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Ikea slipcovers have become popular, but if your peice of furniture doesn’t come from ikea you may not be able to find a slipcover that fits. Also even if your furntiture did come from ikea it may have been discontinued or the slipcover may not be available in the color you want.

If you are a slipcover beginner start with a piece that have basic shapes. The chair below is ideal compared to a wing chair.

To start your slipcover you will want to identify the sides that need to be covered. This cover has 6 sides besides the main seat and back piece (as shown in the image below). Measure all of the sides and give yourself extra seam allowance on each side. Usually I leave an extra inch on all sides and two inches on a side that is going to be hemmed. Also on these chairs notice that the back of the chair is angled. This means that the two side pieces are not rectangles. When you measure and cut these pieces be sure the grain of the fabric is running vertically.

Remember that each seam you make adds extra bulk to the slipcover. Therefore when you decide how to plan your pieces look for ways to use a continuous length of fabric. For this chair one piece went up the back of the chair, over the top, down the seat back and over the seat. I ended it there instead of draping in down over the front of the chair because I wanted the sides to look uniform.

Slipcovers can be a beautiful way to enhance your home. Check out some of my projects for your own slipcover inspiration.

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Also the style of the slipcover can mimic the original style of the upholstered piece.

The image above shows the contruction of the slipcover. Each seam was sewn and then topstitched rather than adding welting or piping. The top stitch gives a more professional look to the covers but doesn’t add bulk to the seams like welting does.

If you are working on a slipcover I would love to hear your questions. Don’t be intimidated by slipcovers, these ones are only a straight stitch with serged edges.

There are some tools that I find essential for making slipcovers like the quilters 6×24 ruler, which helps with making sure the pieces are straight and square, also I love my electric rotary cutter because it saves my hand the work of cutting all the fabric.

More of my favorite slipcover tools are in my post 8 tools for DIY slipcovers.

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