Chair covers are not only beautiful decor elements, but also useful things in a functional sense. Firstly, the sewn covers hide the flaws of old and shabby chairs, and secondly, they can completely change the appearance of the room, serve as the decor of the room. If in a cafe or restaurant there are chair covers, you understand that this is a decent institution, and not an eatery. And how beautiful it is to decorate a banquet hall for a wedding ceremony! Covers give the room a solemnity, and at the entrance you immediately understand the significance of this ceremony.
Such items of furniture decor have a variety of types. It all depends on the purpose of the room. They can be of various shapes, differ in the quality of the material, structure, additional elements decorating the cover: bows and pleats, ruffles, with buttons and ties, fasten with Velcro or put on the wooden part by pulling.
A variety of fabrics are used to sew chair covers. It can be a brilliant satin of white or light shades or a dense material for everyday use, bright and stylish for a living room or with a children's pattern in a child’s room. In the article, we will consider how to sew chair covers with your own hands with detailed instructions and photos. The presented pattern will help to understand the shape of the future product.
Varieties of covers
One-piece covers cover the entire surface of the chair. The fabric from the back rests down on the seat and then completely covers all the legs of the chair right up to the floor. Such chair covers are suitable for the living room of the house or dining room. This type of covers can also be diversified, decorating both the back and the lower hanging part with folds and assemblies. They can be pulled onto the chair with your hands, or they may have back fasteners on the back - buttons or velcro, ties or bows.
There are also separate chair covers. This type of chair design has two elements - a cover for the back and for the seat. Sew them separately. This is convenient for home decor, as you can always remove one item and wash it separately. Of course, the seat cover gets dirty more, and therefore change it more often.
Also, some craftswomen can sew either only the back or only a cover on the seat. If the chair has a beautiful wooden back, it is not necessary to cover it. She also decorates the product. And the cover only on the seat is protective in nature, which protects the material of the chair from scuffs and dirt.
Sew and simple wraps. It is very simple to sew such covers, since the pattern of the cover on the chair is a simple rectangle that is tied to the side at the folds at the folds.
Knitted covers are a very expensive pleasure that not everyone can afford, since there is a lot of yarn and threads are expensive now.
Cotton for case
Cotton fabrics are used in everyday life and to protect chairs in the kitchen or on the veranda. It can be satin or denim, gabardine or linen, twill, crepe satin, canvas, brocade fabrics and silk gabardine. Such fabrics are relatively inexpensive and hypoallergenic. They serve their owner for a long time, they are well washed.
But they also have drawbacks: in the sun, the fabric burns out, and when moisture enters, it quickly absorbs it. They are used temporarily, as they are short-lived. Linen covers will crumple, after washing they are hard to iron. And silk gabardines and satin slide, so for everyday use it is better to use them for frills or lower skirt of the cover.
Cotton fabrics are also used for the nursery. For such cases, you can choose a soft seat. Brocade fabrics are quite heavy. Although they are strong, it is not easy to sew from such material, especially if you are still an amateur seamstress.
Synthetic material for covers
Of synthetics, biflex fabrics, flock or microfiber are used to sew covers for chairs with their own hands. Let's analyze their properties closer. Such matter is persistent, cleans well, hardly gets wet. Also, the material is stretch, stretches in any direction. Spandex and lycra are used as universal covers for the office and for other rooms with a large number of visitors. They can drag dirt into the fabric and do without cleaning for a long time. Flock is not erased at all, and the material is able to withstand several cleanings.
Microfiber is not cleaned, but after several years of use it can be thrown away, since there will be no beautiful appearance. Such covers for chairs with a back can be worn on rented furniture for a cafe or dining room.
Take measurements for a pattern
For sewing covers on chairs with a back, the following measurements are made:
- From the top of the back to the floor in a straight line. This will be the height on the pattern.
- The seat is measured and the width and length along the edge.
- The height of the legs of the chair. Measured from the seat down to the floor.
- If the back is irregular in shape, for example, the top is wider, then measurements are made of the widest part and the bottom, which will be narrower.
- The distance between the legs of the chair is also measured. They can also be either straight or extended downward. Take measurements of the top (narrow part) and the widest place from below.
- If the back is round or some other non-standard shape, then it is better to simply outline its contours on a Whatman paper or a roll of wallpaper, so that the pattern is fully consistent with the shape, otherwise there will be problems when trying on, for example, elongated corners, voids, and the cover should clearly repeat the shape of the chair and fit it around the perimeter.
Simple pattern of an integral cover
The pattern of the cover on the chair has a cross-shaped shape. In the middle there should be a rectangle, the height of which will be equal to the addition of the height of the back, multiplied by two, the length of the seat and the height of the legs. If you use a fabric that stretches well, then such measurements will be enough to pattern a whole product. If the fabric is cotton, then it is necessary to additionally include in the calculations the thickness of the back of the chair.
