I shared a couple of weeks ago that my parents gave us an old recliner that was much better than the Facebook Marketplace recliner we’d been using.  I was hesitant to replace it simply because I spent so much time making a slipcover for it, but it wasn’t the best recliner ever.  There was a reason it was listed for $50.  The recliner my parents gave us is very comfortable, but it’s also bulky.  The padded back and wider arms aren’t as graceful as one I would select new, but it was hard to turn down a comfortable free chair that’s been well cared for and still has a lot of life left.  I felt like a slipcover, and a blanket folded over the back would camouflage the padding that isn’t to my taste.  I could retain the comfort while making it work better with my aesthetic preferences.

So, my mom came over one Saturday, and we worked together on making the slipcover.  She does the ironing and straight sewing while I work on the pinning and tricky bits.  You can read about that HERE.

We worked on it for a few hours, and then I finished up the rest over the next week.  Because of the moving back as well as the shape of the arms (and the striped fabric I selected), it was the most challenging slipcover I’ve ever made.  A part of the process didn’t even involve a sewing machine, thread, or pins.  It was just me sitting on the floor staring at the chair, thinking about how I could solve the problems.

In the end, the slipcover is about 95% finished, and I’m still thinking about how to finish the tricky hidden parts.  Right now, they are just raw edges tucked into the chair.  They aren’t visible, so I’m calling it done until I get a bee in my bonnet to finish it.  The good part is, it looks done, so only I know I didn’t solve all of the problems posed by the shape and function of this chair!  Well, I guess I spoiled that by writing about it here.  Okay, so you and I know.

Given the challenging shape of this chair and the tricky fabric I optimistically picked, I am very happy with the result.  The chair itself is still a little dumpy and wide in the hips, but the slipcover gave it a fresh face and a bit of charm.

I love the fabric, although I doubted my choice several times as I ripped seams to make another attempt to line up the stripes.  In the end, the stripes are perfectly lined up, but even my mom, who is a stickler for things like that, deemed it passable.  I also wondered if it was going to look too busy on a large scale.  I like how it plays against the other patterns in the room, though, and is a nice change of pace from the solid off-white hemp sheets I use for slipcovers.

About halfway through the project, I wondered if I should’ve just reupholstered the chair instead of making a slipcover, but with the nailhead trip and padded back, that would’ve been opening a whole can of worms I wasn’t ready to deal with.

The wings were the most challenging part of the chair, since I wasn’t sure how to finish the underside.  If I sew the ends together, I wouldn’t be able to get the slipcover on.  Right now, the ends are unfinished and just tucked underneath.  I think I’ll eventually finish it with flaps that Velcro closed.

The good news is that all of the slipcover pieces move well when the back of the chair reclines, and everything is fitted nicely, so it required minimal fluffing and straightening after someone lounges in it.

The view directly from the front is the least flattering since I had to cut the seat cushion to be able to make a separate cover for it.  It doesn’t sit quite as tightly in the chair now.  I also couldn’t get the stripes to line up perfectly.  As luck would have it, this recliner is paired with an ottoman instead of a moving footrest, so the ottoman will hide that view of the chair most of the time, drawing the eye away from my imperfect sewing.

I made a slipcover for the ottoman last week, so I’ll share how that turned out next!