Sunday, February 17, 2013

Slipcovering a Chair...#2


I have this little side chair that
went from the living room to the the basement
several months ago.
At that time I decided to "lighten" my decor a bit
and it just didn't work in the living room any longer.


It's a perfectly nice little chair,
but I have too much brown
in my house.
My plan was to slipcover it and
move it to my bedroom.


I purchased this white, embossed
fabric a few months ago,
with the chair in mind.
The first step was to wash and dry the fabric.
No point in making a slipcover if
it doesn't clean easily.


I have made one other chair slipcover in the past
using a commercial pattern.
This time I decided to wing it without a pattern.
Measuring, cutting and labeling all my pieces
started the process.


And of course, I made lots of notes for myself.


My approach was to "build" the slipcover,
piece by piece.


It took three separate sessions
to assemble all the pieces.


The trickiest part of the whole process
was the side area where the back, seat and bottom
all come together.
This was the same area that gave me
problems on the chair I had done previously.
Try as I might, I could not get that area
to come together nicely.
Finally, after venting to Nancy,
non-sewer that she is, 
her idea was to cover it up with a sash. 
Brilliant!



This turned out to be a bit of detailing
I had not planned on,
but it totally "makes" the chair!


Assessing the final results,
it's not perfect.
But it's a learning process.



And until I want to attempt it again,
I can at least use my little chair.

This week I'm partying at
Etsy Cottage Style.

8 comments:

chev37 said...

Love love love the fabric...and I can just see you changing out the bow for different events or holidays. Great job!!!

NanaDiana said...

That turned out great! It is a job, isn't it? I have a couple of small chairs I need to slipcover but have been putting it off-sigh-you put me to shame- xo Diana

Susan Okrasinski said...

You 2 are both brilliant! I love reading both of your blogs. Just reading them makes me a better person lol!

Chenille Cottage said...

Oh...You did such a beautiful job! I am in the mood to make up a few more slipcovers. We have been given four ghastly chairs...and, they need pretty new faces.
Thanks for the inspiration and for sharing, my friend,
Carolynn xoxo

Peg said...

I sew but I've never tried slipcovers because they seem so daunting. I wanted to slipcover a chair in my kitchen but my upholsterer balked at the idea, saying she didn't do slipcovers. I ended up washing the fabric first and letting her reupholster the chair. At least I will be able to wash the cushion covers, etc. when they get dirty. I just looked at the skirt of my chair and noticed that the upholsterer used some sort of crinoline behind the flat skirt pieces; they make the skirt lay flat. I'm not sure that is the look you want but thought I'd pass that info along. Your slipcover looks lovely and I am so impressed that you did it yourself!

Debra at HOMESPUN: http://www.thehomespun.com said...

That's gorgeous!

Kadee Willow said...

You did a great job winging it... no one would know it wasn't professionally done. And the sash solution? Genius! I know what you mean about that area as years ago I slipcovered a Parson chair. That corner just never went together as nicely as I wanted. Next time I will remember your idea!!

Leslie Anne Tarabella said...

I'm very impressed. I have three larger upholstered chairs that need slipcovers and I'm tempted to try it myself.

Thanks for the inspiration. I think you did a great job!

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