Monday, June 28, 2010

How To Slipcover Henriksdal Parsons Dining Chairs

I finished!


The fabric is Duralee "Diamante". I love it!

Please excuse the rest of the room- there are lots more changes in the works...

Before I give you my how-to, if you need some sewing encouragement, read this. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here, just give some basic instructions. If you need more detailed slipcovering info, read this.

Okay, so I'm not a professional pattern drafter, but here's a sketch of what I did.

And here are close ups so you don't go blind!
A is the back piece, it's just a 17" by 25" rectangle.

B is the seat back. Pay more attention to the measurements than the picture here, it's sort of a trapezoid shape overall- the back side is an inch longer than the front.

C is the seat. Again- go by the measurements, the front side of this piece is 5.5" longer than the back.

D is the skirt. I found that cutting two pieces the entire length of the bolt (54") plus about another 8" piece was the right width to give generous pleats in the corners.

Sorry about the image quality! Email me if you need help deciphering any of that!

The trickiest part about this project was planning out the pattern (I found that kitchen trash bags work well as pattern paper!) but I've already done that part for you! Once I had the pieces cut, it just fit together like a puzzle!
BTW- this pattern is for an ikea "Henriksdal" dining chair, but you could adjust the measurements to fit any parsons style dining chair. Also, be careful because I believe Ikea changed the dimensions of this chair and I'm not sure which version of chair I have since I purchased mine on CL (I got 4 chairs plus two sets of generic slipcovers for $20!) Let me know if you need exact measurements of my chair to compare sizes.



Here's the how-to:
  1. Fold the notched corners of piece B on a diagonal, right sides facing to line up the edges and stitch together the notched corners on piece B
  2. In the same manner, stitch together the notched corners on piece C
  3. Place piece B centered on top of piece C, right sides facing
  4. Stitch piece B to piece C along the U shape at center top of piece C
  5. Lay piece A centered on top of piece B, right sides facing
  6. Stitch together along top edge
  7. Stitch piece A and B together down each side, and continue down the last 4.5" section of piece C.
Now you should have a skirtless slipcover!
  1. Pin the skirt along the bottom edge hiding the seams in the co
    rner pleats. I found it worked best to start pining at the right rear leg.
  2. Stitch the skirt along the bottom edge (you may add piping here- I added ivory store bought piping, one package per chair.)
  3. Hem the skirt- I found putting the chair on top of a table made it much easier to see where to mark the hem.
You're done!






Okay, on to the drapes!!

******UPDATE!!******
An anonymous commenter wrote in and was having some trouble piecing together C&B, so here is a closeup of the side/back of the chair...
Anonymous- I hope this helps! If you're still having trouble please email me directly at pammyfitz@gmail.com since the comment form doesn't allow me to respond directly to your comment.


Love,



50 comments:

  1. Great job on the chairs they look fantastic!

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  2. Love tha fabric - beautiful. Very jealous. Thanks for the instructions

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  3. Looks great! Where did you purchase the fabric?

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  4. The slipcovers are beautiful - love the fabric pattern!! you have a very lovely blog too : )

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  5. You did such a nice job on these! Your dining room is really coming along. Thanks for the tutorial, too.

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  6. Pam, once again I am awed by your sewing skills! Beautiful!

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  7. Good job!!! They look beautiful!!! I love your chandelier too :)) I have one just like it that I'm going to paint white.
    Looking through your blog I see that you are quite the seamstress!! I love to sew too :))
    Thank you so much for visiting my blog!! Come back soon and see what else I'm up to.. I have lots of projects in the works!!
    See you soon! Your newest follower ;))
    ~ Michella ~

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  8. beautiful fabric, great work.

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  9. oh my...absolutely gorgeous! i'll be featuring you!

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  10. I whole-heartedly agree that making the pattern is the most time consuming and, let's face it, can be a pain :p. The fabric is absolutely perfect and stunning for your room and table. (Can you tell I <3 it?!) I think the room looks great as it is. I can't wait to see what else you will doing. Thanks for linking to Fabric Fun Thursday.

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  11. I really like that fabric! Great job.

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  12. Gorgeous! The fabric is great and I love the way it works with the other chairs by your china cabinet.

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  13. Thank you for this! I just got myself some Henriksdal chairs for my dining room with the white long slipcovers, but I'm wanting a backup plan in case the kids and the white don't mix. Your blog is great. I'm now subscribed. :)

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  14. Lynn (Harphamfamily@comcast.net)July 25, 2010 at 2:52 PM

    Thank you for the inspiration! I just made four dining room slipcovers, with pleated skirts like you did on the couch, and I LOVE them! Wish I could send you a picture, but I'm not sure how to do that....

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  15. Can you use this pattern without making the skirt? Thanks for the tutorial!

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  16. Yes, but you'll want to add a little length (just add a few inches to the length of piece A and a few inches the front and sides of piece C) so that the seat will be completely covered. I believe the short covers that Ikea sells actually velcro to the bottom of the seat, so you could always add some velcro to the bottom hem.

