When Adam and I moved into the new house, we were delighted to be able to buy a lovely pine kitchen table with matching chairs. We got it for a bargain, second hand, and once the table top had received a good scrub with some wire wool it looked a treat! The chairs though needed a little more TLC as their seats were rather dated and shabby. Still, I knew it’d be no trouble at all to re-cover the seats with some odds and ends of fabric I have.
So….here’s how!
What you’ll need:
- The chair or chairs you’d like to spruce up
- Pretty fabrics (about 60cm to 1m square per seat, depending on the size and shape)
- Sharp scissors
- Tailor’s chalk or pencil
- A little ruler
- A screw driver (if the seat is screwed onto the chair)
- A good stapler that folds out flat, or a staple gun
How to do it:
1. Remove the seat from the chair by pushing up from underneath….you may need to unscrew some screws
2. Iron your fabric and lay it face down on a table big enough to work at (you can use the floor but a table is easier)
3. Ensure the pattern on the fabric is facing the right way
4. Lay the chair seat on the fabric, with the top against the fabric (upside down)
5. Measure 10cm from the edges, and replace the seat 10cm away from the top and right edge
6. Now measure 10cm from the bottom edge of the seat and left edge of the seat, marking with a pencil or chalk
7. Trim these two edges, so that you are left with a 10cm border of fabric all around the seat
8. Fold in each corner of fabric onto the seat, so that the edge of the fabric is at right angles with the edge of the seat
9. Staple each corner securely into place
10. Now fold in the edges one at a time, and tightly secure with staples
11. You may like to cover the exposed edges with tape, but as it’ll be on the under-side of the seat I wouldn’t worry too much
12. Flip over the finished seat and place it back into the chair, securing any screws back in that you took out (you will pierce the fabric as you do this so take it steady)
13. Test out your pretty new chair by sitting down with a well earned cup of tea!
Ems x
