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! 

 

Look at these before pictures.

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!!

 

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!

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.

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.

 

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.

  

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.

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

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. 

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.

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

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

 

White Fitted Slipcover (Deployment Project # 53)

This project was another one of those where I had it mostly finished, but it still had some work left on it.  It has been gracing my living room for about a month now in a 75% done state!  So, this past week, I decided it was time to finish up this slipcover and post the completed project! 

As part of my “lighter and brighter” look in my living room, I definitely had to either re-upholster or slipcover these chairs.  The fabric on these chairs is still in fabulous condition and I knew that I wanted to go with white, so a slipcover was the obvious choice.

 

I’ve had white maltese bedspreads draped over them since we moved.  That is actually a really good way to have a “trial run” to make sure that it is the color and feel  you are wanting.

This is a very complicated slipcover.  With fitted arms, the fitted curve of the back, a button closure down the back of the chair, and a sassy little pleated edge around the bottom, it has tons of details to give the chair plenty of charm while still remaining neutral and bright.

I am in LLLLOOOOOVVVVEEEE!!!!

It is one of those projects that just makes me happy!  Every time I walk past, I have to take a second and look at it and smile!

Now….. all I have to do is make a second matching one for the other chair!  Yikes!!

One Chair - - Two looks (Deployment Project #51 & #52)

This was a very productive weekend for me!  I got so much done!  I re-upholstered two chairs, made 2 slipcovers and a set up curtains!  I have so much to post about this week!  I usually try to write all my posts on Sunday night so that the rest of the week, I can focus on homeschooling, my kids and projects.  Tonight I have too many projects to write the posts for - - so it’s looking like I will have to be writing some tomorrow night!!

The first project I’m going to share with you is actually a pretty fun one I worked on this weekend.  I had two of these chairs that I used in our previous house, but they just are not the right color, size and shape for my decorating style here.  So, I decided that I would show you how re-upholstery and slip-covering can change the look of a piece of furniture.

First, a simple re-upholstery.

This is a very simple chair to re-upholster.  The seat actually separates from the chair.

The back rest of the chair simply takes two pieces of fabric, so there isn’t a lot of work involved here either!!

A simple clean lined re-upholstery, but the black and white toile completely changes the look of the chair without changing the shape.

Second, a slipcover.

The back is completely fitted with a Velcro closure under the backrest.  Cording was added to define the shape of the back.

 

The seat cushion is a little bit trickier than re-upholstering.  Making the cushion fitted is nearly impossible, but by adding a skirt, the shape is defined. 

The skirt has deep pleating all the way around.  It completely changes the look of the chair, giving it a graceful, girly feel!

So, which one do you prefer?  The clean look or re-upholstery or the new girly shape of the slip cover?

Maybe seeing them in use will help you make your decision!!

 

Or maybe just my little man showing off his muscles?  :)

Lighter and Brighter and Miss 90's

If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you will know that since I moved I have been trying very hard to go "lighter and brighter."  A hard task for me at times since I seem to be naturally drawn to the darker, richer colors.  But it has been a fun challenge.  The easiest way to achive this has been by slipcovering my furniture.

Slipcovering is fantastic because you still have your original piece, without any damage done to it, it's kinda like a 2 for 1!  But even better, if you move alot, like we happen to (by the way, I just counted it up the other day... we have been married for 12 years and we have moved 24 times!  Gosh, that's like moving every six months, but in reality we have stayed in most places longer than 6 months!) then slipcovers are fantastic because you can very quickly and easily take them off before the packers come, throw them in the wash and pack them safely in a box yourself.  Then when you get to your new home, you can take it out, have a perfectly clean piece of furniture and if the movers happen to have scratched, dented, ripped, or otherwise mangled your piece, you can be non-stress about it and know you still have a beautiful cover to go on top.  When I make slip covers I do them very custom.  I like to have them look like it is an upholstered piece of furniture.  I know some people really like the loose fit, but for me, I like it to be snug and custom, so I use buttons and velcro to close up any seams that have to be able to open.   Here is one from a past post - - see how fitted it is and how the back is closed up by a row of buttons?

But when it comes to a piece of furniture that you absolutely can not stand the fabric on it, then I think it is time to reupholster!  Such was the case for my project this week.  I found this chair at the Salvation Army for $50. 

Not bad, it was in perfect shape as far as sturdiness, no smells, no odd stains that make you wonder.  It had a fabulous shape, look at the curved back...

It's one drawback?  It's  -"I'm still living in the early 90"s floral upholstery."  It definately was not fitting into "lighter and brighter."

 I did not want to keep Miss 90's current frock, so it was a perfect candidate for reupholstery.  One postive about reupholstery is that it take less fabric than slipcovers so I was able to look through my stash and use one of my fabrics that I have been wanting to use, but I knew I did not have enough for a slipcover. 

What do you think?  Isn't this a fabulous pattern?

And here is Miss 90's after her makeover!  I think she is showing herself quite well and she fits perfectly into my lighter and brighter livingroom makeover.  This room is almost done - - only 2 more slipcovers to go and then the big reveal!!