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  17. Please tell me how you attach B and C together at the back of the chair. I sewed the u across the back, but when you turn B around the side of chair back, C & B are not connected. I hope this makes some sense. Do you have to clip the corner and sew C & B together, which will give you a seam of about 2 1/2"? A is then sewn from top of A to bottom of C. I think.

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  18. Dear anonymous- I just added an update to the end of this post which hopefully answer your question!

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  19. Okay, I'm sooo impressed! I'm just about to tackle dining room decorating!

    Newest follower!

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  20. how many yards of fabric should i buy per chair?

    Thanks for the info, this is amazing!

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  21. It's 2.5 yards per chair :)

    Thanks Pam :)

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  22. I am super excited that you did all the work for me. I have Ethan Allen Parsons chairs (free from my BIL's neighbor). I'm going to do a muslin mock up with your pattern and see how close your pattern is to what I need.

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  23. these are beautiful! so happy to find your blog....you've got great ideas!!

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  24. Wow! I just found your blog and you do great work! I'm so excited about the Henriksdal tutorial - I'm going to be re-making my slipcovers soon. Could you send me the measurements of your chair - I have the older version, so I'm hoping it will match yours!

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  25. Just what I needed! Did you cut the skirt into 3 separate pieces? How did you do the pleated corners like that? You've inspired me to try this, but I'm definitely a beginner when it comes to sewing...so hopefully they turn out okay. Thank you for posting this!!! And for doing all the hard work. Also, what are the measurements of your chairs? I'm wondering if mine are the same.

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  26. Hi Kristin,

    My chairs are 38 1/2" from the floor to the top of the chair, 16" across the top of the chair back, and 20" across the front of the chair seat- let me know if you need any other measurements!

    Yes, my skirt is in 3 pieces, 2 long pieces (I think the width of the bolt of fabric) and one short piece to make up the difference. I hid the seams in the corner pleats- the two seams on either side of the short piece are both hidden in the pleat by the back right leg of the chair and the other seam is hidden in the pleat by the front left leg of the chair. Hope this helps!

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  27. Thank you so much for all your help! :) I can't wait to make them. SO glad I found your blog.

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  28. Thanks for the step by step. I have some parson chairs that I want to make covers for and this will be a great help. I bookmarked it and became a follower. I am sure you have other great tips I need!

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  29. Thank you once again for your tutorial and for answering my questions. I have made one out of four and it turned out great. I decided to do knife pleats instead and I love it! Definitely couldn't have done it without your help!

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  30. This is great. I have been searching for a tutorial like this. Plan to take tomorrow off work and do some sewing. I am making mine out of painters drop cloth canvas. Certainly love your material! Mine will be a tad different but with your help it will be easy.

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  31. THANK YOU for this great inspiration! (Your covers are beautiful by the way) I did not know what to do after I realized that IKEA changed the size of their chairs (so obviously their slipcovers too!) I ended up not using your pattern, but this post is what gave me the idea and inspiration to make my own. You can check out what I made if you'd like =) http://livingandlearningathome.blogspot.com/2011/07/being-crafty-making-slipcover-for-my.html

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  32. So Happy to find your tutorial! Thank you! I am going to get started on my slipcovers right away -- I wanted to ask though, did you use a straight stitch or a zig-zag stitch to sew each panel together? And any tips about how to make the corner pleats? I was just going to 'wing it' :) Thanks again for such great info!

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  33. You said you purchased the chairs for 20.00 from CL...what is CL?
    Thanks

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  34. I LOVE THEM! They look absolutely fabulous. I am going to have to find some fabric to make my own version this week. Thanks so much for the detailed step by step with measurements and all. It is GREATLY appreciated. I can't wait to give it a try!
    -Lauren
    www.acommonerscastle.com

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  35. Ok, you have inspired me with you tutorial. Bought my fabric and pulling out my machine now! Keeping my fingers crossed but you pattern looks very doable!!! Thanks!

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  36. I am using your tutorial to make 2 slipcovers. One is for the old smaller Hendrikal like your chairs and later I'll do one for the newer larger size. I am having trouble seeing why piece C is cut at 13.5" at the back of the seat when the seat measures 16". Shouldn't it measure 17". It looks like you are using 1/2" seam allowances. I have cut out a paper pattern and placed it on the chair and it appears it will pull when I sew C to B.

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  37. I'm just getting started on my slipcovers and your tutorial is a lifesaver!!Thank so much.
    I absolutely LOVE your dining table! Could you please divulge the details of where/when you purchased it. It's exactly what I'm looking for!

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  38. do you mind if we pinterest this? i didnt see a pinterest button

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  39. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  40. If there was a step by step picture that would have helped ppl like me. anyway looks good.

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  41. Thanks so much for this. I have a newer (purchased last year) chair, so I will have to adjust the measurements, but you've given me the courage to try. Can't wait.

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  42. We are the supplier of Lycra chair covers for hotels and catering. Also we are Banquet Furniture importer. We have different varieties of Cocktail tables.

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  43. I really liked your Information. Keep up the good work. Pinch Pleat Drapes

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  44. nice waouh
    difficult for me i dont read very good english
    i going to try the french translation

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