Senior Upholsterer (Traditional & Modern)

Slow; Settle; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Slow makes natural, sustainable sofas and chairs in a small workshop. We seek a senior upholsterer to shape our growing team, taking pieces from bare frame to finished piece with independence and ownership of the work.

You'll bring 5+ years of end-to-end upholstery experience, strong traditional skills, and comfort with an industrial sewing machine. You will plan your workload, estimate time and materials, and help Slow maintain its high standards as we scale.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years' experience across modern and traditional upholstery, from bare frame to finished piece.
• Proven traditional skills: hand-tied springs, stitched edges and deep buttoning.
• Confident on an industrial sewing machine: cushions, piping, panels.
• Accurate with measurements, templates and fabric calculations.
• Experience with natural fillings such as hair, wool and coir.
• Able to plan and manage your own workload without supervision.
• Photos of your work (phone photos are fine).
• Find out more about Slow and the sofas we make online.

Responsibilities

• Building sofas and chairs from our own range: making templates, cutting, sewing, suspension, natural fillings, covering and finishing
• Re-upholstering customer pieces from the frame up: stripping back, minor frame repairs, webbing, hand-tied springs, stuffing, stitched edges and finishing
• Estimating time and materials for re-upholstery jobs
• Working out fabric and material quantities, getting the most from every metre, and keeping the workshop stocked
• Pattern matching, piping, buttoning and trims
• Checking your own work at every stage

Skills

Upholstery experience

Traditional upholstery

Industrial sewing machine

Fabric calculations

Natural fillings

Workload planning

Portfolio photos

Tools

Industrial sewing machine

Job description

Slow makes natural, sustainable sofas and chairs. We build our own range from the frame up, and re-upholster customers' pieces using the same natural materials, so they last another thirty years. We sell direct, so everything that leaves our workshop goes straight into someone's home.

Our workshop is growing, and we're looking for a senior upholsterer to help shape it. You'll take pieces from bare frame to finished, working independently and owning the work end to end. We need someone who's done it all before, doesn't need a production line around them, and wants a real say in how a small workshop does things as it grows.

What you'll be doing

• Building sofas and chairs from our own range: making templates, cutting, sewing, suspension, natural fillings, covering and finishing
• Re-upholstering customer pieces from the frame up: stripping back, minor frame repairs, webbing, hand-tied springs, stuffing, stitched edges and finishing
• Estimating time and materials for re-upholstery jobs
• Working out fabric and material quantities, getting the most from every metre, and keeping the workshop stocked
• Pattern matching, piping, buttoning and trims
• Checking your own work at every stage

What we're looking for

• At least 5 years' experience across both modern and traditional upholstery, from bare frame to finished piece
• Proven traditional skills: hand-tied springs, stitched edges and deep buttoning
• Confident on an industrial sewing machine: cushions, piping, panels
• Accurate with measurements, templates and fabric calculations
• Experience with, or real interest in, natural fillings such as hair, wool and coir
• Able to plan and manage your own workload without supervision
• Photos of your work (phone photos are fine)
• Find out more about Slow and the sofas we make online