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Slipcover Instructions!

Written by Cassity

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Slipcover Instructions!
Say Hi to Rachelle from Adventures in Creating!

17 Easy Slipcover Instructions
Hi! I’m Rachelle from the blog Adventures In Creating where I do everything from sewing to welding. I am thrilled to be guest posting on one of my favorite blogs. Thank you so much, Cassity, for this opportunity!

Easy slipcover instructions

 Today I’m going to share one of my recent sewing projects where I reupholstered this old lounge chair. It first belonged to my parents who bought it when they got married. They gave it to me when I got married and needed furniture for our new home. I always thought I’d reupholster it or slipcover it.  Well, after almost 5 years I finally got around to slipcovering it! And ended up with this:

1 Easy Slipcover Instructions 15 Easy Slipcover Instructions

I’ve never slipcovered anything before so first I did some research on slipcover instructions and read a few articles:

The Nester on her slipcover project
And I did a lot of searching for fabric. I found a great deal on the Dwell fabric on this website: https://www.onlinefabricstore.net/ in case you wanted to get some of your own. Someone also asked if the fabric is durable. It’s an upholster grade fabric and is made of cotton. I haven’t had it that long so I’m hoping it lasts a long time and continues to look good. I’ll probably spray some Scotch Guard on it to protect it from stains. I’ll give you any updates as they come!
Ok, enough talk down to business!
I started with some old sheets I bought at Goodwill. I wanted to make a templates to use for cutting out my nice fabric. Since I’m a first time slipcover-er I didn’t want to waste precious fabric with mess ups.
3 Easy Slipcover Instructions
I cut large rectangles out, then fit them snugly around each section of the chair, pinning as I went. I wanted the original shape of the chair to show through so I pinned as closely as I could around the edges.
4 Easy Slipcover Instructions
5 Easy Slipcover Instructions
6 Easy Slipcover Instructions
After I did that I trimmed any extra fabric edges to get about a 1.5″ seam allowance I would to for my templates. I marked the templates so I would remember where each one was supposed to go.
7 Easy Slipcover Instructions
 I then used my templates to cut my Dwell fabric out. Using the sheet templates allowed me to line up the pattern how I wanted.
Then I repinned my new fabric templates inside out on my chair to get my slipcover shape.
8 Easy Slipcover Instructions 9 Easy Slipcover Instructions

Then sewed the whole thing up. It was a little cumbersome with all the fabric laying everywhere but I was afraid to unpin anything and loose my shape.

10 Easy Slipcover Instructions
After I sewed it all up I refitted it on the chair to see how it fit. I pulled out a few seams that could use some refitting and stitched up a few spots that I had trouble getting the first time around.
The arm for example I pinned again and resewed.
11 Easy Slipcover Instructions
11a Easy Slipcover Instructions
Then is was time for the cushion, I thought that since I have done a few pillows in the past this would be easy. But it was time consuming and hard.
I traced the shape of the cushion onto the fabric leaving a 1.5″ seam allowance.
12 Easy Slipcover Instructions
To get the fabric allowance for the middle cushion thickness I used a piece of string and ran it all along the edge. Then laid it out on the fabric, measured a few inches on either side, and cut it out.
The hardest part was sewing along the T-Shape of the cushion. Other than that it wasn’t bad.
I then pinned the fabric around my cushion in the same fashion as I did the chair, leaving an opening in the back.
Once I finally finished sewing (I’ve never sewn this much in my whole life!) I got to work on the bottom. First I cut off the outdated skirt.
13 Easy Slipcover Instructions
 Originally I was going to staple the fabric to the underside of the chair to give it a more upholstered feel. But in the end I just used pins to adhere it so I can take the slipcover off whenever it needs cleaning.
14 Easy Slipcover Instructions
Slipcover before skirt tucked under
Though the pictures don’t show it I ended up sewing a piece for underneath the cushion using some leftover sheet fabric.  Then I was all done!
16 Easy Slipcover Instructions
15 Easy Slipcover Instructions 17 Easy Slipcover Instructions
I hope this has been helpful and gives anyone who was thinking of trying this themselves some courage. You can do it!
What do you think of these great slipcover instructions?!!
————–Reader Submission 2/8/18————
Do you have a chair you’ve been hanging on to, trying to get up the courage to start a DIY reupholstering job?  Check out what our reader, Joan, did with an old chair she wanted to update:
“I had an old wing back chair (probably from the 50s or 60s) covered in rust-colored velvet. The seat cushion was in bad shape and I didn’t feel able to reupholster the entire chair. I covered just the back and seat cushion with a Navajo rug. It turned out great and adds just the right “pop” to the area above our stairway.”
DIY Reupholstered Chair Using Southwest Navajo Blanket, Featured On @Remodelaholic
What a brilliant idea, Joan! Thank you for sharing! It does “pop” just right!
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Published: March 24, 2011Filed Under: Furniture Building Projects and Plans Tagged: Before and After, Furniture, Reupholstery, Sewing Projects

