How Do You Make Slipcovers for Bar Stools with Backs?

To make a slipcover for a bar stool with a back, treat the stool as three separate shapes: the seat, the front of the back panel and the rear of the back panel. Make a paper or calico template for each, add a 1.5cm seam allowance, then join them so the cover slides down over the backrest and sits over the seat, with ties or a hook and loop closure at the lower rear to pull it tight.

The reason slipcovers for stools with backs feel harder than plain seat covers is that the back has two faces and a top edge that must fit closely without gripping too tightly. Once you accept that it is a three panel job, the sewing itself is straightforward.

Look at the stool before you cut anything

Spend ten minutes studying the frame. Where does the back meet the seat? Is there a gap between them, or is the whole thing one continuous upholstered shell? Does the back taper towards the top, curve backwards, or lean?

A stool with a gap between the seat and the back is the easiest to cover, because you can pass fabric through the gap and finish the edges separately. A continuous shell needs a wraparound cover with a closure at the back.

Note whether the back has square corners or rounded ones. Rounded corners need notched seam allowances so the fabric lies flat. Square corners need boxed corners, which are easier to sew accurately but less forgiving if your measurements are slightly out.

Also check whether the seat swivels. If it does, the cover must not connect the seat to any part of the fixed frame, or the mechanism will bind.

Making templates with calico

Paper templates work for flat seats. For a shaped back, calico is far better because it drapes. Buy a couple of metres of inexpensive calico and use it as your pattern.

Pin a piece of calico over the front of the backrest, smoothing it outwards from the centre. Mark the outline of the panel with a pencil, following the edge of the frame. Repeat on the rear face and on the seat. Mark the centre line on every panel.

Where two panels meet, pin them together on the stool itself and mark the seam line. This is the step that produces a cover which actually fits, because you are shaping the pattern in three dimensions rather than guessing at it on a table.

Unpin the calico, lay the pieces flat, and add 1.5cm all round for seams plus 3cm at the lower edge for a hem. Label each piece and mark which way is up.

Choosing fabric for a back as well as a seat

A back panel is seen from both sides in most kitchens, so the fabric needs to look reasonable on the rear as well as the front. Avoid fabrics with an obvious wrong side unless you plan to line the rear panel.

Medium weight woven fabrics behave best. Cotton canvas, cotton linen blends and upholstery weight cottons all feed through a domestic machine and hold a pressed seam. Very heavy fabrics fight the corners on a shaped back, and thin fabrics show every ripple.

Stretch fabrics are an alternative worth considering. A jersey or a woven fabric with a small percentage of elastane will hug a curved back with fewer seams, though it needs a stretch needle and a narrow zigzag stitch so the seams can move.

Prewash everything. A cover that shrinks after its first wash cannot be rescued. If you would rather start with a frame that already suits your scheme, our modern fabric bar stools UK sale come upholstered in kitchen ready materials.

Sewing the cover

Work in a sensible order. Join the two back panels along the top edge first, then along each side, leaving the lower edges open. Press the seams.

Slide this back sleeve over the backrest and check the fit. It should be snug without straining. If it is tight, unpick one side seam and let it out. This is why the calico stage matters: adjustments now are quick.

Next attach the seat panel. If the stool has a gap between seat and back, sew the seat panel to the front back panel along the line where they meet, and finish the raw edge on the rear side with a bias binding. If the stool is a continuous shell, sew the seat to the front panel in a curve and notch the allowance so it sits flat.

Add a boxed side band around the seat if the pad is deep. A band gives a crisp edge and stops the cover riding up when someone sits down.

Finally, hem the lower edges and add your closure. Fabric ties at the two rear corners are simple and look intentional. Hook and loop tape gives a flatter finish. Elastic threaded through the hem underneath the seat pulls everything tight and is invisible.

Details that lift the finish

Piping around the top edge of the back and around the seat seam sharpens the whole cover. Make it from the same fabric for a quiet finish or a contrasting one for definition.

Press every seam as you sew rather than at the end. Pressing sets the stitches and removes the homemade look more effectively than any other single step.

Understitch the seam allowance at the top of the back so the seam rolls slightly to the rear rather than sitting proud on the front face.

Topstitch the hem with a slightly longer stitch length for a tidy line, and use a matching thread rather than a contrast unless the contrast is deliberate.

If the cover is intended to protect a leather seat rather than replace its appearance, keep the cover light and easily removed so the leather underneath can breathe. Wipeable frames such as our leather bar stools UK sale often need nothing more than a seasonal seat cover rather than a full slipcover.

Care and practical use

Wash covers on a cool cycle and refit them while slightly damp so they dry to the shape of the stool. Do not tumble dry cotton covers unless you have allowed for shrinkage in your seam allowances.

Make two sets if the stools are used daily by children. Having a spare in the cupboard means a spill is an inconvenience rather than a problem.

Check the closure after a few weeks of use. Ties loosen, elastic relaxes, and a small adjustment keeps the cover looking taut.

Making covers is also a chance to connect the seating with the rest of the room. Using the same fabric across the stools and a nearby occasional chair pulls an open plan space together. We stock a wide selection of coordinating pieces at Furniture in Fashion, including modern tub chairs UK and a broad bar stools furniture UK sale range if you decide to change the frames instead.

Fitting problems and how to solve them

A cover that rides up at the seat usually means the side band is too shallow. Adding two centimetres to the band depth and threading elastic underneath solves it.

A cover that wrinkles across the front of the back panel is generally too large rather than too small. Take a centimetre out of each side seam and press again.

A cover that will not slide over the backrest is a template problem, not a sewing problem. Rather than forcing it, unpick the top seam, ease the panel out by a centimetre on each side and resew. Stretching a tight cover onto a frame puts strain on the seams and they will fail at the corners first.

If the cover sits well but looks slightly limp, the fabric is too light for the shape. A layer of light iron on interlining on the back panels adds body without stiffness.

Making a set rather than one

Once you have a template that fits, making the second, third and fourth covers is much quicker. Cut all the panels for the whole set in one session so the grain and any pattern run consistently.

Check the stools individually first, though. Frames from the same set can vary by a few millimetres, and a cover made for one stool may be slightly snug on another. Number each cover and its matching stool if you find a difference.

Keep the calico template. Fabric fades, tastes change, and a stored pattern turns a future refresh into an afternoon rather than a project.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a pattern to make a slipcover for a stool with a back?
You need a template, and making one from calico on the stool itself gives a far better fit than working from flat measurements.

How much fabric does one stool cover take?
Allow one to one and a half metres of standard width fabric for a stool with a full back, more if you are pattern matching or adding piping.

Can I make a slipcover for a swivel stool?
Yes, provided the cover does not join the moving seat to the fixed frame. Keep the seat cover independent so the mechanism turns freely.

What closure works best?
Ties at the rear corners are the simplest and most adjustable. Hook and loop tape gives a flatter finish, and elastic under the seat is the most discreet.

Should I line the back panel?
Only if your fabric has an obvious wrong side or is thin enough to show the frame through it. A light cotton lining solves both problems.