Here's a piece of furniture that's super comfortable but no longer my style
I've had it for over a decade but it needed a bit of an upgrade that didn't break the bank
For this project I started by washing and bleaching two six foot by nine foot drop cloths
to lighten and soften them. First I started on the back of the chair. I draped one of the drop
cloths over the back then at the seam I made a snip then ripped it in half to remove the excess
fabric. I made sure the fabric was centered then at the top I made sure
there was at least a half an inch of extra fabric for the seam allowance. Then
on the sides I began folding and pinning the fabric so it was nicely fitted to my
chair. For the bottom of the back I pulled the fabric taut and pinned it to
the chair then cut away the excess so it met the floor. Then I went back to the
sides and used some tailor's chalk to mark the contours of the back of the
chair then cut away any excess leaving about an inch for seam allowance. For the arms of the chair
first I draped a piece of cloth over the arm tucked it into the chair then started pinning
the fabric to the chair to make it nice and fitted. Then I used my tailor's chalk again to mark the
outline of the arm onto the fabric then cut away the excess. Next I took another piece of fabric
and pinned it onto the side of the chair and pinned it to the back piece and the arm then I
Then I cut away the excess fabric so the fabric was at floor level and I left enough fabric
at the seams which was about an inch. Then I pinned the seam together in the front
For the back cushion I draped another piece of fabric over the back, tucked it in, cut
off the excess leaving enough room on the bottom to tuck it in, then began folding and pinning
the piece so it fit nicely and snug. I pinned the top to the back piece, the side pieces, and the arm cushions
Once all the pieces except the seat portion were pinned in place I sewed the seams together with a half inch seam allowance but left all the corners open Then I placed the cover back on trimmed the excess fabric on the seams and pinned the corners
properly and sewed them in place. Next, I used my serger to serge all the edges that were going to
be tucked into the chair. For the seat of the chair, I flipped up the foot rest, then draped
a piece of fabric over top, then tucked in the sides and used my tailor's chalk to mark where I
needed to cut. Then I cut out that piece leaving several inches around the perimeter for tucking
For the curved portion I folded it up half an inch and sewed as close to the edge as I could
leaving an opening on both sides of the curve. Then I used a bodkin and inserted a fourth inch
elastic into one end and fed it to the other. I made sure it was stretchy enough to fit over the
bottom of the footrest then snipped the elastic. For the last part of this project I measured along
the entire bottom of the chair which came to 107 inches then I cut and ripped three pieces of drop
cloth at four and a half inches wide. I sewed the short ends of the drop cloth together with a half
inch seam allowance then folded one long side down a fourth inch then another fourth inch
pinned and hemmed it. On the other long side I folded and pressed it down one half inch
Starting in the front of the chair and leaving just a little bit extra I began pinning the strip
fabric to the bottom of the cover. Every four to five inches I created a little
pleat and pinned it in place to create a soft ruffle look. Once the pinning was
done I top stitched the ruffle onto the cover. I also made a hole for the lifter
on the side and added elastic ribbons to the front of the cover to keep it on
snug. Now I have a slip cover that matches my decor better and it was super
inexpensive to make. I hope this simple skirted chair slip cover tutorial inspired you to make one too