DIY: Chair Slipcover

I love my living room. I have slowly been working on it since the beginning of the year and I love how it is coming along. You can see the progression of it here. But there is one thing that I really don’t like. One thing that really needed to be fixed and redone. That one thing was my mid mod chair.

I found this chair at a thrift store quite a while ago. I think I paid $25 for it. In its original state it looked like this. The color never really went with my decor. Especially since I was using it downstairs in the family room and I was wanting everything to be black and white at the time. So, to make it work with my decor, I did the unthinkable. I sprainted it. Knowing we rarely sat in the chair I figured it wouldn’t hurt. It turned out well but it didn’t hold up to wear at all. Just a few sittings and you could already see the old color peeking through. Since we rarely used it when it was in the family room, it didn’t matter that much.

I bought some fabric and was always planning on reupholstering it but I never got around to doing it. I guess I was a bit intimidated. What if it didn’t work out? This chair that I love would be ruined if I couldn’t figure it out. So the chair just sat in the family room and then eventually the living room undone. I threw a sheepskin throw over it so it wouldn’t show the wear as much but you could still tell. Here is how it looked just before its makeover:

Last week was the final straw. Jason mentioned something about wishing we had more seating in our living room and asked if we could move the other chair into the room. The other chair, while I still like it, doesn’t work with the furniture in the living room. So I figured I should do something about it.

First, I picked up 3 yards of white canvas duck at Hobby Lobby. Next, I attempted to make a slipcover. I have never made a slipcover before, so this was an adventure :)

First, I measured each piece. Then I used butcher paper to make a pattern. Next, I cut out all of my pieces and started pinning them together on the chair itself.

Then the sewing began.

And more sewing happened.

It took me all afternoon and into the evening but I got it done! And I’m so happy with it.

At first it felt very bright because previously the chair had been black but now I am used to it and I really like it.

I definitely learned things while I was making it and while this one turned out pretty good, I’m sure I could do better next time.

The big question: Why would I attempt a slipcover (which I have never done before) but not reupholstering? Probably because if the slipcover didn’t turn out the chair would stay the same. But if I took the chair apart to reupholster and I couldn’t get it back together, my chair would no longer be usable. There is some logic in this little brain of mine :)

One more thing done in my living room. Someday this room will be finished, someday :)