Perk up a plain dining chair by sewing a slipcover.
You don't need new furniture to update your dining room. Slipcover your existing instead. Dining chair slipcovers complement most interiors, as long as you choose an appropriate fabric and style. Sewing your own slipcovers costs less than commissioning a custom workroom, and it allows you to include style details you'd never find in ready-made versions.
Cottage and Casual Dining Rooms
For dining chairs with cottage charm, consider making relaxed, two-piece slipcovers. Make them from solid, checked, striped or floral cotton. Sew the top piece like a short pillowcase that hangs one-third to halfway down the back of the chair. Stitch a 1- to 2-inch gathered ruffle around the open end. Make the second piece of the slipcover in the style of a tie-on chair pad, but add a 2- to 6-inch ruffle to create a little skirt.
Tweak the two-piece style for use with other casual decorating looks, such as shabby chic or beach-inspired decor. For shabby chic style, box pleat the ruffles and make the slipcovers out of vintage bark cloth or washable white cotton. For the beach look, make the skirt a little longer and sew the slipcovers from white canvas or unbleached linen.
Contemporary Dining Rooms
Sew tight-fitting, one-piece slipcovers for use in contemporary dining rooms. Make them with tailored skirts, three-quarter or full length, featuring reverse box pleats at the corners. Sew contrasting welt into the seams if you use a bold, patterned fabric. Add style to solid fabrics with a clean-lined, embroidered monogram on the inside back. Repeat your monogram thread color with a horizontal band of accent fabric stitched just above the hem of the skirt, in the style of boutique hotel linens.
Traditional and Formal Dining Rooms
Complement formal and traditional dining room decor with fitted, two-piece slipcovers. Fabric options include solids or patterns made from silk, cotton, linen, or blends. Plush velvet or chenille looks lovely, as does quilted matelasse.
Let the chair shape determine the slipcover style for the back. For rectangular chair backs, sew a fitted, pillowcase-style slipcover that buttons up the back or sides. Buttons covered with your slipcover fabric look especially elegant. For round- and shield-back chairs with wooden frames, sew front and back pieces that mimic the chair-back shape, and then attach them to the chair with fabric ties. Border the front and back pieces with welt, cord or a tiny, knife-pleated ruffle.
For the seat half of the slipcover, choose the skirt length and style that suits your chairs best. Shirred, pleated and scalloped styles work well with most formal and traditional furniture. Skirt lengths can range from 3-inch ruffles to floor-length versions.
Bohemian Dining Rooms
Add bohemian flair to your dining chairs by sewing one-piece slipcovers from layers of floaty chiffon or another sheer fabric. Mix colors and patterns; layering them on top of one another is perfectly fine. You can even add embroidered saris and vintage scarves into the fabric mix. Keep the fit airy and loose, and try a handkerchief hem for the skirt. Though you don't need a back closure with such a loose fit, mimic the look with vintage millinery or crocheted flowers stitched in a vertical row down the back.
If you love the bohemian look but need a harder-wearing fabric, sew your loose-fitting slipcover from soft, crushed velvet. Add two vertical rows of grommets up the back, and then use ribbon to lace up the slipcover like a corset.
Tags: dining chairs, back pieces, , dining room, Dining Rooms