How to Recover a Seat Cushion: a No-Sew DIY Tutorial
Have a chair you love but are tired of the old fabric? Thinking about recovering the seat but don’t know how to sew? Don’t fret! This post will show you the fastest, easiest, no-sew method for recovering your chair cushions.
Sewing is a skill that anyone can learn, but it is a skill that has to be learned. It takes experience, practice and time to complete projects, and I run low on all of these things.
Are you with me? Then let’s get a little creative.
This incredibly easy DIY for the chair in our bedroom only took about a half hour!
The chair (like most of the other furniture in our home) was a hand-me-down, and I absolutely love it. It’s comfortable, faces the window and supports many of my day-dreams and brainstorm sessions.
It was one of the last projects for our bedroom makeover (final reveal to come!). While I didn’t hate the yellow, it just didn’t match anything else in the room anymore.
So if you’re ready for a little chair update, let’s get into it!
What you’ll need:
- Fabric
- Scissors
- Iron
- Staple gun
- Chair with removeable cushion
1. Remove the Seat Cushion from the Chair
Most chairs with removeable cushions will simply lift out.
For this DIY to work best, your chair’s cushion should be removeable with a hard backing.
(If your cushion does not come out, you could flip the entire chair over and secure the fabric to the bottom of the chair, but I imagine this would be more challenging.)
With the cushion removed, we can get started.
2. Lay Out Your Fabric on the Cushion
Place your fabric over your cushion and determine the best placement for your pattern on the cushion.
You won’t have to worry about this if you have a solid fabric, but if you do have some kind of a pattern, this is the time to make sure it’s lined up properly.
For me, this meant to simply have the diamonds in a straight(ish) line in the front.
Then, holding the fabric and cushion together the way you like it, flip it over onto a flat surface so your fabric is face-down and the bottom of the cushion is facing up.
3. Cut Your Fabric to Size
Wrap the fabric around the cushion to the bottom so that you have several inches of extra fabric on all sides.
You will be securing this extra fabric to the bottom of the cushion in just a few steps, so make sure you have enough to wrap it all the way around and then work with it.
Take your scissors and cut the fabric to size (again, making sure you have enough slack on the bottom).
4. Iron Your Fabric
Now that you have your fabric cut to size, it’s time to iron it.
Do not skip this step!
It’s certainly tempting, but you will be left with big wrinkles that will make you crazy, AND if the fabric does settle on it’s own over time, it will be saggy due to that extra fabric.
I found this fabric at Joanne’s. I love the simple gray and white and the extra pattern it brings to the room. I got a great deal on it too!
5. Align the Fabric
Lay your now-ironed fabric back over your cushion and align it the way you like it, like you did earlier.
The front of the cushion or any straight lines are usually the most noticeable, so be sure to line it up nicely.
Once you secure it, it’s difficult to change (though not impossible). So take your time here.
6. Secure the Fabric to the Cushion
Here’s where your staple gun comes in.
Pull your fabric taut (making sure it’s still aligned properly).
Staple the center of the fabric at the front of the cushion to the hard backing by pressing firmly with your staple gun.
Then move a few inches to either side of your first staple, pull the fabric taut, make sure it’s still aligned, and add another stape.
Working in small sections like this will ensure your fabric doesn’t get bunched up.
You’re going to continue in this way, moving from the center to the outside, pulling the fabric taut, making sure it’s still aligned and adding staples as you go along.
Round Cushion
If you have a round cushion, staple four opposite points at the top, bottom, left and right of the cushion, and then join the points, tucking the fabric neatly as needed to ensure minimal creasing.
Square Cushion Corners
If you have a square cushion with corners, you want to tuck them in neatly. This will again avoid the fabric from bunching on the top of the cushion.
There are several ways to do this, but I found that the easiest way, and how to keep it as tight as possible, is to wrap it like a present.
Start at the bottom corner and wrap the excess under, pulling it taut, and staple.
Then grab the excess fabric from the top of the cushion and make a neat verticle fold, wrapping the excess around to the bottom of the cushion.
Pull it taught and staple, making sure there are no wrinkles at the top of the cushion.
And continue along until all of the fabric is secured with staples to the bottom of the cushion.
It may not look pretty, but that’s ok! You can certainly cut off any excess fabric at the bottom if you desire.
You’ll only really only see the top of the cushion.
7. Return the Cushion and Enjoy
Now place the cushion back in your chair, ensuring it is securely settled in it’s place and enjoy your handy work!
This super easy and quick DIY was the perfect fix this chair.
We love how it came out, how it now matches the room and is much more subtle than before.
And check out those corners!! 😁
Conclusion
This DIY, in total, took probably just a half hour of my time (including ironing) and only cost the few bucks I spent on fabric.
It is a simple change that will bring huge impact to your space.
So if you’re looking for an update but don’t feel like sewing, try this one out and let us know how it goes!
We love to hear from you.
