Any upholstery of a chair sooner or later deteriorates and becomes not as attractive as it was. Furniture creates coziness and a pleasant atmosphere in the room, so you want it to look decent. An excellent way out of this situation will be sewing a new cover. This material will tell you how to sew a cover for a chair with your own hands, step-by-step instructions for choosing materials and tools are given.
The benefits of reupholstering a chair yourself
Doing things with your own hands is an exciting activity that allows you to find your creative abilities. It is no wonder that in the times of factories and plants, handmade products are valued much more than factory-made ones. Such things will certainly attract the attention of guests, since hand-made works can be decorated to suit any taste, they will become a wonderful decoration for the interior.
Having decided to reupholster an old chair yourself, you can unleash your imagination, choose materials to your taste and save a lot of money by not buying factory-made upholstered furniture.
Design
To add color to a chair worn out over the years, you can make a new cover for it, sew decorative pillows or throws of various shades and models. In the case where re-upholstery is necessary, it can be done partially, thereby changing some parts of the upholstery.
A cape designed using patchwork technique will look original and creative. You can make a unique applique in advance and attach it to the upholstery.
Materials and necessary tools
Specialized handicraft stores can currently offer a fairly large selection of goods when choosing textile products. And even the most fastidious buyers can almost immediately find what they need.
If you need to make a cover for furniture, the following alternatives are excellent options:
- Velour. The material is very soft and pleasant to the body. This fabric does not require special care and has hypoallergenic properties;
- Cotton. The most important positive quality of this material is its naturalness. However, it is not durable at all, since the material does not contain artificial fiber. Cotton may shrink when washed;
- Flock. Soft and delicate to the touch, however, despite this, it is a fairly durable material that will be an ideal option for making a chair cover.
Having decided on the choice of material, you should prepare the tools that will be needed for sewing the cover, namely:
- Scissors;
- Simple pencil;
- Sewing machine;
- Needle;
- Measuring tape;
- Vacuum cleaner;
- Pins are ordinary;
- Paper template;
- Zipper fastening.
Choice of fabric
Before purchasing fabric for a chair cover, you should pay attention to some criteria that will help you make your choice, namely:
- Durability. You should only choose materials with high durability;
- Fabric color. In this case, you can rely on your imagination and taste, but it is best to select the shade of the material according to the color scheme of the room's interior;
- Fabric preparation. Immediately after purchase, you need to wash and dry the fabric, if you do not do this, then the sewn cover will shrink during the washing process, and will no longer fit the size of the chair.
Creating a pattern, cutting and calculating fabric consumption
Before you start the main sewing of the product, you should make a pattern and cut it out. To do this, you should measure all parts of the chair: the back, armrests, seat, and pillow. You also need to decide on the location of the seams. They can be marked directly on the dark fabric or drawn on the upholstery, and then transferred to the canvas.
Important! During this work, it is necessary to take into account the inserts for contour alignment, as well as the bends and thickness.
To avoid confusion with the sizes, you need to sign them on the back of the pieces that have already been cut out. During cutting, it is important to take into account the darts that allow the cover to perfectly fit the chair without forming folds and bumps. And you also need to pay attention to the tucks, folds, frills and hems.
The simplest pattern for a chair cover with armrests is made in such a way that in addition to seam allowances, there is another twenty centimeters of fabric left, which will be needed for adjusting the product, folds and overlaps. In the case when some parts of the furniture are made in a non-standard shape, the pattern is drawn in this way: thin fabric is placed on the silhouette and pressed on each side. And after the measurements are taken, patterns should be developed on graph paper. After this, the patterns must be laid out on the material in such a way that as little unnecessary waste as possible remains during trimming. After that, the patterns are outlined with chalk, taking into account the allowances.
Important! The cut out pieces should be ironed from top to bottom along the grain line to ensure the seam is straightened out properly.
Recommendations and tips
Before starting work, you need to take a closer look at the room where the updated chair will be, its interior, shades and the atmosphere that it can create after making a new cover. You should try to imagine a finished composition. All this will help in determining the color and material that you will need to work with.
When selecting fabric, it is important to pay attention only to durable material that will not deform during use. This choice can not only facilitate the sewing of the material, but also serve to increase its use. In the case when sewing such a product is the first experience, it is advisable not to choose fabric with clear prints, large-sized patterns and a cage, since it will be quite difficult and labor-intensive to fit it.
For people who have little sewing experience, it is recommended to sew a cover for a chair first. Such a product will serve as a little practice before making a cover, which will be a little more difficult. Such an activity will help to get the hang of it, as well as to understand all the stages of production.
Is it possible to do it without a pattern?
A cover sewn without a pattern may deform a little and lose its proper appearance. That is why a chair cover should be sewn using patterns so that a large amount of material is not wasted during the work and the cover looks high-quality and neat.
Thus, sewing a cover for a car seat or home furniture is not difficult. Using patterns provided on the Internet, you can make a drawing in a couple of minutes and sew a protective product for a chair, rocking chair, and even for a sofa element.
