Two Slipcovers

I need help

     My son and daughter-in-law got two chairs from her parents when they moved.  The orange color didn't work with their decor and the seat cushions were in bad shape.

Template

     I told them, no problem.  I would get new cushions made and make slipcovers for the chairs.

New cushion

     I mean, how hard can it be?  I have sewn just about everything else.  I made a template and sent it off to get new cushions made.  I had them wrapped with Dacron and a muslin cover.

The fabric is here

     That part was easy.  Next I bought and watched a couple of Craftsy classes on making slipcovers.  I took careful notes and then went to order the fabric.  I wasn't sure how much to get and I wanted to be sure I had enough.  They wanted a chocolate brown corduroy fabric.  I wound up with enough to cover four chairs :-(

New covered cushion

     The cushion covers went together easily.  I used the template to cut the fabric, adding a half inch seam allowance all the way around.

Cording detail

       I made yards and yards of covered cord, using the outdoor cording as it has more body and I felt it would hold the shape of the slipcover better.

New cushion in place

     Now on to the fun/unknown part.  First step was to create the front of the arm piece.  Well guess what, this chair did not have that configuration.

Step one done

      Well I created one and now on to the rest.  Of course this being a barrel type chair, it meant I had to create the back in multiple pieces.  I took a rectangle of fabric, laid it on the chair and then used my Chac-o-liner to trace a pattern.  I cut each piece, serged the edges and sewed them together.  It was kind of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together after you made the pieces.

Ready for the skirt

     I kept tracing, cutting and sewing until I had the top part done..  Then I was ready for the skirt.

Not quite right

     I cut the pieces, put them together to hide the seams in the pleats and added lining and then attached it to the top part.  A zipper was placed in the back and velcro was added to the skirt part to keep it closed.

Almost there

     After I had it all together, I didn't like how loose it was.  More tweaking involved now.  I tightened the seams in the middle of the back pieces, the top and bottom part were okay.

Finally finished

     Finally I got it as fitted as I could.  I put the cushion on and it didn't look half bad.  I am very glad I did both slipcovers at the same time because I don't know if I could have replicated it a second time.  One lesson learned, slipcovers are not my thing (except maybe on an ottoman or something much smaller).  I will stick to pillows, shades and draperies I believe.  I hope my son and his family like their new chairs.