Thursday, May 21, 2009

Make Neat Corners When Recovering Dining Room Chairs







A well-fitted cover makes a dining room chair look elegant.


Well fitted upholstery on dining room chairs makes the dining room look more elegant. It is fairly common for homeowners to cover dining room chairs by stapling new fabric to the back of the underside of the chair. This is fine if you don't mind puckers and gathers along the underside edge of the fabric. These puckers can become pronounced if your fabric is thicker and more expensive. The solution is easier than you might think.


Instructions


1. Staple the fabric over quilt batting to the underside of the chair seat. Keep the staples even and 2 inches from the edge. The fabric should not have any puckers or gathers, and it should be slightly stretched so that it looks smooth and even. Stop when you are 2 inches from the corner in each direction.


2. Cut the fabric on the 45-degree diagonal 1/2 inch from the seat corner to the edge of the fabric. Wrap one side around the corner. Fold the second side under and in line with the corner. Slide one finger between the fabric layers to smooth out any wrinkles. Pin the fabrics together.


3. Thread an upholstery needle with heavy-duty thread. Bring the ends of the thread together and tie a knot. Trim off the excess thread. Position yourself so that the folded seam is directly in front of you with the seat cover at the top. Bring the needle up inside the fold 1/16-inch from the top point of the corner. Pull the thread snug.


4. Pierce the fabric on the right side of the seam with a 1/16-inch stitch. Hold the seam tight together. Cross the needle to the left underside of the fold and up through the top of the fold. Pull the stitch snug. Continue the same cross-over stitch sewing the corner seam together so that the seam is strong and straight and the fabric is smooth and without any puckers. Tie your thread off into a knot on the underside of the chair. Finish stapling the fabric to the underside for that corner of the chair. Repeat for each corner.


5. Trim off all excess fabric on the underside of the chair seat using scissors. Cut cambric fabric the size of the underside of the chair seat. Fold the edges of the cambric under and staple the cambric evenly around the bottom underside of the chair. This will cover all of your earlier stapling and provide a nice finish.

Tags: underside chair, chair seat, dining room, edge fabric, underside chair seat, chair This