the end needs

to come off and replace
the leatherwork

here which will be pigskin
because pigskin's very thin

but very, very strong.

Perhaps, Steve, you could help with
the cleaning up of the metalwork.

Yeah, I'll do that. Yeah?
Absolutely. Yeah.

Are you very attached to this
particular piece of leather? No!

So, I can replace with a new piece
of leather and whip on and

make it all look nice and tidy.
Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for
bringing it in. Take care.

When I was given it
at the age of 12,

I used to play with it in
our back garden.

Didn't like to mention, but I
actually used it for scrumping,

for getting the apples out
of a tree.

Not knowing its real significance.

I'm feeling a little bit nervous
about how it will come out in

the end. But looking forward
to seeing it completed.

Before Suzie can work
on the leather,

Steve first has to find a way
to remove the metal tip.

Can I make you a cup of coffee?
That's my coffee mug. I know, sorry.

It's hoof glue tea. Oh, lovely...
What is it you're doing?

Just trying to heat this up because
I'm pretty sure there'll be

hoof glue or some such thing that
needs heating up, it'll go soft. OK.

And then it should just pull off.

OK.

It's not moving at all
at the moment.

Um, so I might just put a flame
on there, actually. OK.

Just a gentle flame,
just so it gets really, really hot.

It's not going to melt this,
is it? No, no, no.

I'll just be really gentle with it.

If you've got a bit of spare
leather... OK.

Just wrap round it, so it doesn't
hurt my hand when I hold onto it.

Will this work? Yeah.

Yeah, look.

That's coming off. It is.
It's just popping off, look at it.

It's sliding off.
Well, I'm blowed, look.

Oh, wow!
The heat is pushing it off. Wow!

Ow! Hot? Yes!

Looks like treacle. Yeah. So...
Caramel. Yes!

So when we put it back on again...

..we just have to put some more
hoof glue in. Yeah.

Heat it up and push it on. Yeah.

Well, at least we know -
we have a plan of action. Yeah.

With her own plan of attack,

Sonnaz is preparing to
rebuild the armchair,

starting with the springs, which
are essential for giving the seat

form - and the user a nice,
comfortable sit.

This is the planning stage
of my springs.

There are different grade springs.

The grade denotes the
springiness or the firmness.

All of these are 9-gauge springs.

So they're sort of soft,
but not firm,

cos we want it to be comfortable,
but not hard.

Now I've tied all my springs in,
I am lashing them in.

You've got to make sure that
the knot doesn't move,

so it's nice and tight.
And that the spacings here are even,

otherwise your springs won't be
straight and they'll be off.

This is true traditional
springing up of a base.

My sort of favourite motto

is "every stage has a knock-on
effect to the next stage".

It's crucial that I get these
springs in the right place and sort

of mirrored, so they're all even,

and that my lashing's all good,
etc, etc.

With the springs in place,
Sonnaz begins to layer the seat pad.

So this is the base haired up now.
I've stuffed it with horse hair.

There's no real exact science.

Each upholsterer would do sort
of their own version of a pad.

What my plan is for this is to
actually stitch some calico to the

top of my padding here and then have
my fabric go over the top of that.

It can give you sometimes
a bit of a nicer finish.

The whole objective really for
putting so much thought and

effort into how best to reupholster
this pad is really to make it as

comfortable as possible
for Michelle.

I imagine, having had a little chat
with her about her grandad,

that she would be sitting in this
chair for long periods of time,

thinking about the good times that
she had, so I think it's

worth the thought and effort to get
it absolutely right.

Sonnaz covers and stitches
the layers of seat padding into

place, ready for the fabric.

It's this final layer that is giving
her most cause for concern.

I'm really quite nervous to reveal

this chair to Michelle

because of my fabric choice.

Michelle specifically said that
she doesn't want the chair to

change much from how
she remembers it.

If I put a shiny new, with bright
blues and bright greens, as per

the original on there, my worry is
that would be too new for Michelle.

