How Do You Make Removable Dining Chair Covers?

Removable dining chair covers are made by taking a paper or calico pattern from the chair itself, cutting the pieces with a generous seam allowance, sewing them together in the order seat, back, skirt, then finishing with ties, elastic or a hidden zip so the cover pulls on and off easily. A simple slip on cover for a chair with a straight back can be made in an afternoon from four pattern pieces. Cotton drill, linen blend and washable canvas are the practical fabric choices.

Covers solve two problems at once. They protect the chair from daily wear and they let you change the look of a dining set seasonally without recovering anything permanently. In a home with children or pets, being able to put the covers through the washing machine is genuinely useful.

Deciding on the Style of Cover

There are three broad approaches and the right one depends on the chair.

A seat pad cover is the simplest. It covers only the seat, held with ties at the back legs or with elastic underneath. This suits wooden chairs where you want to protect the seat and add comfort while keeping the frame visible.

A back and seat cover slips over the whole chair back and continues down over the seat. It suits chairs with a straight rectangular back and gives a substantial change of appearance.

A full length cover extends to the floor with a skirt. This transforms a chair completely and is often used for occasions rather than daily use. It hides the legs entirely, which is helpful if the frames are mismatched, but it collects dust along the hem and is less practical day to day.

For most households, a back and seat cover finishing just below the seat is the useful middle ground. It protects the parts that get dirty and does not drag on the floor.

Choosing Fabric

The fabric needs to be washable, reasonably heavy and stable enough to hold its shape without being so stiff it cannot be eased over a chair back.

Cotton drill and cotton canvas are the workhorse choices. They wash well, press flat and have enough weight to hang properly.

Linen and linen blends look excellent and soften attractively with washing. Pure linen creases readily, so a blend with cotton is easier to live with.

Washable upholstery weight cotton gives the most substantial result but can be difficult to sew through at seams where several layers meet.

Avoid anything with significant stretch unless you are deliberately making a stretch cover, since stretch fabric needs different pattern proportions and a different needle.

Pre wash the fabric before cutting. Cotton shrinks on its first wash, and a cover that fitted perfectly before laundering and no longer fits afterwards is a frustrating outcome after a day of sewing. Wash at the temperature you intend to use for the finished covers.

Consider the chairs underneath. If you have modern wooden dining chairs UK sale with attractive frames, a seat only cover keeps the timber on show. If the chairs are plain or mismatched, a full cover is the better use of your effort.

Taking the Pattern

Accuracy here determines everything that follows.

Start with paper or old sheeting. Lay it against the chair back and trace the outline, marking the widest points and where the back meets the seat. Do the same for the seat, the front of the back and the sides.

For a straight backed chair you will typically need four main pieces: front of back, rear of back, seat top, and a side or skirt piece that wraps around.

Measure the chair back at three heights, because most chair backs taper. Use the widest measurement for the pattern and shape the sides in.

Measure the seat at the front edge, the back edge and the depth. Dining seats are often wider at the front than the back.

Add a seam allowance of one and a half centimetres to every edge, and add three to four centimetres at the bottom hem for turning.

Add ease. A cover that measures exactly the same as the chair will be impossible to get on. Add one to two centimetres of ease across the width of the back, more if the fabric is thick.

Cutting and Marking

Lay the fabric flat, single layer, with the grain running vertically down the chair. Grain direction affects how the cover hangs and how it wears.

Pin the paper pattern down and cut with sharp fabric scissors or a rotary cutter.

Mark the top of each piece and label them. Once you have eight or twelve similar looking rectangles on a table, it becomes very easy to sew the wrong two together.

Notch the centre point of each edge with a small snip into the seam allowance. Matching notch to notch when sewing keeps the pieces aligned and stops one side from creeping longer than the other.

Sewing the Cover

Sew the front and rear back pieces together along the top and the two sides, right sides facing. Leave the bottom open.

