Saturday, March 26, 2011

Office Chair Slipcover

I began working on my home office makeover by attempting to sew a slipcover for a vintage office chair that I got for $5 at a local university surplus store. I really liked the lines of this chair, so I decided to make the slipcover so that it could easily be removed for when I want to eventually have it reupholstered.

Before:


After:

I used some leftover fabric that I had originally purchased for window treatments- I believe the pattern is called "chippendale fretwork" or something like that.

This being my first attempt at slipcovering, I stumbled my way through this entire project. But here's basically what I did:

1. Measured and cut out my fabric for the top and bottom pieces, plus additional for the skirt.

2. Sewed together the pieces for the back of the office chair, leaving the bottom open so that I could staple it to the frame.

3. Sewed miniature piping for the seat of the chair (I had originally wanted to reupholster the seat entirely, but realized I didn't have enough fabric so instead I just made a "covering" for it). I should have used larger cording for the piping, but didn't realize this until it was too late.

4. Stitched together the piping and the fabric for the seat cover.

5. Hemed the skirt material.

6. Pinned, gathered, and stitched the skirt to the seat cover portion of the slipcover.


7. Sewed little "straps" together and stitched them on to the back of the skirt of the slipcover, allowing the back to be open but fastened at the same time around the hardware of the office chair.


8. Installed the top portion of the chair back onto its hardware and laid the slipcover onto the bottom of the chair. I decided to simply tie a knot with the "straps" on the slipcover skirt rather than doing something cute like sewing on buttons or something...(at this point I was getting very impatient).



Done! Whew.....





Next up is a refinishing treatment for my mid-century desk....


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