On the original chair, there was
actually also this lovely cord.

So I've chosen a cord that's
slightly bigger, so that it's really

going to be obvious and is similar
to the original cord,

in both design and colours.

Now for this bit.

Here is where it joins.

When this comes round and sits round
that corner like that,

and this one meets it, here,
I actually made a little cuff

that's going to wrap around them
both and disguise the join.

Lovely.

Great. Thank goodness for that.

It fits nicely.
That's a real relief.

I just hope that Michelle likes
it as much as I do.

Next into The
Repair Shop, Joanna Fay.

With her is her
half-brother Julian Rowe.

She's brought an item for ceramics
restorer Kirsten Ramsay.

Hello. How are you? I'm good, thank
you. I'm Julian. I'm Kirsten. Jo-Jo.

Hi, Jo-Jo. Nice to meet you.

Do you want to get it out of
the box? Here we go.

This looks interesting.
Very pretty, isn't it? Oh, wow!

The vase belongs to Jo-Jo and
Julian's 83-year-old mother,

Patricia.

Let's have a look. So, it's broken,
I can see, across the handle.

What a shame.
My mother broke it while cleaning.

We've tried to fix it,
but...not very well.

What can you tell me
about this piece?

Well, this belonged to my father,

who tragically died in a gas
expl*si*n very early on in his life.

Oh! It's the only piece
I have of my father.

It's the only thing I can
remember him by, really.

So, really precious. Yes.

Cos everything else got destroyed
in the expl*si*n. Oh, no!

This was the only thing
that survived.

So, when was that?

I was just 11 at the time. Right.
So this is why it means such a lot.

Yeah, I can understand that.

And do you have sort
of memories of it...?

It's been on the sideboard forever.
For as long we can remember. Golly!

Right.
So, when was this actually broken?

Cos it looks like quite
an old repair.

It is old. About 35 years. Right.
So, this is your mum's vase.

Does she actually know
that it's here?

She does. She does, yes.

But she won't do by the time
we take it back to her,

cos she's suffering from dementia.

So it's a short-term dementia.
Right.

So she'll remember the vase, she'll
remember breaking it, etc. OK.

But by the time we take it back
to her, fixed, hopefully,

she'll be absolutely over the moon
and gobsmacked, won't she? She will.

She was actually devastated
when she broke it.

I completely get that, yeah.

So it's actually going to mean a lot
to lots of people, isn't it? It is.

In different ways.

Goodness! I do feel the weight of
responsibility, I have to say!

We wouldn't take it to anyone else.
No, we actually wouldn't.

The heartbreak my mother
experienced when she broke it,

I remember that clearly,
when we were very young.

It means an awful lot to me because
it's the only thing that I've

got of my father.

And it was quite a tug on my
heart strings to let it go.

It's going to mean a lot
to the family.

Produced in Budapest in the
mid 1800s, the vase was designed

by Ignac Fischer, who specialised
in highly decorative pottery.

Now, that's what I call
a beautiful jug.

You probably caught it sparkling...
It was, actually. Yeah.

So, what is it used for?
Is it, like, just dried flowers
or something putting in there?

It's decorative, it's Hungarian.

And it's got this quite sort
of distinctive cream background

and pierced work.
Can I touch it? I ask before...

Actually, you've already touched it.
Have I? Yeah. You came straight in!

Touched it. I thought I'd trained
you. Oh, no, you didn't.

I'm a rebel. Look at that!
That's broken, isn't it?

It's REALLY broken. Ooh! Yeah.
There's actually a hole there.

Oh, it's a hole.
Yeah, there's a hole, a bit missing,
goes right the way round.

And then we've got these bits on
the... Actually, there as well.

And here. Basically, everywhere you
look. I'm quite chuffed. I know!

I touched it again.

Suzie's getting to grips
with the worn handle from the

World w*r I riding crop.

How are you getting on
with that whip, then?

Well, you came right
at the beginning,

so just beginning to take off
the glue here. Right.

