Chairs and cushions

Thought I'd share how I recovered the director's chairs and made the cushions for the summerhouse.

The chairs...

I used the old covers to make a template for the new ones.

As you can see, the fabric was a little worn!

Very pleased with this fabric.  It needed to be quite robust and hard-wearing so don't choose anything too thin.  Remember the fabric will need to take your weight.

I sewed the back covers first.  The top and bottom edges were hemmed and the side edges were hemmed with a gap large enough to push the back upright struts of the chair into.

Finished back pieces.

The seat was similar - the back and front edges were hemmed but the side edges needed to be able to fit a small piece of dowling in.  This dowling then slots into two grooves on the chair and keeps the fabric seats firmly in place.  Of course other makes of director's chairs might be different.

I top stitched all the seams on the chairs for sturdiness.  It also looks  more attractive and professional.

The cushions...

I made two styles of cushion - this one which was rectangular, with a panel piece of the chair fabric and a Velcro fastening on the reverse.

The front - with the 3 sections of fabric.

Sewn together and top stitched.

The back was cut into 2 pieces straight down the middle. Then hemmed and Velcro attached for a nice neat and easy closure (below).

Both back and front were then sewn right sides together, and then turned right side out through the Velcro opening.

 The front of the finished cushion.

The second cushion was a 16" square with a pillowcase opening so I could add contrasting fabric and pretty ties.

The most complicated bit of this cushion is making sure your contrasting flap is sewn in the right way!

Cut a nice deep rectangle of fabric the same width as your main cushion piece.  Hem the one long end and then sew the other  end right sides together to the front of your cushion piece.  At this point you want to also slot it one lot of your ties.  These can be made from fabric, as I've done or you can use ribbon or anything you want really.

On the back piece of your cushion, hem the top edge and sew in the other two ties to the wrong side.  Make this a nice deep hem with some top stitching as it will form the opening of the cushion.

Put both right sides of your cushions together but make sure the contrasting flap is sewn the right way.  It has to encase both back and front pieces.  Sew along the each side and the bottom and turn the cushion back the right way.