I made several mistakes, but for my first try I learned a lot and it's doable. Using what I've learned, I may try it once more in a few months when I tire of this fabric.
Here is the chair:
Good construction and quality, good price (free), but ugly, dated fabric that matched nothing in my living room. The couch is navy brocade with a burgundy and green stripe and a tiny gold pinstripe. (I hate the couch, but it's like brand new so I have to work with it).
I chose an inexpensive fabric in the clearance aisle at JoAnn's ($5.00! Woot!) and laid out pieces of the fabric in approximate sizes onto the chair.
I did Gram Eleanor's pull and pin, and cut and pin, and tuck and pin method until I had the entire chair covered, inside-out. Like this:
Then, I slid the cover off and sewed the seams and turned it right side out and slipped it back on. Some spots required hand stitching after the cover was in place because of the arms.
I see some puckers and some uneven-ness in spots I don't like, but over all it's an improvement. I think a whole cover that didn't require cutting out the arms would have been easier for my first attempt, but I'm happy with it for now and have learned from my mistakes enough to attempt it again in the future.
My advice? Get some inexpensive fabric (lots of my bloggy friends use drop cloths from Hope Depot), start laying out and pinning and cutting and just be brave! It's a lot easier to be brave with $5 fabric than $50 fabric. Get the hang of it with the cheap stuff, than graduate to something more expensive.
Next time, I will leave myself more wiggle room in the pieces I use. I cut some a little too close because I started out trying to make a pattern. And, I might just cover the arms. It's just so tricky to get those things out and about!
Good luck! Hop on over to Kimba's place to see lots more DIY fun through the magic button below:
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