While cleaning out the garage recently, I noticed my husband had thrown our old folding chairs in the trash. The cushions were torn, and basically looked terrible, but I needed these chairs for large holiday dinners. Doesn’t everyone? These chairs were sturdy chairs from a card table set, so I figured they could somehow be salvaged. Since the cushions were attached with screws through the backs and bottoms, I decided to recover the cushions.
Things You Will Need:
Folding chair with attached cushions
Screwdriver
Soap and water
Fabric
Iron
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Craft glue
Paintbrush
Step 1
Remove the screws from the bottom of the chair seat and the back chair’s seat back. The cushions will easily slide off.
Step 2
Clean the chair frames with soap and water. I am embarrassed to admit there was mystery stuff stuck to the chairs that hadn’t gotten wiped off after the last dinner. I was also surprised at how much dust and dirt was trapped between the cushions and the chair. I didn’t repaint my frames, but if needed, I would have spray painted them while the cushions were off.
Step 3
Choose the fabric for recovering the cushions. Sturdy, non-stretchable fabric is best because you don’t want the fabric to stretch out of shape after the chairs have been used a couple of times. I used scraps of upholstery fabric I had left over from a previous project. Iron out the wrinkles.
Step 4
Place the fabric on your work surface with the wrong side facing up. Center the seat cushion on the fabric with the bottom side facing up. Fold the fabric over the edges of the cushion to determine how much fabric you will need. I tried to match the edges of the existing fabric on the cushions. Cut the fabric.
Step 5
Your cushion will have a board on the bottom. The boards on folding chairs are too thin for staples. You don’t want staple ends to poke through the top of the cushion. Even though the manufacturer of these chairs used staples, they were very shallow. I’m surprised they secured anything. Since the cushion fits into an indentation on the chairs frame, I decided hot glue would hold just as nicely. The pressure once the cushions are screwed back in place will prevent the fabric edges from working loose. Fold the edges of the fabric to the bottom of the cushion and glue in place. Miter fold and glue the corners. Trim away excess fabric around the holes of the screws. Note: The removed screws are not very long. You will want the glued fabric edges to be as flat as possible, with minimal bulk, especially around the corners.
Step 6
Replace the seat cushion in the chair frame and attach the screws.
Step 7
Cut the fabric for the seat back using the same technique as the seat cushion.
Step 8
The chair back cushions of my chairs had a slight curve which required a little extra preparation for the fabric. Place the cut fabric with the wrong side facing up. To help the fabric mold to the shape of the cushion, paint a layer of craft glue over the front of the cushion using a paintbrush. Center the fabric over the cushion front with the right side facing up. Smooth the fabric over the wet glue on the cushion. Flip the fabric and cushion over and attach with hot glue in the same way as the seat bottom.
Step 9
Replace the back cushion in the chair frame and attach the screws.
Using what you have, old blue jeans could also be used to recover folding chair cushions.
