Making a Slip Cover

I have a chair that I absolutely love.  It's comfortable to sit in.  It's my favorite reading chair.  Pigg#1 loves to squeeze his little hips next to mine in it and read with me.  He loves to push it around the room and make it into boats and forts and was FREE!

But it was free because my college apartment was redecorating and getting new sofas.  It has seen wear.  The upholstery is old, thread bare, and not very beautiful in it's prime.  I've carried it around with me (with protests from Mr. Jiggs) for 3 years and 4 moves because I love how comfy it is.  It NEEDS a face lift!

I would LOVE to re-upholster the whole chair, but I don't have the funds.  (Mr. Jiggs is still in school so money is scarce.)  I would buy a slip cover but my goodness, those are out of my budget too!  I tried draping some blankets over it.  It looked okay until someone actually used it.  Then it looked wrinkled and lumpy.  That was before the little Piggs pulled the blankets off completely and revealed the terrible upholstery again.  I needed a more permanent solution without spending lots of money.  Compromise.

 

So I bought a chocolate brown shower curtain on clearance at Wal-mart for 5 dollars.  Then I opened it up at home and found out it was really a fitted sheet.  Queen size I think.  I pulled out the elastic, cut up the seams at two of the corners that create the pockets, and laid it out flat.

 

I measured how wide my cushion was and cut a rectangle as wide as I needed and as long of the length of the sheet.

Then I folded it in half hamburger style and sewed up the sides.  It made a big pocket that the cushion fits inside.

 I flattened the pocket at the seams so it makes a point, and sewed a straight line.  It creates a nice flat bottom for the cushion to sit in.

 Hemmed all the open edges to prevent fraying (on the pocket and on the rest of the sheet) and put the cushion inside the pocket.

 I draped the remaining sheet on the chair (without the cushion on), made the bottom edge of the sheet line up with the bottom of the chair, pushed the fabric to follow the shape of the chair, and pinned it at the corner with safety pins.  (see the batting at the bottom?  That's from the chair.  I told you it was in bad shape.)

 I had some long pieces from where I cut out the rectangle for the pocket and I tied a knot in the back.  And then pulled it over the bottom corners and safety pinned the top edge.

 Now it looks like this.  It will have to stay against the wall permanently to hide the back, but the front looks so much better.  It holds up sitting in it, looks basic, and matches my curtains.  Which are not pictured.  (I'm new at this!)  I'm happy!  Major improvement for very little cost.