chair covers for dining room chairs

hey guys, it's clara from online fabric store this chair has seen better days. so i'm gonna make a slipcover for it you can use many different fabrics like denim, twill, canvas or home decor fabric the methods used in this tutorial can be adapted to many other styles of chairs and couches so let's get started the materials you'll need are: medium weight fabric, i'm using 9.3 ounce natural cotton canvas, a ruler, piping (also called cording or welting) hook and loop velcro, pins, a fabric marker, scissors, thread, an iron and a sewing machine pre-wash your fabric if you plan on washing your slipcover in the future

i'm going to use the chair as a guide to determine where to put the seams in the piping start by pinning the fabric to the chair and roughly cutting out pieces for each panel my fabric doesn't have a front and a back but if yours does the wrong side should be facing out i'll start with the inside back piece that wraps around the top the back will have an opening so the slipcover is easy to get on and off the opening will start partway down the back so it's more hidden the inside back piece should wrap over the top and end just past the arms, which is where the opening will start you can put in a zipper snap tape ties or velcro, which is what i'm using pin it to the chair in several places to keep it from slipping

cut the fabric but leave plenty extra for now pin and cut the rest of the pieces for this chair i'm cutting 2 side pieces, the seat piece, 2 inner arm pieces, and a front piece that wraps around the sides also cut two overlapping pieces for the lower back pay attention to the grain of the fabric to keep it as straight as you can this chair has clean lines, but this method works the same way for wingback chairs and arms with scrolls just follow the existing seams of your chair. if your cushion is removable cut the pieces for it separately see our tutorial on making a box cushion for instructions many slipcovers have a skirt around the bottom, but for this chair i'm going to make velcro tabs

for the front and sides that will attach to the bottom of the chair for a clean look for these 3 tabs i'm cutting fabric that's 3 inches wide, and the length is the distance between the legs that's 20 and a half inches for the front and 19 and 3/4 inches for the sides at this point you can also create the piping see our tutorial and making piping for instructions i'm going to mark where each seam will be since this slipcover will be washed i'm using a water soluble marker on regular seams mark on top of the seam wherever there's piping mark on the inside of the piping

you may have to make some relief cuts in towards the curves so the fabric will lay flatter this chair has darts on the arms so mark where these will be sewn i like to leave at least an inch of extra fabric, so there's room to make adjustments if necessary take the two overlapping back pieces and square off the edges the exact size of the pieces doesn't matter just yet create a half inch double folded hem on the bottom of both pieces on the inner edges fold an iron half an inch, then 1 inch cut out some of the bulk at the corners before sewing the inner edges and bottoms measure the distance between the bottom of the chair and the top of the arms. cut the velcro to this length.

sew the strips of velcro to the front of one piece and the back of the other about an eighth of an inch in from the bottoms and sides velcro the pieces together. mark and cut the fabric half an inch above the velcro center and pin the velcro pieces on the back so that they're hanging past the bottom about 1/4 of an inch mark the center of the upper back piece and sew the pieces together with right sides facing and a 1/2 inch seam allowance pin the pieces on the chair with the wrong side facing out. mark the outer edges of the velcro pieces i'm going to start by sewing the piping to the sides of the chair the piping wraps around all the edges except for the bottom pin the piping so the markings on the fabric match up with the seam of the piping

leave extra piping on the ends the raw edges of the piping should be facing out make any adjustments if needed if your chair or couch has scroll arms you will most likely want to sew the piping to these pieces instead of the sides sew with a piping foot or a zipper foot pin it back on to the chair. do the same thing for the other side panel straighten the top line on the front piece. pin and sew the piping on to the top of the front piece you can sew the pieces together in just about any order i'm going to start by sewing the side panel to the inner arm piece

first i have to create the dart on the arm by sewing on the line cut off the extra fabric so that it will lie flat pin the side and arm panels together. so the lines match up sew tightly against the piping put the slipcover back on to make sure the pieces fit correctly. pin and sew the back pieces to the side panel take it slowly around the curves and make relief cuts if needed stop a little before where the inner arm piece meets the side panel put the slipcover back on the chair. the next seam i'm sewing is for the inner arm and back piece you may have to adjust the markings

also mark the intersection where the arm back and side pieces meet you can rip out some stitches if needed to have the intersection in the right position pin and sew the arm piece to the inside back piece check where the lines are for both pieces as you sew. this curve can be a little tricky, so don't worry if it's not right the first try. you can always rip it out and make adjustments do the same thing for the other side of the chair. then pin and sew the front and seat panels together next sew the seat panel to the arms, then to the back panel. adjust the markings if needed you might not be able to get close to the bulky intersection with a sewing machine, but you can hand sew it later

put on the slip cover right side out to test the fit and make adjustments if needed attach the side panels to the front panel at the intersection of the front piping and the side piping cut back the end of the cording on the front to reduce bulk you can now do any hand sewing that's necessary for the three velcro tabs on the bottom iron the pieces in half and fold in the ends half an inch cut the soft loop side of the velcro to the right length and sew them to the strips close to the folded edge with the slipcover on fold up the fabric so it's in line with the bottom of the chair pin the piping then the velcro tabs to the bottom of the slipcover i'm doing one side at a time

at the back corners cut the ends of the cording back and arrange the fabric and piping so it looks neat also cut back the end of the cording where the side panel piping meets the bottom piping sew one side of the chair then repeat for the front and the other side you will need to finish the inside seams in some way if your fabric frays and you plan on washing it the easiest way is to serge the seams which cuts off the excess fabric as the edges are sewn if you don't have a serger, you can trim the extra fabric and use a zig zag or overlock stitch on your machine if you used a water-soluble marker like i did, you can now wash the slipcover to remove the markings using the rough hook side of adhesive backed velcro on the bottom of the chair to attach the velcro tabs

you can also use the sew-on hook velcro that you used for the back opening and staple it to the bottom of the chair put on the slipcover velcro the back and bottom tabs and the slipcover is done the great thing about slipcovers is they're washable whether you're covering ugly are stained upholstery or want to protect nice upholstery making your own slipcovers is inexpensive and practical thanks for watching this ofs project

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