Bar Stool Slipcover Tutorial – Week 5 of the One Room Challenge

It’s week five of the One Room Challenge and this week I refurbished our bar stools with new slipcovers and a fresh coat of paint on the legs. In this post, I share with you my bar stool slipcover tutorial and all the steps needed to refresh kitchen bar stools. I promise that this tutorial is EASY- the slipcover is made from only 3 pieces of fabric and all you really need is a pair of scissors and a sewing machine.

In case you missed my first four posts of the One Room Challenge (ORC), you can find them here:

A Modern Kitchen Update – Week 1 of the One Room Challenge

My New Favourite White Paint – Week 2 of the One Room Challenge

Step-By-Step Lined Roman Shades – Week 3 of the One Room Challenge

Modernizing Our Farmhouse Kitchen – Week 4 of the One Room Challenge

Here is the before photo of the bar stools. I made these slipcovers a few years ago, but they had started to wear thin and I wanted a more modern fabric for our modern kitchen update. The bar stools are the very affordable Henriksdal model from IKEA. Note that we have an older version of the Henriksdal stools with slightly different dimensions than the ones currently being sold.

A Note on Fabric Selection

The best fabric for bar stools is one that is stain resistant, wrinkle-resistant, washable, and durable. Often that will mean a synthetic or synthetic-blend fabric. Another option is a thick white cotton canvas that can be bleached. These materials should be able to withstand daily living in a busy kitchen for 2-5 years.

Tools And Supplies For The Bar Stool Slipcover Tutorial

• 2.5 yards fabric (for 2 chairs), 54″ wide (I used the Toulouse Fabric in Onyx by Tonic Living)
• Thread to coordinate with the fabric
• Craft paper (2′ wide roll) to make a paper pattern
• Pins
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Sewing machine

Instructions For The Bar Stool Slipcover Tutorial

Paper Pattern And Cutting

Note that the bar stool slipcover consists of three pieces of fabric- a front piece for the inside seat back and seat, a piece for the back and sides of the chair, and a bottom skirt piece

Front Piece

First, place a piece of craft paper on the inside seat back and seat and pin it neatly into place. Then, fold back the craft paper as shown so that the fold lines represent the sewing lines. Remove the craft paper from the chair and draw a cutting line 5/8″ outside the fold lines. Cut out the pattern along the pencil-drawn cutting lines.

Next, pin the pattern onto the right side of the fabric, making sure to place the pattern carefully. I placed my pattern so that the seat back and seat intersect along one of the black stripes on the fabric. Maybe you have a pretty pattern that you want centered on the seat back, so take care to place your pattern accordingly. Cut this first piece of fabric along the edge of the craft paper pattern.

Take the piece you just cut and place it on the chair with the right side facing down. Note- all three pieces will be pinned right sides together with the wrong side facing out. Pin this piece of fabric to the chair in a few places to ensure it doesn’t move while you attach the next two pieces of fabric.

Back Piece

For the back piece, cut a piece that is at least 6 inches longer than the desired finished length of the slipcover (measured at the back) and at least 3 inches wider than the chair back and sides. If you need to match stripes or a pattern, then you will need to add several additional inches to the length. Don’t worry about cutting perfectly right now, as you will trim off the excess in a subsequent step. Pin the back piece to the first piece you placed, matching stripes or pattern if there is one.

Skirt Piece

For the third piece, the skirt, cut a piece that is 6″ longer than the desired skirt length using the full width of the fabric. For example, I cut my fabric 12.5″ long for a 6.5″ finished skirt length. This allows for a 2.5″ double hem and the 5/8″ seam allowance at the top (plus a small amount to be trimmed off). If you are matching stripes or a pattern, you may want to cut your piece longer to allow for matching. Pin the skirt to the other two pieces.

Notice that all the stripes are oriented horizontally and that the stripes are lined up at the seams, except where the stripes run perpendicular.

Trimming And Sewing

Once all three pieces are pinned together (right sides together), trim off any material in excess of the 5/8″ seam allowance.

Notice how I have pinned all the way around the chair. The next step is to carefully remove the slipcover and sew along every seam (using a 5/8″ seam allowance) with the sewing machine. I find it easiest to sew the two little side seams of the skirt first and then sew one big loop around all the other seams.

Finishing Up

Once the sewing is complete, turn the slipcover right side out and place it on the chair. Make sure that it fits properly and that the seams line up. If there are any places that are too loose, then you can sew a tighter seam in that place.

If you have a serger, you can turn your piece right sides in again and serge all your seam edges. Alternatively, you can zigzag stitch in all your seam allowances. If you plan to wash the slipcovers often this extra step will make them more durable and the insides of the slipcover won’t fray.

The final step is to fold under a 2.5″ double hem and pin in place. Then, turn right sides in again and sew the hem in place, 2 1/4″ from the bottom edge.

Here is the completed slipcover!

The legs on our barstools needed a fresh coat of paint, so I removed the new slipcovers and used a couple coats of Fusion Mineral Paint in Casement.

Summary

I hope you enjoyed my bar stool slipcover tutorial. In just a couple of hours you can have new fitted slipcovers to refresh your existing barstools. They are so easy to make you could even make different sets for different times of the year. I like the idea of velvet slipcovers for the Christmas season.

To see week six progress: Adding Artwork To The Kitchen – Week 6 of the One Room Challenge