DIY Faux Fur Chair Covers and Cushions

Hello, it's Katie here! I've been working hard at sprucing up our dining room lately. I love having people over for big brunches and fun dinners, but our dining room had a few issues, and it was getting to the point where it wasn't a comfortable place to gather. Our old Formica table had started sagging pretty badly in the middle, and the edges of the top were peeling up. The legs on our metal chairs had lost their foot caps, which meant anytime someone would scoot in or out, the floor was getting all scraped up. When our friends come over, we usually end up sitting at the table and chatting or playing games, so it's an important space for us to make cozy.

The first thing I did was choose a simple, affordable chair. These Ikea chairs were pretty much exactly what I was looking for, within my budget, and I was able to have them shipped directly to my house. The kiddos weren't too excited about them because they were hard, wooden chairs instead of our cushy ones we had in the past. The first part of this DIY is a solution to exactly that!

Supplies:
-faux fur
-cotton fabric
-vinyl
-pillow inserts
-canvas trim

Let's make cushions for our chairs!

Step One: Choose a size for your cushions. I opted for pillow inserts instead of cutting foam to fit, because I wanted these to be extra padded. Lay your pillow out and decide how much vinyl you will need for each cushion. My pillows were 16", so I cut 18" squares for each.

Step Two: Once you have cut your fabric, it's time to sew it! Lay your two pieces of vinyl so the back sides are facing out, and stitch 3/4 of the way around. I gave my cushions a curved edge because I thought it looked a little softer than a very pointed edge. Once you have made it 3/4 of the way around, position two pieces of your canvas trim 2" or so from the corner. Use your machine to sew about 12" in toward the middle from both remaining open corners. Make sure to leave a decent-sized opening in the center of this last edge—that's where we will be stuffing the pillow!

Step Three: If you choose to make your edges curved like mine, now is the time to clip the edges in order to achieve a nice corner once the vinyl is flipped. After you've done each corner, flip your vinyl right side out and stuff the pillow inside. Go ahead and close the opening with a blind stitch, and you're all done!

Here's what mine turned out to look like:

Use the canvas strings to tie your cushion to the chair! I chose vinyl for my cushions because I knew they would be wipeable and easy to clean!

To make the dining room cozier, I wanted to add in a soft texture. You can never go wrong with pretty (faux) fur in my opinion, so I got to work on creating soft covers for our chairs.

Step One: First, measure your chair and decide how long your cover will need to be. Once you get your numbers (mine was 18" x 44"), carefully cut your fur. Try to stay as close to the fabric/under the fur as possible. If you just cut this like normal fabric, you will have fur that looks like it just went to the barber—all chopped. Cut your cotton fabric to the same size.

Step Two: Now it's time for pinning! Lay your fur out so the fluffy side is up. Place one piece of canvas trim at the top right corner and one piece at the top left corner. Place one more piece of trim 14" (more or less depending on the length of your fabric) down from the top on either side. Layer your cotton fabric on top of the fur and trim face down. Pin all the edges, leaving a gap in the bottom right corner.

Step Three: Stitch along the edges, remembering to leave that gap at the bottom corner. Once you've made it all the way around, flip your cover right side out. Stitch the gap closed and tie on to your chair!

We have kids, so these chair covers work perfectly for our family. I can just remove the seat cover when the wee ones are eating something a little messy and put them back on when they're done!

Our dining room is really starting to feel like a wonderful place to have friends and family over! It's such a happy, cozier space now!

Stay tuned for a DIY on this beautiful table! I sent Josh a terrible sketch of a table I had in my head, and he whipped up something even better than I could have imagined! Such a talented guy! xo. Katie

Credits // Author: Katie Shelton. Photography: Sarah Rhodes and Katie Shelton. Photos edited with Imogen from the Folk Collection and Celeste from the Fresh Collection. Rug from UnCommon Goods, "eat a rainbow" print/DIY, chandelier/thrifted.