Turn it right side out and try it on the chair back before doing anything else. This is the check that saves the project. If it is tight, unpick and let the seams out. If it is loose, take them in. It is far easier to adjust now than after the seat is attached.

Attach the seat piece to the bottom edge of the back cover along the rear edge of the seat, right sides together.

Attach the side and front skirt pieces to the remaining three edges of the seat. Where the skirt meets at the front corners, either sew a straight seam for a fitted look or leave the corners open with an overlap for an easier fit.

Press every seam as you go. Pressing is what separates a homemade look from a made look, and it takes minutes.

Hem the bottom edge with a double turned hem so no raw edge is exposed.

Fastenings That Work

Ties are the simplest and most forgiving. Cut strips of the same fabric, fold and stitch into tubes, and attach them at the back corners where the skirt meets. Tied in a bow at the back legs they hold the cover snugly and are easy to remove.

Elastic threaded through a channel in the bottom hem pulls the cover under the seat and gives a smooth close fit. This works well on seat only covers.

Hook and loop tape sewn to overlapping back edges gives a fast fastening but can catch on fabric over time.

A hidden zip in the rear seam gives the neatest finish and is worth the extra work on covers you are proud of. Insert it before joining the final seam.

Corner ties at the back legs, used in combination with a partially elasticated hem, give the most reliable result on chairs that get moved a lot.

Making a Set Consistent

Chairs in a set are rarely identical to the millimetre. Make one cover, fit it, adjust the pattern, then cut the rest.

Number the covers and the chairs on the inside of the hem with a fabric pen if there are small variations. It sounds excessive but it saves a shuffle every time they come out of the wash.

Cut all pieces for all covers at once so they come from the same run of fabric. Colour can shift subtly along a bolt.

If using a patterned fabric, decide where the pattern will sit on the chair back and place every piece the same way.

Caring for Finished Covers

Wash covers on a cool to warm cycle and avoid high heat in the dryer, which shrinks cotton and sets creases into seams.

Putting covers back on while very slightly damp helps them ease over the chair and dry to shape, which reduces the need for ironing.

If a cover has a zip, fasten it before washing so the teeth do not catch other items.

Rotate covers between chairs occasionally so wear spreads evenly, particularly if one chair is used far more than the others.

When Covers Are Not the Right Answer

Covers work well on chairs with simple geometry. Chairs with arms, curved backs or open frame designs are difficult to cover neatly and the result often looks baggy regardless of how carefully it was sewn.

If the underlying chairs are structurally poor, a cover hides the appearance but not the wobble. Sound frames first, then decoration.

And if you are covering chairs mainly because you dislike them, it may be worth comparing the cost of fabric and a weekend of sewing against replacing the set. Our upholstered ranges and the wider modern dining chairs UK sale selection cover most styles and finishes, with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes. You can see the full collection at Furniture in Fashion.

Covers do have one clear advantage that no new chair matches: you can change them. A set of covers in two different fabrics gives a dining room two distinct looks for the cost of the fabric, which suits open plan spaces where the dining area sits alongside modern living room furniture UK sale pieces and needs to work with them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much fabric do I need per chair cover?

A back and seat cover typically needs between one and one and a half metres of standard width fabric per chair, depending on chair size and whether the fabric has a pattern to match.

Do I need a sewing machine?

A machine makes the job far quicker and produces stronger seams. Simple tie on seat pads can be hand sewn, but a full cover with multiple long seams is impractical by hand.

Should I pre wash the fabric?

Yes, always. Cotton and linen shrink on the first wash, and covers cut from unwashed fabric will not fit after their first laundry cycle.

How do I stop covers from slipping?

Ties at the back legs, elastic through the hem, or a combination of both. A cover that relies only on friction will shift every time someone sits down.

Can I make covers for chairs with arms?

It is possible but considerably harder, since each arm needs its own pattern pieces and the cover must be split to pass around them. Start with an armless chair if this is your first cover.