My Morning Slip Cover Chair Project Using Remnant Fabric (no sewing needed!)

It snowed this morning so I had to cancel my client appointments, but I got to eat frosted flakes and make a chair cover in my owl pjs.  It was a grrrrreat (per Tony the Tiger)!!!

I didn't mean to do a DIY project but when I came across some Thomas Paul remnant fabric in my office a light bulb went off (bing!).  I have 2 parson chairs that I was going to get slipcovered professionally but as I held the remnant pieces up and stared out the window at the snow I decided to see if I could have some fun doing it myself.  I have never done this before.  

IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW- I don't know how to use a sewing machine (that is one of my goals for 2011).  This was a 'very creative' project (say it like John Wayne would). I used only what I had at my home.  I documented it below.  If you are up for it, give it a try!  There are a million variations of how to do this I am sure, but here is mine:

For this project you need:
-Enough remnant fabric to cover the parts of the chair you want to cover
-parson chair
-Scissors
-push pins
-Stitch Witchery (click here to see what this is)
-Nail heads (can still do project if you don't have it)
-Fabric glue
-Staple gun or small nails
-Hammer
The project took 2 1/2 hours (and I had no idea what I was doing!).

START WITH:

Here is a pic of the remnant and the parsons chair I used. 

STEP ONE

Drape the fabric over the chair.  Play with the fabric to find the best way it will work.  Use pins to hold it in place to work with it better.  

Mine worked best cutting it into two pieces, one for the seat that would be tucked underneath, keeping the legs exposed; and one to drape over the front and back of the chair back, leaving the sides open because I didn't have enough fabric to cover them. 

STEP TWO

 Cut your fabric to include an extra four inches (or slightly less if you don't have enough fabric) on all sides (like the picture above). I needed the extra inches to to fold in the sides of the chair back fabric (step three), adhere the chair back and seat fabric together and tuck in into the seat (step four), and to nail it underneath the chair (step five).

STEP THREE

Iron the fabric (I like to sing a Roxette song while doing this-give it a try "oooh just a little bit dangerous").

Using the fabric that will be placed on the chair back (not the seat fabric), you want to hide the cut edges along the sides of the chair by folding them over.  I placed the fabric print side down and using the extra four inches (or less if you didn't have enough fabric), I folded the edges, ironing it with stitch witchery so they stayed folded.  Make sure that with your folded edges your fabric still covers the width of the chair end to end like above.

STEP FOUR

I placed the chair back fabric and the seat fabric back on the chair.  I used stitch witchery to adhere the seat fabric to the chair back fabric; Then to hide the seam, I tucked the seam down into the chair as shown above.

STEP FIVE

 

Lye chair down on its back and begin pulling the seat fabric tight, hammering tiny nails in  underneath chair (a staple gun works also).  For the corners, pull and wrap the fabric like you are wrapping a gift. *I found that standing over the chair kept the nails straight as I hammered them.

STEP SIX

On the back of the chair, I ran a line of fabric glue down the sides to adhere it to the chair. Instead of fabric glue you can use nail heads (like the front side in step seven).

STEP SEVEN

Turn front of chair towards you.  Add nail heads down front sides of chair back (you can use them down the backside also instead of fabric glue in step six).  I placed them 3" apart but use more if you like the nail head look.

You are done!!  This chair looks good from all angles!

 There are so many variations you can come up with for this project.  You can use velcro to hold the fabric on underneath, you don't need the nail heads, you can use ties on the sides so it can slip on and off easily, etc. 


p.s. - I hope my steps are clear because I didn't have much time to write them.  My daughter came home early due to the snow.

BEFORE                                                                  AFTER

I am working on the other parson chair I have using another Thomas Paul remnant.  I love the way it looks at my kitchen table.  Can't wait to see how the other looks!!

"Hey Thomas Paul, what do you think?"

If you try this project or have done one similar, please let me know and I will post your pics.