How to Make a Chair Cover for a Shabby Old Desk Chair

Hi everyone.  Got a quick makeover to share with you today.  My daughter's desk chair was tired and shabby but not in a good shabby way.  I've been looking for a new chair to replace it.  The chair needed to have wheels so it was easy to move around, it needed to have gas lift so you could adjust the height and it needed to have no arms so it could be pushed completely under the desk.  I couldn't find anything nice that met the criteria.  Have you noticed how ugly office chairs are?  The shabby chair we had did meet our needs, so it was time for a makeover.

This is the chair on the left.  It was from Freedom Furniture a few years ago.  You can now only get it in black which doesn't suit my daughter's room at all.  The white faux leather had become very dirty and marked, but the chair itself was fine.  Solution - Chair Cover.

The cover is similar to a director's chair cover but the sides are only short so they don't get stuck in the wheels.

How To

Cut pieces of fabric to the dimensions of the chair front, back and seat and sew together.  Then sew the side seams to join the front and back together.  Cut 4 pieces of fabric for the chair skirt.  Sew one across the back piece and hem.  Then sew the other three together to form one piece and sew it along the bottom three sides of the seat fabric, leaving it open at the back so you can slide the cover over the chair.  Hem and you're done.

Of course my daughter decided to sketch up a design for a scatter cushion to go on the chair.

So armed with the drawing, I made the pillow too.

Here's a little tip - Whenever I sew something I write down all the measurements and the steps I took in my little pattern book.  That way, if I need to make another cover in the future I can do so really easily without all the measuring and working out how to do it.

I used the leftover fabric I had when I made her bed skirt here,  so the chair cover cost me nothing and I saved $100 as I didn't have to buy a new chair (or that's how I like to think of it).  The spotty fabric and pom pom trim for the pillow were from Spotlight.

So by making a simple chair cover I've been able to decorate her room in the style she wanted without it costing a fortune.  

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