Let's face it. Nothing lasts forever. This is especially true for your chairs, if you actually use them for sitting instead of just looking good. And I've never been one to actually cover my furniture with clear plastic. Nothing like plastic can ever replace the soft feeling of fabric and so, as a result, my dining room chairs are beginning to look a little worn around the edges. They're not decrepit enough to toss them in the garbage or anything, but they are starting to get a little embarrassing.
During times like this, we can use the magic of the holidays and, more importantly, some fabric and sewing skills and transform that chair into something new. What I'm talking about here is the awesome, powerful, and blemish-covering: The Slipcover. (If I could add audio cues at this moment, it would be a chorus singing.) At least, that was my simple solution to the Dilapidated Chair Dilemma of 2011.
We show you how you can take any armless chair and make your own custom slipcover. The key, like most things in sewing, is measuring, measuring and measuring. You know that old adage, measure twice and cut once? Yeah, us lazy people find it annoying as we just want to get to the fun part, but in this particular case, it's so important. You don't want to just cover the whole chair in a circus tent of fabric, but instead create a sleek, fitted cover that will not only cover those chair's flaws but add a touch of sophistication to your furniture. My chairs were nice and simple before but I love the fabric on them now. I would go as far to say that they're even better looking now than they were before. So beautiful!
Remember, if you choose washable fabric (so you can conveniently take them off and toss them in the wash, if they get soiled), pretreat your fabric before you begin working with it. The last thing you want is for your slipcover to shrink after all the work it took to make them. You can watch our tutorial on Precare and Fabric Bolt in order to get more information on this subject.
The slipcover video tutorial is available to our premium members only. If you haven't upgraded yet, you can for the small price of $5. You'll also get full access to all our tutorials and patterns and there's no contract. $5 for one month of access is hard to beat.
