Partial Slipcover To Repair An Upholstered Chair Seat Tear

Don't toss that torn chair. Make an easy slipcover for the seat to cover it up instead.

This sew or no sew repair can be done in minutes and bring your old furniture back to life.

So today I have a little story for you about a chair. It's a lovely little chair and it resides in my kitchen. It's relatively new and until about an hour ago, it had a big tear right in the seat. Oh boy.

Not good.

Especially since, like I said, it is pretty new.

You see, I've always loved the look of upholstered furniture in the kitchen. It gives the space such a warm and cozy feeling.

If possible, I would put a sofa in there, but I don't have the room.

My kitchen is large, but the space around the dining table is tight, so it took me a very long time to find a piece that was going to fit properly.

I was also looking for a very particular style. I didn't want a slipcovered chair and I needed something without arms to fit under the table and I wanted wooden legs.

And it had to be cheap!

It was big news when I came across this chair on Ebay. It was plain, but easily adorned with pillows or throws the right price and the right size.

It quickly became my favorite place to sit in the room and it looked fabulous.

So imagine my horror, when one morning a few months ago, I saw this giant tear.

Of course, no one knew how it happened.

Mmmhmmm.

Unfortunately, there was no real easy fix. The chair has an odd shape, no straight corners or pronounced arms. It was going to be a challenge to repair and I stewed about it for a long time.

I thought about a patch, but yuck.

Then I thought about a slipcover, but one that wouldn't cover up the lovely legs and tailored style.

Then tonight, I was struck with an idea to make a tiny slipcover, just for the seat portion.

I wasn't really sure how it was all going to pan out, but I grabbed my bag of sewing leftovers and scraps and went to work.

How To Cover A Torn Upholstery Seat

First, I tucked a piece of fabric into the back portion of the chair. I made sure that I left a good five to six inches of fabric for tucking, so it would stay anchored.

Next, I gathered the fabric at the corners, wrapped it like package and sewed it together.

I was on a roll and it was looking good, but the fabric need some kind of trim to finish it off.

I luckily had some pretty ivory rope leftover from a pillow project.

I pinned it onto the red fabric.

I hand stitched the trim onto the red fabric.

It would've been much easier to do this with the machine, but I was working on the fly and the project was evolving on the chair itself, so I did it by hand.

When the trim work was complete, I stitched the cover gently to the chair itself, at the side folds.

I didn't want to sew the entire piece to the chair.

The slipcover is going to move when people sit on it and shift around.

If I sewed it on everywhere, it could rip the chair. By leaving it loose, the cover should give and float.

I also like the idea that I can gently remove a few stitches, if I get bored with this look and want to replace this cover with another when the spirit moves me.

I have to say, overall, I'm really pleased with my quick little project, especially since it was free.

*Quick note: if you don't sew, do not despair, fusible tape or fabric glue can be used instead.

You can even use a glue gun to add the trim.

I was very upset with that tear, but honestly, I think I like the chair better this way. It has a little personality now and it looks really great in the space!

What do you think about my repair?

I'm curious if you have any other ideas for a quick fix...you know, in case I get tired of this look!

Hey~ guess what? A few years after this makeover, I needed another fix for my chair.

You can peek at it here!

I also had to repair my sofa. That was much easier.

Even easier?

I added fabric to my glass cabinets with an easy trick.