Fancy Makeover: Jeans Cover for an Old Office Chair
by Gabi Ralea
4 Materials
This office chair was still functional, but its faux leather was so damaged that you could hardly say the difference between this object and a Jurassic Park dinosaur.
I almost threw it away, but I gave it another chance in the last minute, with this lovely DIY project.
This office chair has a new blue jeans cover now, and it looks fancy and new!
First, you have to disassemble the chair into pieces: the backrest, the seat and the arms.
Remember where each screw goes so you could properly put all them back at the end of the project. Mark them with numbers to keep them in order, so you won't miss their place when reassembling.
LATER EDIT: You could also take pictures during process, so you could easily put the pieces back in their places. Thank you, Lillian Tremblay, for the hint!
First, make the upholstery for the pads. Cut a piece of fabric big enough to wrap each pad and fix it on the inner side using the stapler. It takes one single leg to wrap both pads in jeans.
Be sure you leave the screw holes uncovered, by chopping small pieces of fabric on each side, as you see below.
Cut the legs from a pair of jeans, and cut off the thick seam on the inner side to turn each leg into a plain piece of fabric. Sew them together to have one big piece of fabric for the whole seat cover.
For making the cover, set the piece of fabric on the seat and leave enough fabric to wrap the sides plus another 5-in. Cut the corners round, as you see below.
If you want a softer seat, add a piece of multipurpose foam under the cover.
Fold the fabric on the inside and sew 1.5-in from the margin, as you see below. You will use this seam for the cord one step later, so you could tighten the cover on the seat.
Use another pair of jeans, and take the same steps for using the lower side of the legs and having two pieces of fabric, in the same size as the backrest.
Cut two smaller pieces of fabric for the sides, and cut them round at the upper corner, following the line of the chair.
You need a detachable zipper on the lower side of the backrest cover. Also, you might need to make one more fold close to the zipper, on each side, to keep the fabric tight on the sides, but loose in the middle, where is more pressure on the cover while sitting.
Each of the parts has holes for screws in them, and you need to be sure they are all accessible for screwing. Since some of these screw are covered in fabric at this stage of the making, you have to pierce the fabric to make room for them.
Gather all three pieces of the chair, and took the steps in reverse for assembling it.
Fix the screws and tighten them, and you'll get a brand new chair with the fanciest cover you can make from ucpycled jeans!
Visit my blog for more upcycling projects and DIY ideas on a budget!
Also, click the link below for more pics and tips about how to give your old office chair a fancy denim look!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
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3 of 68 comments
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I tried it. I think it turned out pretty nice. Thank you for inspiration spark.
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I love the combo! Great! :)
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Wow, thank you very much for the tutorial, we have that same chair and it looks just like the before picture. I’m definitely going to do this!
Frequently asked questions
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