Recovered Office Chair



The Verner chair from IKEA.



First of all, let me state for the record that no office chair was harmed in the making of this new cover.  The cover could be carefully removed, and the glorious black pleather would be revealed completely intact. Why cover it up in the first place.  Pleather, that's why. It was nice working with a brand new chair - I knew IKEA wouldn't let me down when it came to seeing all the pieces in their un-assembled state. Sure 'nough - here's what I had to start with: 

 I first worked with the seat bottom.  I simply took an old sheet that I was using for lining and marked around the seat with a pencil, making sure to leave room for stapling.

 I then cut out the lining and used it for a pattern to cut out the top and the batting. I sandwiched all three layers together, then laid it on the seat.  Using my finger, I felt where the original seams were, and then marked them with a pencil and machine quilted the three layers together. 

 It's easier to see the quilting from the bottom.

 Time for the seat back.  I followed the same procedure for the back - but since I would be sewing it together, I just left room for a seam, not staples.

 Here's what the quilting looked like when I was done.  I started in the center and worked my way out - so that I wouldn't end up with puckers. 

 For the sides and back I didn't use a layer of batting, just the main fabric and lining. I was afraid the batting would make it too bulky and difficult to work with. The side piece was just one long strip (actually I had to piece it - it was two pieces that made one long strip). I pinned it carefully - starting at the center/top of the seat back, then stitched it on.  It was looking pretty good at that point, but there is a curve in the back and I found that a dart was necessary. I just folded the fabric until it looked right, pinned it and then top-stitched the fold.  Easy peasy.
Next step was to pin and then sew the back piece on (right sides together), then turn the whole thing right side out.

 Now for the hard part.
If you've done everything right, it should be quite a snug fit sliding it down into place - mine was. I then pulled it as tight as I could and pinned the crap out of it before hand stitching it closed.

 Before stapling the bottom fabric to the seat base, I pulled the black liner fabric off of the staples (just the ones around the edge), then I was able to staple the fabric in place and cover up the raw edges for a neater look.

 The back and seat are joined with the arm rest - there were four screw holes - I simply took my super sharp pointed embroidery scissors and poked a hole in the middle of the screw hole.  Steve screwed the pieces together and we were done!

 I did end up with a little bit of extra fabric on the back - as you can see...

The front, complete with quilting.

 Ta-da! the finished project. You can see this chair in its natural habitat here.