Taking Dominion of....the chair

We have a favorite chair in our family. It's not quite a loveseat, but technically called a "chair and a half." I call it just the right size for mama and a few kids to squeeze into to read books together. It's also great for taking naps.

Our chair has been loved for 12 years, and is showing it's age. Four children growing up in it have left their marks, too. Quite a few marks, actually.

Instead of purchasing a new - and way too expensive - chair to replace it, I challenged myself to sew a slip cover. I had no pattern and no experience in this! How to even judge the amount of material one would need? After a few measurements and sketches, and a bit of math, I did my best to estimate. Here you see 6.5 yd of 54" wide fabric, as well as my method of sewing. I primarily used a "drape, trace & cut" technique, leaving some ample room for mistakes. The sides, arms and front of the back are one long piece that gets tucked into the space between the arms and back. The backside is another piece with some tucks to accomodate the curves. Mostly I tried to duplicate how the original fabric was pieced.

Working on such a large project required me to transform my dining table into a sewing room. That propelled me forward to get this completed as quickly as possible. Pins and irons around little ones leads to trouble! The cushion cover was sewn in a few hours, and everything else (except the skirt) was sewn in one day (Grandma made sure the kids were out of my hair).

This was my first time covering any sort of box cushion. I reused the zipper from the old fabric cover. It was covered in marker anyway and was destined for the bin. Covered piping or welting was new to me as well. That was actually really fun and easy to do with a zipper foot. Sewing it in along the curved arm pieces while sandwhiched between huge quantities of fabric was another story though. Pins were my best friends!

I came out really close with my original purchase of fabric. I did go back and buy another yard to do the skirt, but even that came out a wee bit short. So instead of piecing in more of the same and creating an awkward seam line, I added a contrasting band to the bottom of the skirt.

The finished product fits great! I love it! There's enough of both fabrics left over to make a matching pillow or two. The entire project was less than $100, MUCH cheaper than a new chair!

The rest of the room was dragging me down, so a fresh coat of aqua paint went on all the walls. I love how the reds and pinks pop against the blue! This is my favorite room to be in now!