I'm going to strip off this handle.
That glue's gone, hasn't it?

Look at that! Yeah, it's hoof glue.
Hoof glue.

Taking all of this leather off
because I'm going to replace

it with this pigskin.

And I'm going to dye this to match
the original colour.

Was this dyed, then, originally?
Cos that looks a different colour.

It probably was very, very light,
but over the years,

it just tones down with the use.

OK.
Just gets that lovely patina on it.

And so, I'm just going to try
and replicate it with dyeing it.

But all this little stitching, can
you see how tiny that stitching is?

Now, this is what I think -
I don't know how you do that,

cos you've got to stitch that when
it's on the actual cane. Yeah.

On the whip. Yeah.
So, how do you do that?

It's a little thicker here
than it is own here,

so I have to taper everything down
and keep the seam exactly straight.

You still haven't answered.
How do you do that? That's magic.

It's magic? It is magic.

So I can pull up a chair and just
watch you do a magic show?

If you like! If you like. Right!

But you'd be sat there for a while.
I don't have to wish you luck.

I know you're going to do a
great job. Thank you.

OK. So I'm going to see you soon,
anyway. OK, sounds good. Bye-bye.

While unravelling the old leather,

Suzie makes an interesting
discovery.

Hey, Steve.

Come and have a look and see
what I've found.

What have you found?

So, on this riding crop, when I took
the leather off... Oh, my goodness!

Oh! The paperwork underneath and it
came off on the leather here.

Yeah.

And I'm just peeling
off this top layer

and trying to see
what was written.

They've got
"stable"... Yeah.

And I think this is going
to be "management".

Cos I'm assuming that this was made
in the military saddlers. Right.

And they would have used
whatever paper was to hand.

That's incredible! Yeah.

Let me know when you uncover
some more. OK.

I'm intrigued. Me, too.

But more meticulous unpicking
doesn't reveal quite the

military secrets Suzie
was expecting.

This is like the minutes
of the Allotment Association.

And up here, the stable is, I think,

an advert because that name,

is it, Lame, it runs all the way
through it. Oh, OK.

Yeah. Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.

I thought I'd show you before
I cover it up with leather for

another 100 years. Oh! So, where
are we up to on this, then?

So, um, I'm just going to clean
the rest of it up a little bit

and then I'll be covering it
with the leather. Right.

If you could repair the cap
that we took off...

Yeah, the cap actually has got
a split in it.

I didn't see that. Yeah. So, there's
a split there. I've closed it up.

OK.

And I'm going to put a small slither
of metal underneath there, just...

Oh, yeah. You see it? It's the way
it's been made, all the way down

here, but it's split away from
there. OK.

So I'm going to strengthen it
by just putting a very fine

sliver of metal and
soldering that on.

Right. Good. Thanks.
How exciting! I know.

While Steve fixes the metal end,
Suzie prick-marks the leather

for the handle, carefully punching
holes, ready to be stitched.

I'm pulling the thread through,
as I'm pushing the needle,

because I don't want the needle
to go into the thread.

This is when the leather can tear,
so just take your time.

One slip up could ruin the entire
piece of leather,

setting Suzie back several hours.

The beauty with handstitched
items is that they're very,

very strong because the threads
are going in and out and then a

step and they're crossing
from the left to the right,

whereas machine stitching,
the threads link in the middle.

Once the stitching is done
and the metal end repaired,

Steve and Suzie can finally put
the crop's handle back together.

So, I'm at this point where we're
ready to glue the cap back on.

OK, is it tight? Yep.

Is think put the glue in here first.
OK.

Twist, twist.

Just... There you go. There you go.

Oh, look at that!

Yes!

It's beautiful, Suzie.

Well done. Well done.
Thank you very much.

Right, what are you going to do
with the other end?

I have to whip this little tab on.
Oh, right, OK.

That'll take you five secs.
Won't take me very long.

So, nearly done. OK.

Across the workshop,

the expert eye of Sonnaz has spotted
some clues to suggest there

may have been more to this armchair
than she first thought.

