Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

Master saddler Suzie Fletcher and wood restorer Will Kirk pool their talents to get a dilapidated stitching stool back on its feet again. The stool, used to hold leather in place to stitch, belonged to Honora Baldwin’s father. Honora remembers him making her all sorts of lovely leather items on the stool, including her school satchel. Honora would like to learn a few leather craft skills and knows her dad would have been very proud to see making use of the stool that brought him such pleasure. However, the stool is no longer fit for purpose. Luckily, Suzie is well acquainted with such devices and knows just what to do.

Maria Ainsworth has brought in her late father’s reclining armchair, in the hope that upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary and metal maestro Dominic Chinea can give it a new lease of life. The chair was a gift from one her father’s patients. He was a dedicated doctor and hugely respected by both colleagues and his community. He died in his forties, and his loss was felt by many. The chair is one of the few tangible things Maria has left to remind her of him, and she is keen to have it reconditioned so her family can use and enjoy it again, just as her father did. The fabric is worn and dated and the mechanism that allows it to recline has seized up. Dom sets to work figuring out how to get it moving again, and Sonnaz brings her skill and flair to the reupholstery.

Finally, horologist Steve Fletcher attempts to bring back to life a clock in the shape of a frog, with help from ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay. Stefan Kruczkowski is hugely attached to this 1960s clockwork character. It belonged to his Polish grandparents, who bought it when they started a new life in the UK, and took pride of place on their kitchen wall. Its cheeky face and eyes that dart from side to side with each swing of the pendulum kept Stefan entertained as a boy. He would like to hang it in his own kitchen so that it can entertain the next generation of the family. However, the workings are gummed up with decades of kitchen grime and gunk, and the bright green hue of the clock housing is faded and chipped. Show less