Q: I have inherited the world's most comfortable reading chair and ottoman, however it also ranks with the world's ugliest. Aside from the upholstery, it's in great shape, however my financial situation sadly doesn't allow for reupholstery right now. It's a big T-cushion chair...I've searched high and low for a cute slipcover (for both pieces), but I just can't find anything other than boring solids. Any ideas on where to find something a little more fun?
Sent by Sarah
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i'd look into having one made for you...you can choose your own fabric, and you'll be happier with the fit. i just did this for a couch my husband refused to part with, and am so happy! the total for us clocked in at about $400, way cheaper than reupholstering, and i'm sure you could get it done for considerably less since an armchair is quite a bit smaller! good luck!
If you can be patient, I would just start socking away money to have a professional slip cover made. I just had one made for my favorite upholstered rocker and it was just shy of $300 for the labor. I found up to a $200 disparity in pricing so shop around and check them out if you can. Take some rough measurements of your chair - height and width and call around to find out what the pros are charging for a slip. They should be able to tell you based on your measurements how much fabric you'll need (and what repeat if it's a print). What you can do right now is buy the fabric. Nearly every fabric store in my market has a major sale on fabrics in early spring so you can get some amazing deals.
look at silk trading company for their sales and have a slip cover made or compare to having it upholstered. If you get a great fabric for 10-12.00 per yard which it cheap it might be close to the same as having a slip cover vs re upholstered when you are getting a deal on the fabric itself.
http://www.silktrading.com/stcFabricSale.aspx?catid=13
At the risk of sounding really strange, I'd suggest calling prisons in your area. You may be able to get your chair reupholstered for a very reasonable price. Prisons all over the country teach upholstery as a trade, and they're always in need of pieces to learn with. You supply the fabric, etc.
Can't hurt to try, right?
While you save up the money for proper reupholstering... could you just buy a fun printed sheet set from someplace like Target? Admittedly, this is a temporary fix, but if you find something in a heavier weight like flannel, and pay attention to making it look tailored, you could pull it off.
If the chair is something like the one above, you can drape the flat sheet from a queen sized set over it. Do some artful folding at the back--maybe with some of that double-stick fabric tape to keep it in place--and tuck the sides in under the arms, then staple the sheet to the bottom of the chair and cut off the excess. The fitted sheet could be used for the matching ottoman. Admittedly, this will be a lot easier to do with the help of a friend... and if it's a higher back to the chair, you might want to measure from the front of the seat over the back of the chair and down to the bottom of the chair to make sure a queen would give you enough fabric.
What a great shape your chair has! Start a money jar for your re-do fund. While you are waiting for your jar to fill, do what my artsy brother-in-law did to his turn-of-the-century find---he painted right over the fabric! I believe he spray painted it and then went back with a brush and another color to add wavy stripes. It was still very soft after the fact and was quite stunning. He eventually had it redone when he could afford it but I liked it bettter painted. Go wild!
Buy a plain, solid slipcover and personalize it with applique, fabric paint, embroidery, ribbon, dye… lots of possibilities since most stock slipcovers are made from simple cotton duck.
In my opinion, it's easier to reupholster a chair than to sew a slipcover. I teach this day in and day out. I'll be happy to help you if you contact me and send my a photo.
flipt@att.net (soon to change to Mod Home Ec) :)
"me" not "my"
Oh that is a great chair Sarah, I bought a great slipper chair at an estate sale and I'm going to take a crack at trying to reupholster it and I too was looking for some great fabric and I found Tonic Living which offers fabric for reupholstering and curtains as well as regular cotton, they have really reasonable prices and I bought mine there.
http://www.tonicliving.com/index.asp
I spent a good amount on the fabric and wondering should I prep the fabric before reupholstering it? like washing it or scotch guard?
$400 sounds great for a couch, I asked here in Seattle for a slipcover on a couch and is $1,000 minimum, I guess got expensive quotes or expensive upholsterers. Does anyone know a good one here in Seattle? Thanks