A little Drop Cloth goes A Long Way...

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When we inherited these dining chairs that belonged to my hubby's family(and he used as a child), I really disliked the seat covers as the South Western motif does not go with my decor, and make the chairs look very outdated; but every time I thought about having them reupholstered, some other project got in the way.  So, this weekend, I decided to take the job into my own hands and give it a whirl.  I thought, if they don't come out right, then it's just an excuse to go shopping for a new dining table and chairs.  So, here is a little tutorial of how I recovered and transformed our dining chairs from outdated to something more our style!


Things you'll need:  Drop cloth (size of your choice), utility knife, pliers, goggles, scissors, measuring tape, utility staple gun, drill, Scotch guard spray

 

I picked up this 6ft by 9ft canvas drop cloth from Lowe's

 for only $10.00.  Not only was it affordable, but it was more than I needed to recover six dining chairs.  I even used the left over portion to create a some pillows and a table runner as well as some other fun little surprises.  

 What a bargain!!

 

  The first thing I had to do was to remove the seat.  

This dining set is very high quality, and the seats are very well secured.  My husband found the appropriate drill bit to unscrew the seat from the chair frame.

 Once the seat was removed, I began the tedious process of removing the staples that attached the initial seat cover to the foam underneath.  First, I used a utility knife to lift the staples, and then I used pliers to remove them completely.  The staples can jump out while being pulled, so don't forget to wear your goggles.

Once all of the staples were removed, I lifted the old cover, and was ready to size and cut the drop cloth to begin the recovering process.  

Rather than cut the drop cloth to size, I decided to staple the bottom edge of the seat first, because I wanted to make sure that I didn't shortchange myself by cutting the drop cloth too small.  This seamed to work perfectly.  Once the bottom edge of the seat was stapled, I went ahead and cut the drop cloth around the seat.  It's important to pull the drop cloth tightly when making your cuts so that you don't cut the fabric too short. 

(You'll need an extra pair of hands to help)

 I repeated the above step all around the seat until it was completely covered with the new drop cloth fabric.  Don't hold back on how many staples to use.  Be generous and staple all the way around the seat using plenty of staples to ensure that your new seat cover is tightly in place.

 Once my new seat cover was stapled in place, my hubby used the drill to secure it onto the chair frame.

 The final product.  I recovered six dining chairs 

in approximately two hours total.  

 What a difference!! And all from a $ 10.00 drop cloth !

   

I haven't yet done so, but I plan on scotch guarding the seat covers to make sure they remain stain free. 

Of course, I had to put the leftover drop cloth fabric to good use....

Out came my sewing machine, and some fun burlap jute webbing, and I was off to to create something fun!

so this is what the drop cloth remnants became...

Things you'll need: Burlap Jute webbing, drop cloth remnants,
 pillow inserts or stuffing scissors, sewing machine

I sewed four pillow covers for the four side dining chairs.  I wanted to incorporate the burlap jute webbing as an accent on the pillow covers to give it a French flour sack look, so I sewed the webbing onto one side of the cover before sewing the two sides together. 
 I sewed the three sides of the pillow covers inside out, and once the three sides were closed, I inverted the fabric right side out and sewed it closed.

The final product... A fun French inspired pillow for the four side dining chairs.

The table runner...

Whenever I sew a table runner, I always double the fabric so that it looks professionally sewn.  But after sewing the pillows for the dining chairs, all I had left was a limited amount of drop cloth to sew a one sided table runner. I sewed a seam on all four sides to close up and tidy up all of the edges. 

 I embellished it by sewing the remainder
 burlap jute webbing onto the middle and two ends of the runner.

and it all tied in beautifully.  I even had enough burlap jute webbing to make some coasters and utensil holders!

 I love these adorable and sturdy little coasters.  

I didn't even have to sew the edges. 

 and these cute utensil holders 

came out of the final remnants of the burlap jute.

And to think that all of this came from a $10.00 drop cloth!

 sharing at:

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/