How to Replace the Fabric on a Director's Chair

X-HT-300408

A director's chair is a fun, quirky addition to your seating lineup both indoors and out. However, if the wrong fabric is used for these chairs, they can fade or have their stability compromised by failing material. If your director's chair is looking a little worse for wear, or you just want to change out the fabric, you're in luck! We'll be walking you through the necessary steps to replace the fabric portion of the chair.
Video Chapters:
  • Making the Seat Back – 0:25 min.
  • Making the Seat Bottom – 11:07 min.
  • Materials List – 20:41 min.
Materials List:
  • Sunbrella® Marine Grade Fabric - we used Sunflower Yellow - Item #4602-0000
  • Seamstick 3/8" Basting Tape for Canvas - Item #129
  • Polyester Tex 90 Thread from Sailrite®
Tools List:
  • Tape Measure 120" - Item #102986
  • Sailrite® Edge Hotknife Package - Item #103800
  • Sailrite® Tempered Cutting Glass - Item #121915
  • Chalk Pencil Cartridge Set - Item #121669
  • Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24" - Item #102400
  • Sailrite® Canvas Patterning Ruler - Item #107040
  • Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LS Walking Foot Sewing Machine - Item #311502
  • Sailrite® Ultrafeed® Industrial Sewing Table - Item #120934
  • Thread Clipper "Kuroha" - Item #121908
Replace Fabric on a Directors Chair 2

Director’s chairs are often made using a cotton duck material that quickly fades in the sun and can even rip after excessive wear. That’s why we’ve chosen Sunbrella® Marine Grade Fabric as the replacement material on our revamped director’s chair. To best match the original yellow fabric, we’ve chosen Sunbrella Marine Grade in the color Sunflower Yellow (#6002-0000).

Sunbrella solution-dyed acrylic fabrics are extremely durable — they resist fading, stains, mold, mildew and abrasion, and they're well suited for indoor and outdoor applications. When you sew your director’s chair replacement using Sunbrella, you can rest assured that it will not only look professional, but it will also stand up to daily wear and tear! After time in the sun, the Sunbrella fabric will hold up vastly better than the fabric that was previously on this chair.

In some cases, the fabric on your director’s chair may be in good enough shape that you can take it off and use it to pattern your new fabric, but if this isn’t the case, we’ll walk you through some brief steps to ensure the perfect fit. And to sew everything together, we’ve chosen to use the Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LS Sewing Machine. This straight stitch sewing machine has the superior capability to sew through multiple layers of Sunbrella and other thick fabrics with ease.

How did your director’s chair turn out? Be sure to include before and after photos in the comments below, or use #Sailrite with your photos on Facebook or Instagram!

Materials List:

Seamstick 3/8" Basting Tape for Canvas (50 yds.)

#129

Seamstick 3/8" Basting Tape for Canvas (50 yds.)

PremoBond Tex 90 (V-92) White UV Bonded Polyester Thread 4 oz. (1,350 yds.)

#123337

PremoBond® Tex 90 (V-92) White UV Bonded Polyester Thread 4 oz. (1,350 yds.)

Tools List:

Tape Measure 120"

#102986

Tape Measure 120"

Sailrite Edge Hotknife Package (110V)

#103800

Sailrite® Edge Hotknife Package (110V)

Sailrite Tempered Cutting Glass

#121915

Sailrite® Tempered Cutting Glass

Chalk Pencil Cartridge Set

#121669

Chalk Pencil Cartridge Set

Sailrite Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24"

#102400

Sailrite® Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24"

Sailrite Canvas Patterning Ruler

#107040

Sailrite® Canvas Patterning Ruler

Sailrite Ultrafeed LS Walking Foot Sewing Machine (110V)

#311502

Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LS Walking Foot Sewing Machine (110V)

Sailrite Ultrafeed Industrial Sewing Table

#120934

Sailrite® Ultrafeed® Industrial Sewing Table

Thread Clipper Kuroha

#121908

Thread Clipper Kuroha

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