Chair Covers

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I found a great deal on bright white blankets at Walmart ($9.88 each).  I couldn't pass these babies up so I grabbed a couple of them to see if they would work for chair covers.  I'm so glad I did - I'm thrilled with how they look!  (A little tip - if you're looking to buy fabric to cover chairs or reupholster something, don't just head off to the local fabric store.  Look in "odd" places for it...blankets, sheets, anything in the clearance isle can work wonders and at low cost!)  To jog your memory, here is how the chair looked before:

And here is a look at it after:

And here is a shot of the whole set together:

I particularly like the fabric choice - instead of bringing another color into my scheme, it adds interest with texture.  Here is a closer look:

Here's the blanket I found at Walmart that I just couldn't resist:

If you'd like to give this a try, here's how I did it:

1. Remove the staples from the current chair cover.
2. Lay the old fabric out on the new fabric.
3. Put in a few pins to secure the fabrics together.
4. Cut out the pattern.
5. Put the chair seat over the new fabric.
6. Fold the sides over to the back of the seat.
7. Start stapling.

If you're more of a visual learner (like me)  here are the pictures of each step:



And there you have it!  For a cost of just $9.88 (I already had the staples, and used the same paint I used for the dining room table) I was able to totally transform my dining room chairs.  So what's next you ask?  Well, I loved the fabric in these blankets so much (not to mention the cost!) I decided to pick up a few more and make curtains out of them...