This past weekend, I helped a friend cover her dining room chairs. They are at least 30 years old.
Here are the "befores"...
Old, slightly faded fabric. The wood still looks pretty good.
We just unscrewed 4 screws under each seat, and took out hundreds of staples.
And the "afters"...
Using the old covers as a pattern, I cut the fabric to size and stitched a small seam in the front corners. The foam cushion was still in good shape, so we just covered the seat, flipped it over and started stapling.
I also removed the old cording and peeled the old fabric off so that I could re-use it. I used a zipper foot to cover the cording with the new fabric- first time I've ever done this and it turned out great and was so easy!
Close-up of the cording...
We did six chairs and the final price was less than 40 bucks- beats buying new furniture!
Now that is a friend!
ReplyDeleteGreat Job! This is on my 'to do' list for the summer. I've never done them before. How did you do the piping around the cover? Did you sew it to the seat cushion before stapling?
ReplyDeleteI just cut a 2 inch strip of the fabric. If you have a striped fabric, cut it on the diagonal. It makes it nicer, just like binding a quilt. Then I used my zipper foot to cover it and stapled the strip under the edge. Just pay attention to the way the chair comes apart, take pictures if you have to, and put it back the same way. Good luck!
DeleteGreat job! I have the very same chairs and have been begging my husband to let me recover them. When he sees these pics, I'm hoping he will agree they look great and I can do the same.
ReplyDeleteI am looking at my dining room chairs...we bought the set in 1977! Even though we were pretty young, we were savvy enough to buy the best we could find! The fabric is wearing like iron. I am finally getting tired of them. The cushion is boxy with piping on both the top and bottom. I am interested in doing it myself but am intimidated by the box cushion. I have made box cushions before so who knows why I feel this way...but it would be terrific to keep the cash for larger purchases! These chairs look great.
ReplyDeleteIt's super easy- just use the old cover as a pattern. Go for it!
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