Drum throne production restarts

We started selling our range of drum thrones at the beginning of 2017. Most made their way to customers in the UK but others found themselves dotted around Europe which was really exciting!

Since then, it’s been really hard finding the time to continue building stock and develop the range. A day job, house move and new baby are enough to keep most people fully preoccupied!

However, at the start of this year I’ve managed to get operations back up and running!

 

One of the first things I tackled was some different patterns for the new bean shape.

I wanted to test a version where the material flowed down over the front and met with a shorter seam so I used a purple velvet top and black vinyl side; I had some left with the white logo embroidered.

The difficulty with this design is that the interior contour of the bean shape creates some loose fabric which can lead to it bunching.

 

A simpler way to produce this shape is by using a straight forward boxed construction where the side is one depth the whole way around.

I combined this technique with a more elaborate design which included a top with blind pleated channels and matching piping with our blue heritage vinyl.

A blind pleat is where the stitch is made on the reverse of the fabric so you don’t see it. I also backed the vinyl with about 1/4in foam which is what provides the puffed out look.

I really like this design because the kidney bean shape is much sharper.

 

After that I had a go at a round top which featured a technique called quilting.

This is where you sew two layers together with a layer of padding between. This is typically a diamond shape design made with a top stitch.

I used a blue vinyl and white stitch together with a thicker 1/2in foam. Frustratingly I had some trouble with a combination of the thread and the foam backing which resulted in some stitches that pulled loose.

The matching white stitch and white piping was a cool touch but for now this one will become my own workshop seat.

 

 

This is when I started to get a bit more adventurous and took on a design that combined the bean shape, 1/2in thick blind pleated channels, a dropped over front and piping in the top seam…

The result was a racy looking model that featured a red semi perforated vinyl top. The pleats were bulkier this time and instead of creating a seam at the front I dropped the fabric straight down to the base.

The piping made things even tricker, not only adding 2 more layers of vinyl to sew through but also joining it in position.

Overall it looks super chunky and ended up finishing with a straightened edge either side that looks quite unique.

 

 

And most recently, I decided to jump back in to a design that we felt we never quite nailed previously; the saddle.

It’s a seat that a lot of people swear by. A contoured, butt-hugging tractor style shape where you can plant yourself down and play drums for hours.

Again, what makes it so hard to design are the contours and varied heights of padding. You need to ensure none of the fabric bunches around the edges and when you cover the foam, it shouldn’t lift around the contours.

All of this meant that I had to go back to the drawing board. So I made some changes to the initial foam shape; trimming down the nose section and shaving off some of the rear cushion where it meets the backs of your leg.

The result was a much better base to start from and now I was happy with that, I made up the fabric pattern, this time knowing I could sew it all however I needed.

With that in mind, I made it from three parts; nose, top and back. Like this, the top can essentially wrap much more naturally around the contours.

To make sure the fabric doesn’t lift around the back, it’s carefully positioned and then glued in to place before attaching to the base.

I made an initial design with black/tan vinyl and then got a bit fancy with this gold/black version which features real hide leather!