A great way to update a worn chair is to change the cushions. Here's how to create a slipcover for an existing cushion.
- Use a piece of muslin to create a pattern. Lay the existing cushion in the middle of the muslin and draw an outline all the way around the cushion.
- Cut all the way around the outline.
- Cut your fabric 1/2" wider than the pattern you created. Cut a top and bottom for the cushion slipcover.
- Measure the back edge of the cushion and add 8" to it. This is the length of the zipper you will need. It will wrap around each side of the cushion.
- You are going to add a boxing strip to the slipcover that goes between the top and the bottom and runs along the side of the cushion, giving it a body shape. Measure the height of the cushion and add 1" for the seam allowances.
- Measure the circumference of the cushion and add 4".
- Take the height plus the circumference and cut your boxing strip accordingly.
- Cut another strip down the center, and press the seam 1/2" on each side.
- Center the zipper inside these two pieces, and sew it to the two strips, topstitching along the seams.
- Create an upholstery pocket by combining the strip with the zipper to the rest of the boxing strip. Pin them 2" from the end, wrong sides together.
- Now, flip the fabric right side up and flip the fabric back. Sew it at the end of the pieces, creating a tab of fabric.
- Pin the piping to the raw edges of the boxing strip 1/2" away from the very edge. Start in the back.
- Sew the piping to each side of the boxing strip. At the end, overlap the piping and pull the ends down, taking them out of the boxing strip.
- Pin the boxing strip all the way around the top of the slipcover, right sides together.
- Start sewing where the end of the zipper is, sewing right across the zipper fabric and remaining boxing strip. Trim off any excess fabric.
- Now, sew all the way around the boxing strip and slipcover.
- Unzip the zipper and pin the other end of the boxing strip to the other side of the slipcover, right sides together.
- Sew all the way around the edges.
- Going through the zipper, turn the slipcover right side out.