If the cover on the back of the chair has an oncoming fold, then it will be necessary to significantly increase the width of the back of the back, depending on the size of the fold. If there will be buttons on the back, then you need to divide the pattern into two equal parts and add on each side a hem and a button placket.
If you plan to completely cover the side wooden elements of the back of the chair, then you need to add a couple of centimeters to one or the other side to the dimensions of the front of the back.
Examples of different patterns
Patterns of covers on the back of the chair differ among themselves mainly in the shape of the skirt. Covers on the back of the chair are cut in the same way for the most part. Dimensions of length and width are added to the dimensions of the thickness of the chair. Work on the backrest may include creating a pocket, one or more oncoming folds, sewing on a bow or bandage. The back can be made of contrasting fabric.
The bottom of the back can also be decorated either with a flounce or with folds, as in the photo below. Also, on this part of the cover, you can put on a separately tailored bandage, pick it up on a buckle or fasten it with a button.
The lower part of the skirt should lie on the floor, that is, when the skirt is cut out, you need to add a couple of centimeters for this purpose, not to mention the hem of the fabric on the seams.
Padded seat insert
With the tailoring of the cover on the back of the chair on the pattern, we figured out, now we will consider the options for seats. If the chair is made of wood and its seat is solid, then when sewing a cover, this unpleasant moment can be corrected. To do this, the pattern for the seat must have a pocket below. A sheet of foam rubber cut according to the template is inserted into it, you can tailor a pillow from sliced pieces of padding polyester, folded in half.
Flax is considered the best material for a pocket. It is sewn without any fasteners so that the soft insert does not fall out, the hem of the material is used inside, like sewing pillowcases for pillows.
For the insert, you can select the following materials:
- furniture foam, brand 35-45 is suitable;
- synthetic winterizer sheets;
- felt, both natural and synthetic;
- holofiber.
But you need to take into account that both the synthetic winterizer and the holofiber take a flattened shape over time, they also cannot be washed, so after some time of use you just have to throw them away and replace them with new ones.
Casual covers
A chair cover with a backrest can be sewn for the house, either simple or with beautiful additions. They can be of different lengths, not necessarily to the floor, because if there are pets in the house, they will constantly stain the lower part, and if there is a cat, the cover material will become his toy, the emptiness under the cover in this case will serve as a safe haven .
A short version of the covers is done when the legs are in fair condition. This option can be sewn integrally, as well as with individual elements. You can beautifully design even plain covers. The photo above shows how the side details are framed. The surface of the seat is also indicated by an additional seam with the insertion of the cord inward.
Individual items
Chair covers (see photo in the article) can consist of two separate parts - backs and seats. If they are sewn from colored fabric, then you can diversify everything with inserts of plain fabric. The edging on all seams of a contrasting color looks beautiful, buttons trimmed in the same color scheme.
You can fix the seat cover with bows or simple ties to match. The wavy bottom of each element, sheathed in black edging, looks original.
Case for game
For a children's room, you can sew an interesting version of a cover on a chair that imitates a stove. Black circles are sewn on the seat - cooking rings. On the front of the bottom of the cover make an applique oven. You can cut a buttonhole in its place to allow the child to “open” the oven and put the pan or pan in the void under the chair.
On the front wall of the back you can sew a strip of fabric with cutouts for inserting knives, ladle and other kitchen items, or you can make an applique window and attach one short curtain on top, or sew two more authentic and hook them on the sides to beautiful ties. It will also be interesting to look at a plastic children's dishwasher sewn onto this part.
Stripes with places for forks, spoons are sewn onto the sides of the skirt of the case. You can attach plastic hooks and hang on the handle of a pot or pans.
For a boy, you can create a workshop in the same way. The chair seat will be a workbench, and tools will be hung on the back. If you dream up on this topic, you can still make a washbasin by attaching a tap to the back and placing a bowl on the seat. The remaining details - soap, brushes, washcloths - are placed in the side pockets of the skirt.
Holiday Covers
For weddings and other celebrations, chairs are decorated in a special way. The color of the fabric is usually taken light - white, champagne, milky, beige. The material chosen is mainly satin. But they also use crepe satin or light brocade. Such a fabric has a soft and delicate structure, the skirt of the cover forms smooth wavy folds. Sometimes lace, artificial flowers, bows of a different color are used. Often the upper back is formed by a piece of fabric of a different color. There are cases of using dark colors - dark blue and even black, but more often these are delicate colors - pink, light green, lime and other pastel colors.
The skirt can be individually sewn and be a pleated structure or frill.
Afterword
The article gives detailed instructions for sewing a cover on a chair with your own hands, patterns of the main style of a whole product. The reader now has an idea of a suitable fabric, types of covers and their decoration. Use the acquired knowledge in practice and decorate your life with beautiful products for the home.