How To Make Chair Covers Without Sewing

In the absence of sewing skills, a chair cover can still be made. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to make chair covers because you can do it yourself. You can enjoy big savings if you buy canvas or drapes since their cost is low.

It is a painless process. If you are bored with the look of your chair covers, you can often change them. Or if you have old chairs that you want to give a refreshing look, making them without sewing is the new thing. Learn how to sew chair covers, and you can do it whenever you want. You don’t have to look for professionals to do it for you. You can do it in the comfort of your house.

How To Make Chair Covers

In this article, we will cover the process of making chair covers without sewing. We will target straight chairs and armchairs. If you learn it on your own, you will know how to pamper your chairs at any time.

Below are some steps to follow:

Armchairs

Requirements

A tape measure
Scissors
Fabric to use
Safety pins
Cardboard/PVC
Upholstery pins

Steps to follow:

The first step to make the cushion covers for an armchair is to take the length measurements. Using your tape measure, take the measurements of the front seat starting from the floor. Go up and overall around the Chair. From the back start from the floor again, go behind the Chair. Don’t forget to record your measurements. It is also necessary to follow the contours of the chair to prevent incorrect measurements. To get the length of the material needed, add at least ten inches after you have done that.
The second step is to measure the left and right sides of the chair. On the left side, start from the floor, up and over the arm, and take the measurements. The right side starts from the floor, up, over, and across the chair. Again, record your measurements. Ensure that you are following the contours of the chair to avoid wrong measurements. Add ten inches to have the length of the fabric needed.
Start from the front to the back. Then side to side. Next, measure from top to bottom. Do this if you want to cover it separately. Add 10 inches to both the width and length.
At this stage, cut the material you will use according to the measurements you took.
Next is to arrange the material on our chair. Take your fabric and place it on your chair. You choose the right side that you want to be on the top. After that, tuck it into the crevices. Start with sides and go to the back, where they meet the seat. Take your safety pin and mark the front center.
Take a safety pin and start working from there to cover the chair. Pinup the hems with straight pins. Using straight pins, attach the ties at the front part of the arms and all the way up to the rear corners for a tailored look. I think you’ll find it neat.
After that, you can remove the cover and, using upholstery pins, pin the hems in place. Pin them in all corners to avoid them being loose. You can pin in a way that you are hiding pins.
After the pining is done, you now have a cover that is well place. Take it back to the chair and tuck the fabric as it was before.
Now we need to keep the fabric in place. To do that, you will need cardboard tubing. If you don’t have that, you can use a PVC pipe. Whether the cardboard or PVC pipe, three are needed, and they should have a diameter of 2 inches. While using the width of the chair, the first piece must be 4 inches shorter. The other two must be 4 inches shorter than the depth of the seat from the front to back.
At the end and the middle of the cardboard tubing or PVC, place the rubber bands around. Now take the cardboard tubing or PVC and place them on top of the fabric. Tuck them in the spaces around the chair, targeting the back and the sides. Now push the Cardboard tubing or PVC till they reach the end. Once you do that, the fabric will stay in place and look neat.
Now gather the fabric in soft folds. Do that on the front of the arms plus the rear corners of the chair. Secure the fabric with ties.
Lastly, wrap the cushion in fabric. Secure it to the cushion and under the chair using safety pins.

Follow these simple steps to make covers for your armchairs.

Straight Chairs

Things you need:

Tape measure
Safety pins
Scissors
Upholstery pins

Steps to follow:

The first step is to measure the chair. This measurement will cover the length of the material needed for the chair covers. Take your tape measure and start from the bottom in the front and go up. Measure the back starting from the bottom up and over the seat. You need to add two inches to the hem allowance. The inclusion of inches will eliminate margin errors. It is common to experience margin errors when pinning the fabric.
Next, look for the widest part of the chair. If possible, look between the front legs or wherever it seems appropriate by taking the widest part of all. Again, add two inches to get the width of the fabric needed. Remember, the width of the chair depend on the type of chair. It’s important to get the right figure for some because they’re wider than others.
I hope you are recording your measurements after every step. Now using your measurement cut the fabric. Cut along one at this step.
The next thing is to fold our fabrics. Fold the four edges, and this should be under ¼ inch. Press the folds using an iron. They should be flat as possible.
Now take your cover and place it on the chair. You should check the right side that you need on top. To hold the fabric into position, use your safety pins to pin it. Pin it up to where the seat meets the back. The fabric should then be well seated on the chair.
Let’s now concentrate on the edges of the fabric. Turn them up to another ¾ inch and pin the folds to keep them in place. Make sure you move the pins holding the back and front to get a complete finish. Again, the folds must be flat as possible.
As we are not going to sew, we can use upholstery pins to stiffen the edges of the fabric. To adjust, remove the chair cover. Tighten the pins along the edges of the seams with the upholstery pins. They must be as tight and firm as possible. A neat and clean finish is also necessary.
After the cover is in place, place it on the chair. Again, ensure you place it with the right side facing on top. Distribute the fabric well to get a smooth look. The point of distributing the fabric is to ensure the material is well spread to pin it well. Now you can secure your fabric to the back using upholstery pins. Make it look neat and tight as possible. You can opt to pleat the fabric for a sleek look at the back and hold the pleats with upholstery pins. Make sure you hide the upholstery pins for a beautiful look.

Alternatively, you can wrap a length of fabric around the chair at this stage and tie it using a wind band at the back. Tie it in a way that it makes a bow. You can play around with it and decide to tie a contrasting fabric. That will bring out something beautiful.

Once you follow the above steps, you will be able to get neat chair covers. As you have noted, it is a smooth process.

Final thoughts

Making chair covers without sewing is not as difficult as many people think. To save money on professionals and replacement materials, you don’t have to replace them constantly. You may wonder if pins can keep materials in place, and the truth is that they can. Using them correctly, you can make your chair covers last for a long time. Again, while making the covers, take your time so that you can do a good job. A bit of concentration is good so that you can get the correct measurement. With the above guide, you will make your straight chairs and armchair covers with ease.