About Cassity

Cassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. She is an interior designer, wife, and mother of two. She and Justin have remodeled three homes from top to bottom and are working on their fourth. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.


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Comments

  1. Arlene says

    March 14, 2016 at 7:09 pm

    I have been wanting to make a slipcover for my wing back chair for a long time. After watching your demo, I’m going to give it try.
    You did such a great job, thanks.

    Reply
    • Cass says

      March 14, 2016 at 9:24 pm

      Thanks and good luck, Arlene! We’d love to see pictures when you’re done!

      Reply
  2. Barbara Twitchell says

    April 25, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    Thanks. Yours cam out great. Nice and snug fit. So many are sloppy looking but yours looks great. Thanks for posting. I am about to do 2 loveseats. Your directions really helped.

    Reply
    • Cass says

      April 25, 2016 at 8:33 pm

      Thanks for the comment, Barbara! We’d love to see pictures when you’re done! https://www.remodelaholic.com/share-brag-post/

      Reply
  3. Omeaka says

    May 13, 2016 at 5:20 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing!!! Now I just need to find the fabric I want for this chair!!

    Reply
    • Cass says

      May 18, 2016 at 1:29 pm

      That is the hardest part! 🙂 Good luck finding just what you want!

      Reply
  4. Debi says

    July 6, 2016 at 9:03 am

    Great job, I am going to try this.. can’t wait to see the results. .

    Reply
  5. Brenda Greenwalt says

    July 7, 2016 at 2:00 pm

    Thank you so very much for posting this. I am in my 60’s and have a very bad back problem. A couple of years ago I found an old chaise lounge at an antique mall and this is what I’ve been sleeping on. Unfortunately it’s shabby-chic look is looking a lot more “shabby” than “chic” anymore, but I am not financially able to replace it. Since I found these wonderful directions, I’ve decided to try to make a cover for it instead. I would never have even “thought” about attempting such a feat without your wonderful tutorial. Again…thanks so much.

    Reply
  6. Delores Moore says

    September 4, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    Wow!! Just, Wow!!

    Reply
  7. sue says

    April 28, 2017 at 4:37 am

    thank you. just what i was looking for.
    cheers
    Ill get started to night

    Reply
  8. icantbelievethis says

    June 26, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    Great job! You not only matched the vertical stripes, but the horizontal stripe across the front of the cushion matched the side too! Bravo!

    Reply
  9. Jan says

    August 24, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    I have been sewing for 70 years and congratulate you for a job well done. It looks more like upholstery than slipcover. I will try your techniques on some projects I have procrastinated on for far too long. Thanks for posting your innovative ideas!

    Reply
  10. Jeanine says

    August 27, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    Can’t wait to get my fabric and get started! Thank you for sharing your love of creating with others. Your tutorial has given me the courage to take on my own slipcover project.

    Reply
  11. Sonali mordekar says

    September 9, 2017 at 4:42 am

    Hi,
    I am trying to re-upholster a tub chair but I cannot detach the seat from the chair. Any ideas how this can be done?
    Cheers

    Reply
    • Cass says

      September 13, 2017 at 2:54 pm

      I haven’t done it personally, but this post might be helpful: https://www.remodelaholic.com/reupholster-tub-chair/

      Reply
  12. Cheryl says

    April 23, 2019 at 3:48 am

    Your chair looks very similar to the one I need to cover. How much fabric did it take, so I have a general idea? Thank you for your tutorial!

    Reply
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Hey there, I am Cassity! Nice to virtually meet you!

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