How to Make Removable Dining Chair Covers

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Kitchens are often the center of our homes. With family coming and going, cooking, and eating meals, we spend a lot of time in our kitchens. If your kitchen starts to feel stale after a while, you can quickly liven it back up with color and fresh accessories like fabric seat covers for your chairs. Making your own seat covers is an easy upgrade you can do yourself.
Video Chapters:
  • Patterning Foam & Top Plate - 1:37 min.
  • Patterning Boxing - 9:45 min.
  • Sewing Boxing to Top Plate - 11:29 min.
  • Cutting & Hemming Seat Back - 14:04 min.
  • Sewing Hem & Piping or Fringe - 18:10 min.
  • Attaching Closure Tabs - 21:00 min.
  • Fitting Cover - 26:00 min.
  • Materials List - 26:45 min.
Materials List:
  • Upholstery fabric of your choice (We used Waverly Upholstery Fabric)
  • Piping (Optional—We used Sunbrella® Decorative Piping)
  • Dura-Skrim® Patterning Material #103134
  • Dense Batting (Optional)
  • Tex 40 Monofilament Thread or Tex 70 Nylon Thread
  • 1” Hook (#467100) & Loop (#471100)
  • Seamstick 3/8” Basting Tape for Canvas #129
Tools List:
  • Sailrite® Edge Hotknife #103800
  • Deluxe 5-1/2" Magnetic Sewing Guide #103597
  • Scissors, Ruler, Marker, Pencil, Sewing Machine

Create your own chair

How to Make Removable Dining Chair Covers Video 2

We’ve put together a step-by-step video to show you how to measure, pattern, and create your own chair covers. Making your own chair covers allows you to create a perfect fit with a tailored look by patterning right on your chair. After you make one cushion, create a permanent pattern to easily create more covers for your whole dining set.

Our chairs have a smooth rounded look with piping trim, but covers can easily be customized to suit your style. For example, make the cushion more angular and skip the piping for a more modern look. As an added feature, we included a hook-and-loop closure at the back of the cover. This makes removing the cushions for laundering effortless. You can also swap out the cushions seasonally for a rotating style.

If your chairs could use some extra padding, add a layer of Nu-Foam densified polyester batting between the chair and the cover. Instructions for patterning and cutting the foam are included in the video.