Simple Slipcovers

With our attempts to lighten up our living and dining rooms over the last few months (the coffee table, armoire, hutch, etc.), the dining room table and chairs were left looking a little, well, sad.

Hubby wants to paint them. I agree. But it’s about minus 10 degrees (Celsius) here this week and snowing. With no basement or garage, neither one of us wants to stand out on the deck with sander in hand for the length of time it would take to sand six chairs and a large table. Um, no thanks.

So I decided to slipcover two of the chairs. The two at either end of the long table with the new benches Dean made. If nothing else it will brighten up the room for our Holiday visitors.

I wanted very simple slipcovers with big bows on the back. (I haven’t wanted anything with bows for years. I don’t know what came over me.) I also only wanted to cover the backs of the chairs…no white seats for me please. Something shabby chic.

After a little searching, I selected three metres of white cotton at fabricland. It was originally only $10/metre but was on sale for an additional 40% off. Cha-ching!

Here are how our chairs look now.

Make your own slipcovers:

1. Measure from the tippity-top of the back to the top of the seat, add two inches (for hem). This is your length.

2. Measure from side to side, add the depth of one upright, add another two inches. This is your width.

3. Lay out your fabric on a flat surface. Mark out a rectangle one times your width by two times your length. Cut out each rectangle. This will become your slipcover.

4. Iron these two pieces of fabric. Hem the two shorter sides. Set aside. Here’s the difference between ironed and not ironed:

5. Decide how wide you would like your sash and bow. Measure out your bow. (I cut ours 8 inches wide – allowing 6 inches for width, plus two inches for hemming - by about 40 inches long). Hem all edges and tie into a pretty bow. Adjust as needed.

6. Measure another piece of fabric to the width of your bow by twice the width of your chairs. Cut, fold in half and machine sew around three sides. Flip inside out. This becomes your sash. It sort of looks like a pillow with one side open and no stuffing.

7. Before you sew your slipcover together, place the sash between the two layers. Be sure to place it where you want the sash to be when the cover is on the chair. I recommend just below level with the top of the table. Sew down each of the two sides, being sure to sew the sash into the seams. Flip right side out. It will look like this on the chair.

8. Bunch the sash in the middle and hand sew on the bow.

Repeat all the steps for each slipcover you want to make. And there you have it…your very own diy slipcovers.

Don’t ya just love them?!

What do you want to slipcover for a fresh new look?

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