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Making a Chair Slipcover Pattern

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June 17, 2011 By Jackie

 

Naked Dining Chairs

So…I have these naked chairs.  Yes, I bought them this way.  In case you were curious, this is what the Henriksdal chair from Ikea looks like without a cover.  The version I got, the brown-black frame without a cover, was $49.99 per chair.  When I tested them out in the store I thought they were very comfortable.  I was first inspired to consider these chairs for our dining room after seeing Liz’s amazing hand-painted chairs for her breakfast room.  I knew, I too, wanted to make some super-cool, original chair covers.

Ikea Henriksdal chair frame

Remember that little pic of the Prakesh Table Cloth by Dwell Studio for Target from the Dining Room Mood Board?  Well, I do not plan to use it as a tablecloth.  I actually did, for a birthday party and loved it so much I ordered 3 more to make my chair slipcovers.  The tablecloths were $17.99 each.  I loved the idea of the grey part of the pattern down the middle of the chairs.  But getting a tablecloth to turn into a chair slipcover is much easier said than done.

Enter the $10 Ikea Henriksdal Slipcover.  This is the plain cotton slipcover sold with the base model Henriksdal.  Note: They price it as a package for $59.99, but you can buy the chair alone for $49.99.  I purchased four plain chair frames and one cotton slipcover.  The total with tax was just shy of $225…not bad for four upholstered dining chairs.

I decided the best way to make my own slipcovers, was to dissect the $10 slipcover to create a pattern.  This took a lot of patience and learning about my own strength for ripping seams.  I do not think there is any right way or pretty way to do this.  I grabbed a seam ripper and started slicing at the threads.  My mom would tell you it is easiest to start in the middle of a seam, instead of the ends where there is usually backstitching or reinforcement.  These slipcovers are professionally serged with at least 4 threads…meaning there is a lot of seam ripping to do.  I think it took me about an hour to get all the seams apart.

Here is what my slipcover puzzle pattern looks like. It is laid out  by adjoining seams.  The top piece is the back of the chair cover upside down.  It attaches around the sides and top to the front cover piece in the middle.  The front attaches to the seat piece at the bottom.  The pieces around the seat are the fronts and sides of the apron.

As I got the first fabric piece loose from the slipcover, I worried I would not remember how to put it back together.  There was different stitching at the hems than at the side seams.  Once all the pieces were apart it was difficult to tell the difference from the front apron to the side apron.  Part way through I decided to take some notes.  I put a piece of tape on each fabric piece to serve as a label.  In they-only-make-snese-to-me-terms I took notes about how to reassemble the pattern.  I wrote things like 1/2″ hem and serge side.  I labeled each piece with the part of the chair it covered.  Hopefully this will make reassembly easier since I will have these “pattern pieces” to refer too.

Next Steps:

  1. Use pattern to cut out pieces from my tablecloths (totally nervous about this)
  2. Serge pieces together to make a slipcover following my “pattern notes” (yes, I have a serger…no, I do not know how to do all the required stitches yet)
  3. Add velcro around apron (chair frame has velcro underneath to attach slipcover to)
  4. Put slipcover on chair and cross-fingers it fits perfectly (cry if it doesn’t)

If you can’t tell by my parenthetical side notes above…I am a little panicked about this project.  I tend to get myself way in over my head sometimes.  The only silver-lining is I usually can, in Tim Gunn’s words, “make it work”.  Wish me luck.

Read more about this project:

  • Finished Slipcovers
  • Matching DIY dyed slipcovers

 

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Comments

  1. Jen says

    February 4, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    Hi Jackie!
    I stumbled onto your blog from google images of your beautiful dining room! Thank you so much for showing the deconstructing of the ikea slipcover! This (along with the dying with idye) is exactly what i was planning to do in my dining room! Did you happen to make a paper pattern you’d be willing to share? It came out wonderful and I feel a lot more confident in my plans. I’m adding you to my feedler immediately! Thanks again!

  2. Phyllis says

    March 19, 2012 at 10:42 am

    You’ve so totally inspired me. I will make my pattern from old xmas wrap rolls I no longer want. But using a tablecloth as your cover fabric? Genius. Think Big Lots, or any deep-discount store. Thank you! Your chairs turned out just beautifully.

  3. Amy says

    July 10, 2012 at 10:01 am

    Did you happen to save the fabric pieces you made the pattern from? If you trace the fabric pattern pieces to paper may I buy the paper copy from you? I have the big Ikea Bjursta table (bought in the As-Is room at Ikea!) that fits TEN Ikea Henriksdal chairs without the leaf (14 chairs with leafs) and can’t bring myself to buy the chairs with covers on for $90 a chair at Ikea. I love to sew but hate to seam rip soooooo if I can buy the pattern from you that would be great. I love the tablecloth idea you used for your chairs-beautiful!

    • Jackie says

      July 10, 2012 at 10:10 am

      Amy,

      It has been a while since I made these, but let me check if I still have the cut up slipcover. I totally understand the desire to avoid seam ripping (those covers are well made with double seams!). I will get back to you soon, if I can find my pattern pieces and paper to trace them on.

  4. Ceci says

    October 8, 2012 at 7:10 pm

    Genius!! I love the tablecloth idea for the slipcovers. What I’d like to know is how the Ikea chairs are holding up. The ones in their showroom are really wobbly, so I’m a little worried that they won’t hold up.
    If I do buy them, I’d be interested in buying your slipcover pattern for them, too, if you still have it.
    Thanks.
    Ceci

    • Jackie says

      October 8, 2012 at 8:43 pm

      Ceci, Our chairs are holding up great, but they do not see daily use. When you assemble the chairs you actually bolt on the front legs. If the chairs are wobbly, it is likely the bolts came lose and just need to be tightened. I definitely pay attention to wear on a showroom floor, too, but also try to keep in mind thousands of people a week have tried out that chair. It wont be seeing that much action at my house.

      I no longer have the slipcover I used as a pattern. I highly recommend buying the cheapest slipcover and seam ripping it apart to create your pattern. Good luck. Would love to see your chairs when you get them finished.

  5. Josie says

    January 25, 2013 at 9:28 am

    This is awesome! I’ve been searching for a way to recover my chairs…question…any suggestions to doing this on the henriksdal chair WITH ARMS? I’m pretty decent at sewing, however, dissecting patterns I’m HORRIBLE at. Any ideas / help you could give me with making the slipcover for the chair with arms I would so appreciate!! Thanks!

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