5 Best Video Tutorials of 2014: #4 DIY Recover a Chair Seat

The second day of our 5 Best Video Tutorials of 2014 continues with video #4, How to Recover a Chair Seat. How many times have you passed by a chair or dining set and loved everything about it, except for the seat fabric? For some, that is a deal breaker. But for those of you that check out this video tutorial, it is simply an opportunity to put your skills to use and customize the set with the fabric of your choice. Don’t be afraid. Recovering a chair seat is actually a lot easier than you may think.

Supplies:

Screwdriver
Staple Gun
Staples
Fabric of Your Choice
Sewing Scissors
Measuring Tape
Hammer

Step 1:

Before you can do anything else you must measure the existing seat cushions to determine how much fabric you will need to recover all the seats. You will want the fabric you cut to be larger on all sides to allow for plenty of room to staple. Add at least 5 or 6 inches to both the width and height that you measure.

Keep in mind that most decorator fabrics measure 54 inches wide. For these chairs, were were able to get two seats out of one width of fabric, which meant that I only needed two yards of fabric to cover all six chairs.

In this video I also talk quite a bit about fabric selection. Of course, if you have any questions at all you can ask the sales associates at your local fabric store. They will be able to help you make sure you have enough yardage to complete this project.

Step 2:

Flip the chairs over and unscrew the screws that are holding the seat onto the chair frame. I only remove one seat at a time because I like to keep them paired with the exact chair frame that it was originally on.

Step 3:

Cut out your first piece of fabric. I like to get one chair out of the way before I make the next 5 cuts. This gives you the opportunity to make any adjustments necessary.

Step 4:

Place your piece of fabric right side down on the floor and center your cushion on top of the fabric. Start in the center of one of the sides and staple the fabric to the underneath of the seat. Once you have three or four staples in place, do the same thing to the opposite side, making sure to pull the fabric taught. Continue this process until you have done the center of all four sides.

Step 5:

With the centers now secured it is time to staple your way down to the corners. Do this on all four sides but stop two inches shy of each corner. Stapling the corners is a bit trickier so take a moment to watch that segment of the video tutorial. If you have not watched the video, this is how you do it:

First, take the very center of the corner, pull taught, and staple, Then in small increments work your way from that staple toward one edge, pulling the fabric and stapling frequently. Now go back to the center of the corner and do the same thing going the other way.

Step 6:

As you are stapling, you are always pulling the fabric taught to avoid any puckering and make the finished seat cushion as smooth as possible. If a staple does not go into the wood the whole way, pull it out and try again. A hammer can be used to pull out bent staples or to hammer a staple in farther. Once all staples are in place take a moment to trim away any excess fabric with your scissors.