Ingenious Insight By Karen

My daughter has a foam chair  that she sits in ALL the time.  The cover of it was ripping at the seams and stained pretty badly, so I decided to recover it.  I used some fabric that I got at an estate sale for .25, some waterproof lap pads/changing pads, and a table cloth that Will bought to make a curtain (he bought 2 and we ended up only needing one) – so I spent nothing (since last year when we bought the fabrics) on this project!

I couldn’t do this again the same way in 100 years – but this is kind of how I went about it -

First I measured all dimensions of the chair.  I drew diagrams and labeled them with the measurements.  Then I drew out how I was going to cut the fabric and figured out measurements for the pieces.  I cut the seat (flowered) in one piece and then cut the lap pad to fit (with 1/2 in of fabric on each side – to sew to the brown).  I sewed the lap pad in then started with the foot rest panels.  I worked my way around the chair and with a LOT of referring back to the chair and remeasuring etc, this is what happened!

To hold the cover on, I measured an extra 6 inches on the bottom then folded over about 3 inches and made a hem about 1 1/2 in from the edge.  Then I folded the hem right on the seam and made another hem about 1/4 in from the inside edge.  I threaded elastic thru the hem and tied it together with a few knots then sewed the hem closed and, Voila!  I couldn’t believe there were no major mishaps!  My daughter LOVES it – she said it was pretty!  I still have to finish the cushion, but I don’t know when that’ll be because I have to get out and buy a zipper first.