I've been sort of looking at the
back as I've been working on it,

and I definitely do think that there
was a cushion on the back here,

attached in the corners
with the studs.

Another clue to back up that theory
is the fact that the centre of the

back is in really good condition
and we can actually see rub marks

either side,
where the cushion wasn't,

so I think that it would be a really
lovely touch to actually make

a cushion and reattach it in the
same place it was when Michelle's

grandad had the chair.

This is the first time I've ever
secured a cushion to the inside back

of a chair, so it's a new experience
and it's a new look for me.

I quite like it, actually.

I like the contrast between the
brass, the cord and the velvet.

I absolutely can't wait for Michelle
to have this chair back.

I do really sort of enjoy the
thought, really, of her sitting in

this chair and reminiscing about
her time with her grandad,

cos it sounds to me like they had
a really lovely relationship.

Michelle's grandfather actually
lived in Vancouver, and my

grandad lived in Vancouver, as well.
We were really close and, you know,

all I've got is fond memories
of him, so I totally,

totally understand Michelle's
connection with this chair

and if only I had a chair off any
of my grandparents to remember

them by, I just think it's a really
lovely, special thing.

So...this is the moment I've been
waiting for all day.

Great.

Great, great, great.

Owner Michelle brought the chair
in to The Repair Shop after

years of loving use had
rendered it tatty and worn.

I don't think I've ever seen
the chair in its proper state,

so that might be a bit
of a surprise to me.

Overall, though,
I'm really excited to see it.

Also here to witness the
transformation,

Michelle's mother, Cecile.

That chair was special.
The fact that after he died,

the one thing she really wanted
was Grandpa's chair.

And I don't think we can quite
believe now what we're going to see.

I think it's going to be
quite exciting!

Hi! Hi! Nice to see you. How are
you? Good, thanks. How are you?

I'm very well.
Sonnaz, this is my mum.

Can you remember what your chair
looked like when you brought it in?

It was in a sorry state. Sad.
Really sad and unloved by me.

Well, I won't keep you any longer.
I'm too excited. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

Oh, Mum! Oh, yes!
You've got it exactly! Lovely!

It is, isn't it, Mum?

It's fantastic!

That's amazing!

It just looks the same
as Grandpa's chair.

Thank you so much! That is lovely!

My pleasure. Look at the cord
and look at the back of it now!

We've got a back, Mum! Yes!

I was absolutely petrified

that you wouldn't like the colour
of the fabric.

Oh, were you? Yeah, totally.
No, it suits it.

This fabric sort of echoed
the original. It does.

Without looking new. Yeah.

Because one of the things
that I heard you say was,

"I just don't really want it
to change."

Now it's there and it's like that,

I can almost put that right into
Grandpa's front room again.

They're such treasured memories,
aren't they? They are.

And that's what it's about. So I
can't thank you enough. Thank you.

My pleasure.
My pleasure. It has been...

Throughout the process,
I've just been thinking about how...

Oh, Sonnaz.
You're getting all emotional.

You're thinking about Grandpa
and just the story. I know.

Because it's just such a special
relationship that you had and

I had a really good relationship
with my grandad.

It's brought back memories for
you, as well. Yeah.

Yeah. I know. And I really do wish
I still had Grandpa about.

But I just think it's such a
lovely thing to have that's

connected you to Grandpa, really.

Yeah. I know. Thank you very much.
My pleasure. Really appreciate it.

Thank you.

When she unveiled the chair,
I wished Grandpa was with us still.

I really do. You just long for
that person back in your life.

It was really something seeing
Sonnaz become quite emotional

about the chair, along with us
because she has a connection

with her grandfather,
as I have with Grandpa.

You can see how deeply she felt
for the chair itself and it's not

just the story - it's the chair,
as well. It's lovely.

She's smashing. I can't believe
she's done it so beautifully.

I'm really happy she has.

