Sunday, July 11, 2010

Dining room slipcovers (Deployment projects #163-170)

They’re Finished!!!

I’ve finished all my dining room chair slipcovers!!  Eight big chairs – what was I thinking?

They look soooo much better now! 

 IMG_5598

IMG_5595

Look at these before pictures.

IMG_5509 IMG_5594

They weren’t bad in our last house where we had orange in every room, but here, they just clashed!!  It was too much in that room!!

Now, with all the new neutral slips, this room now fits with the rest of the house.  Calm, peaceful, light and bright!!IMG_5600

 IMG_5599

If you are wondering about the walls in this room, (remembering that we are renters!) you can read all about them here. 

So, here is the quick and easy tutorial of the simplest slipcovers ever made!

 

All of these steps will be done with the right side of the fabric next to the chair.  The fabric I used was a hopscloth linen look fabric from JoAnne's.  I prewashed it in hot water and dried it on high so that all possible shrinkage had taken place!

IMG_5523

1.  Lay the fabric over the front of the chair from the top to the bottom.  Allowing about 4” extra on both the top and the bottom, cut off your length of fabric.

IMG_5524

2.  Lay your fabric on the floor folding it in half lengthwise.  Split (cut) your fabric along the fold.  These two pieces will become the front and the back of your slipcover.

  IMG_5511

3.  Pin your front piece of fabric so that it lays over the entire front of your chair and over the top back.  (You are just pinning it so that it doesn’t fall as you work with your fabric.

   IMG_5527

4.  Lay your second piece of fabric down the back of your chair and start pinning around the shape of your chair.  I like to use my pins as if I was drawing a line with them.

IMG_5514

5.  Continue pinning all the way around the entire top of your chair.

IMG_5525

6.  Once the entire top is pinned, it is time to move to the two side panels.   Cut two squares of fabric long enough to cover the side panel. 

IMG_5526

7.  Pin around the top three sides of the square, curving it around the corners of the seat, and matching it into the back “seam” of the chair.  Repeat this for the other side.

  IMG_5512

8.  Step back and take a look and make sure that it looks just like you want it to look when it is finished.  Carefully pull it off your chair and take it to your sewing machine!!  I used my serger for this so that it would cut and seal all my edges at the same time.  This fabric frayed really easily and I know that these are going to get washed a lot!

 IMG_5529

9.  Starting with the seat portion, follow the pin line (taking the pins out as you get to them) and sew/serge all the way around the seat sides.

 IMG_5530

10.  Next, you just have to sew/serge all the way around the back sides and top.  Remember, just keep following your pin line.

11.  I forgot to take pictures of this last step…  put  the slipcover back on your chair (right side out this time),  mark your hem-line by pinning it.  Take you slip back off and finish the hem of your slip, the same way you would for a skirt.

IMG_5596

 

11.  Put your slip back on your chair and enjoy the beautiful new easy to achieve look of your simple slipcover!

IMG_5600

12.  Repeat steps #1-11 seven more times so that your entire dining room set is slip covered!!

  IMG_5601 IMG_5599

8 comments:

southerninspiration said...

Congrats on finishing your project...they look amazing!

Suzanne

Ells said...

great job, Amy! You persevered and finished them... I know it was hard once you'd done one and figured it out! They look awesome. :)

JAG said...

Amazing!!! I wish you could give me lessons.

Love the walls also, what great ingenuity!!!

Ann Marie @ Twice Lovely said...

The neutral slip covers look oh so classy! Great job. I must say, I miss those fancy legs a little bit. :)

I am in LOVE with your craftsman stained glass window! Gorgeous!

Debbie said...

Beautiful... just beautiful!!! Now I'm wondering if I should do the chairs in my dining room that way, or just recover the seats. Something more to ponder! Thanks for the tutorial!!!!!

Sam and Sarah said...

Absolutely beautiful!!!!

Rick said...

What a huge difference that makes in your dining room. It's an amazing transformation.

Carol-Anne said...

I'm new to your blog, so it's funny that you referred to your wall colour in the post! I was so distracted by the BEAUTY of the walls, that I was having a hard time paying attention to the slipcovers!
I'm going to read back over your old posts. You're a really talented woman!

Related Posts with Thumbnails