The Epic Saga Of the Dining Room Part III

Date: August 31, 2013
Author: sweetwaterstyle

Part three of the Epic Saga of the Dining Room will finally be the tutorial for the Parson Chair Slipcovers!

This might explain why I feel like this has been an “Epic Saga”!
Picture 1: the original upholstery that we did when we bought the $39 chairs…..reupholstering these was a real pain….the backs had to be popped out…covered and then popped back in….did it once….but never again….hence the slipcover project!
Notice how very lazy I was when I re stained the legs….didn’t even do the whole chair frame…HENCE…the SLIPCOVERS!
Picture 2:  My animal print slipcovers….the ones my family thought were soooo weird….until animal print became all the rage!!!
Picture 3:  The ill-conceived fabric choice and the Part Slipcover/Part Upholstery style that I gave up on after 3 chairs!
Picture 4: FINALLY….the right fabric and a simple streamlined slipcover that looks updated and JUST RIGHT!
Follow along to see how to make a slipcover!
I wish I could say these were NO SEW….but alas….the only way to do this is to get out your sewing machine!
Step 1:  I actually made a muslin pattern for this project so that I had good pieces to work with when I cut the actual fabric.  Check out this blog post that gives a great explanation of pin fitting a slipcover for a Parson’s Chair.  SEW PASSIONATE PIN FITTING A CHAIR

Step 2:  Cut out all your pieces!  This type of slipcover has 3 pieces….chair back, chair front and seat!  I cut all 24 pieces at once (YIKES that is another reason this is an EPIC SAGA…3 pieces times 8 chairs!!!)
Anyway…if you cut all the pieces at once, you can save fabric…I was able to do a layout that left me with enough fabric for a whole extra chair…in case we ever have a stain that won’t come out!

Step 3:  Lay the seat piece on the chair.  Make a cut that leaves the”tuck in” as well as the side flap for joining to the back piece.

Step 4:  Pin and then stitch the miter which will form the tight corner on the front of the seat.

Trim this excess away after you are certain that the fit is correct.

Step 5:  Pin the front and back pieces together with wrong side out….

I also use a pencil to trace the actual line of the frame….it seems no matter how carefully you cut your pieces…they don’t match up perfectly.  The pencil line lets me sew the perfect line and the finished seem doesn’t have bumps or puckers.

Step 6: Of course I forgot to take any pictures of this…but you simply sew the front and back together along your pencil line.  The back is attached using the extensions from the seat piece.

This photo shows the “loop” of fabric that will become the pleat at the back corner of the seat.

Step 6:  Do a final fitting of the three pieces….tucking in your “tuck ins”.  I did not sew this together like many tutorials do.  I thought it would be easier to get a good fit.

Because I may need to wash these….I did finish all the edges with the serger.

Step 7: Use a ruler to measure and pin the hem.  When you sew the pieces together…the bottom often shifts so this is critical for an even hem on each chair.  I was awfully glad this pattern was so forgiving.

Step 8:  Make the pleat by tucking and hand sewing the back seat corner.  I find that I have more control when I do this by hand….but maybe one of you experts out there know a secret for doing this better!

Step 9:  Hand stitch the hem….now I know you could do this by machine, but again…since all of the chairs sit side by side….the hems have to be exactly the same distance from the floor…and the hand stitching lets me do some tweaking!
Repeat Steps 1-9……OVER AND OVER AND OVER….EIGHT Times in my case!
It sounds like I am complaining…..I am NOT!
The whole look of the room has changed….for the better….
And with the Sweetwater Daughter’s help and the newly edited living room….
I am really pleased with the look of both rooms….just a few more tweaks in the next weeks and I’ll be done with the updated rooms!

So ends my EPIC SAGA…..
Did you know….that it took Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War in the Epic Saga the Odyssey….so I am awfully glad my EPIC SAGA didn’t take quite that long.

If you are frustrated by my lack of tutorial writing skills…..
This video is a great one to watch to get clear directions for making a similar slipcover

Have a Great Day!

Link Parties

2 comments on “The Epic Saga Of the Dining Room Part III”

  1. craftyspices

    You did an awesome job! We did something similar a few years ago and it was not even a full cover chair, and while it was not that difficult it was time consuming. It’s great to see the end result.

  2. Sarah Kenny

    Great Job! Love your new look in your dining room. Have a great day.
    Sarah

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