Ceramic expert Kirsten is beginning
to unpick the old repairs on

the Hungarian vase.
It's previously been restored,

but I think Joanna said it was
perhaps something like 30 years

ago, so I'm going to undo all
the previous restoration,

take that off, clean it,
and hopefully, there's only a couple

of tiny little pieces missing,
so I can then reassemble it.

Breaking down the bonds of some
old adhesives can be difficult.

And Kirsten's having to delve deep
into her restorer's armoury.

What's in there, then?
Just a Hungarian vase.

I'm still trying to take this apart,
actually.

Do you remember it had quite a lot
of sort of old yellow glue on it?

And what I've been doing is just
starting off with some

acetone, actually, to see if that
would just soften the old adhesive.

It hasn't. Right.

I'm now on to industrial
methylated spirits. OK.

And that seems to be doing the
trick. Look, it's actually starting

to soften. So, you're going to have
that apart, then?

Now to find out her efforts
have paid off.

Ooh! My goodness!

That's absolutely brilliant.
Look at this.

That seems to be working quite well.
Oh, is it? Yeah.

So, that's sort of the main section
that's come off the back of

the vase there. And it's softened
all this old glue. Right.

Which now comes away very easily.

OK. But I think now that bit's come
away, hopefully, it's under way.

After deconstructing the vase,

Kirsten can begun reconstructing it,
starting with the trickiest section.

Handles are always very difficult.

You have to sort of balance
the bits and they wobble around,

so that's what I'm going
to attempt to do now.

So I've got my pieces prepared
and... Oops!

And I'm just using an adhesive
here that is suitable for

earthenware,
which is what this piece is made of.

Right.
This is where it gets difficult.

Kirsten must now
simultaneously line up,

stick and hold the pieces in place,

all before the adhesive hardens,
and with only one pair of hands.

This is quite tricky.

I just dot the glue into the middle

of the piece that I'm sticking
because most people just use

far too much glue and it all
squashes out.

This is where I hold my breath.

Feels really wobbly.

But with the help of some
very modern sticky tape,

this 150-year-old vase is
starting to take shape.

But Kirsten isn't taking any risks.

I'm not quite ready
to take my hands off,

I'm still anchoring stuff in
place with the tape.

Um...

I don't want it to
collapse in a big heap.

Time to check if the adhesive
and the tape have done their job.

The piece feels quite stable and
strong and that's quite a relief.

Yeah, I'm happy with that. I'm now
just going to start filling it.

I'm just going to use a filler here
that cures extremely quickly

and it also will give some strength
to the body of the vase by

filling all these little
missing areas.

It's quite a tricky restoration.

With the piece now intact,
and her repairs filled and sanded,

Kirsten can turn her attention
to the intricate decoration.

There's so many different
styles in this piece.

You've got this almost sort
of Satsuma-y style,

you've got an almost sort of
Islamic style round here.

It's interesting.

You look so closely at all
the different details,

as you try and emulate -
well, mimic them, really.

I love this sort of retouching.

Everyone's under strict instructions
to leave me alone at the moment.

So...

Also absorbed by her repair - Suzie.

The end is in sight for
the restoration of the

much-treasured riding crop.

This is the final part,
the little leather tab on the end,

that the old one was
actually not the original.

So I've glued the tab on and then
I've taped around it and now

I'm just whipping it on, using
a linen thread that I've waxed.

And you want to get the thread
tight up against the previous

thread and then pull it up.

It's a little tricky on this crop
because it's not straight, so as I'm

turning it under my arm here, it has
a little bit of a sticking point.

What I'm doing is replicating how
this crop was originally made.

It's lovely to keep
the old ways alive.

Pop the end of the thread
through this loop.

I'm going to pull the loop
ends through.

And I just need to trim this off.

And then put some varnish
or glue on it

and that'll stay on for many,
many years.

Ian's back and he's keen to see
if the riding crop he once used

for his boyhood apple scrumping has
been restored to its former glory.

The riding crop was in a very bad
state of repair.

I had used it as a child
to play with.

I would like to see the riding crop
as it was made originally, so that

myself and my family can understand
what the item actually looked like.

Because in its state that I brought
it down, it wasn't very good.

Hello, Suzie. Good to see you.
Nice to see you. Come on in.

I've got something to show you.
I hope so!

Do you remember what it looked
like when you brought it in?

Unfortunately, yes. OK.
So, here we go.

Oh, wow!

So, what I did was I replaced the
leather that was all torn. Yes.

And we... Remember that big dent
you had in here? Yes.

So, Steve very kindly managed
to get rid of that for us.

And I whipped on a new piece
of leather for you.

And all of this was handstitched.

Made my eyes go a bit wobbly when
I was doing it. It looks fantastic.

But hopefully, you'll put it in
a pride of place somewhere.

In the living room at home,

there will be some pictures
and when I eventually get the

reproduction of his medals,
they'll be going with it as well.

So, you can have a whole big display
on Great-Uncle Albert. Hopefully.

It's the only piece of history we
have from him that generation

of our family. Oh, wow! It's an
object that they can hold. Exactly.

And say,
he held that almost 100 years ago.

What a wonderful way to keep
somebody's memory alive.

The family think it's fantastic.
Yeah.

Difficult to put into words
the emotions you feel,

knowing that a member of your family
is held, used something like that.

And you are now the custodian of it.
That is fantastic.

On the restoration of the
Hungarian vase, Kirsten is still

meticulously toiling away, applying
some fine decorative details.

She's using a blend of gold
and bronze powders in a clear

glaze to gild the piece.

You must be finished!
Eh? I have, yeah. Have you? Yeah.

No, but hold on, where have you
done it? Like, where...?

That's a compliment, actually.

Thank you. I can see the damage,
which is good. Thank you. Wow!

I think Julian and Joanna are going
to be amazed by that.

Amazed. Yeah.

I know that their mum, Patricia,
has really sort of missed this

piece, actually,
while I've been working on it.

And I think they're quite keen
to get it back to her.

You've done a blinding job.
Thank you, Jay.

Kirsten has managed to return this
collectible antique vase back

to near original condition,
erasing the ailing repairs and

painstakingly mimicking the
extraordinary paintwork.

It's time to send this beloved piece
and all the memories it holds

back home to its owner, Patricia.

Julian is taking charge
of this special delivery,

as half-sister Jo-Jo is away.

Today, we're very excited because
my mother's going to be seeing

it in what was its original
condition,

which she's not seen that for
probably the last 30 years.

She knows something's going on,

she's not 100% sure what it is,
but today's the day.

How you doing?

What's this?
I've got a surprise for you.

Wow!

Do you remember in the summer when
you shouted at me for taking

Harvey's vase away?

You've not! Oh, you've not!

I'll be honest, I've not seen it
yet, so I'm hoping beyond hope.

So, let's just have a look,
see what we've got.

Oh, Ju!

It's like... It's done!

OK, there you go, just check it out.

Oh, I daren't touch it!
Check it out.

Oh, my goodness! It's perfect!

Are you happy?

I'm over the moon.

I mean, quite genuinely,
from the bottom of my heart,

I'm over the moon!

Thank you so much!
You're so welcome.

Oh, Julian! Thank you, darling!
It's wonderful.

I love you.

I love you, too.

What a lovely, lovely gesture, Ju.
Speaking for Jo-Jo,

it's the only real tangible thing
that she's got of her father's.

The only real tangible memory
that she's got of him.

You know, the one thing that she can
actually touch and feel and see,

and they've done a splendid job.

I can't believe it.

For goodness' sake, don't drop it.
I won't! I promise I won't drop it!

Whatever happens!

It's had a few adventures.

Happy, Mum? Yes. That's perfect.
Thank you, darling.

Join us next time, as more neglected
items are rescued...

This is in a bit of a bad state.

Almost looks like it's been
dropped down the stairs.

..and their cherished memories
restored...

Wow! ..in The Repair Shop.