*** Photo tutorial to be posted soon**
Supplies:
A positive attitude
Fabric and matching thread - For the couch pictured and a smaller 2-cushion love seat I used 17.5 yards of brushed polyurethane. It had a kind of silky back and a suede-type top. I paid $4.99 per yard--a steal in my book.
Pins (lots of pins!), scissors, iron, ruler, straight edge, etc.
One of the first things you need to do is decide how (or if) you are going to make a pattern. You can use some muslin or other inexpensive fabric to make your pattern if you want. I used the old slipcover to give me the basic shape since it didn't fit very well to begin with and I wanted something that would fit better. I'm somewhat impatient and time-starved so I mainly sketched out the pieces and cut/eased as I went. If you use muslin, you have extra steps and you are basically cutting and sewing two slipcovers. As you can see, my couch is kind of curvy but it really wasn't much harder to make a slipcover for it than for a couch with square lines. My slipcover had 8 pieces for the body of the couch not including cushions--1 for the back, 1 for the backrest, 2 for the armrests (from the floor over the armrest to the part underneath the cushions, 2 for the armrest "facings" (the front parts of the armrests), 1 piece (cut out of a different, cheaper fabric) for underneath the cushions and 1 piece that runs the entire length of the couch and wraps around the sides about 3". Each cushion had 5 pieces, 1 for top, 1 for bottom, 2 for the back opening (explained below) and 1 long piece for sides and front of the cushion (explained below).
In my opinion, the most important part of making a slipcover is to place the fabric on your couch with the wrong side of the fabric facing out when you are pinning it in the beginning and when you are making your pattern pieces. That way you can pin your seams and get a (nearly) exact fit. During this project I probably put the fabric on/took it off 50 times both wrong sides out and right side out to make sure I was liking the way it fit. Most of my seams allowances were 5/8 but were often adjusted as I went.
I started out sewing the back piece to the backrest piece. I placed both pieces on the couch with the wrong sides facing out and pinned them together to get an exact fit. (You will have a "naked" armrest for a minute but that step is coming up. . .) I sewed that seam and clipped my curves. I then used two pieces to make each armrest. One piece for the front "facing" of the armrest and another going from the floor, around the armrest and down to the place under the cushions. Again pinning with the wrong side (of the fabric) facing out, I pinned the front of the armrest to the other piece of the armrest. Since I didn't measure with a ruler, I made sure to compare the armrests to each other so they would both fit the same.
I then put the back/backrest piece and the armrest piece on the couch with the wrong side (of the fabric) facing out and pinned the two pieces together where the armrest meets the backrest of the couch. This is probably the hardest part of the project since you have to ease the pieces together and you are trying to get a fit that is tight enough without being too tight. After you get your seam right (try it on your couch and see if you need to adjust--you might have to do this step a few times) clip the curves so the fabric will lie along the seams properly. Repeat for the other armrest/backrest seam.
Now you are going to put all pieces on the couch with the wrong side of the fabric facing out and pin the back to the armrest. This part can be a little tricky but you can sew, try it on, sew, try it on, etc., etc. (just like I did). I left one of the seams from the floor up to the armrest in the back open in order to get it on and off the couch. You can use snaps, buttons or a zipper to keep that seam together (I used buttons).
Next you cut a piece of fabric the same size as the area under the cushions. Here's where the "cheapish" part comes in, you can use any fabric for this part because no one will ever see that fabric. I used some inexpensive fabric I had lying around and it worked out great. I also wonder if it isn't better to keep the cushions from shifting since my fabric is kind of silky (for lack of a better word.) I pinned the backrest piece to the under-the-cushion piece and sewed that first then each of the sides. This part I did with the slipcover on the couch with the right side of the fabric facing out.
I then took the long front part of the fabric and pinned it to the under-the-cushion piece in between the arms and sewed it. After that I pressed my seam allowance under and pinned it to cover the raw edges of the armrest "facing" and around to the side about 3". As above, the pinning was done with the slipcover on the couch with the right side of the fabric facing out.
Any of your raw edges at this point can be hemmed with a narrow hem or however you like to finish your raw edges. At this point I celebrated with a Diet Coke since the hardest part was behind me (yay!). You can wait to celebrate until your cushions are done if you want to, but then again, you can do what I did and celebrate now AND later.
For the cushions, I measured the top/bottom and the front/sides. My cushions were 22.5" x 22.5" and the cushion "height" was 6". I added an inch to the top/bottom measurement making it 23.5" x 23.5". I cut 6 of these. For the front/sides I took the measurement 23.5 and multiplied that by three and added 2". Therefore, I cut 3 pieces that were 72.5" x 7". I really don't love to sew zippers and I didn't want to spend the extra money (even though it wouldn't have been a huge investment) on zippers for the cushions. Therefore, for the backs I overlapped two pieces so there's an opening to fit the cushion in that self-closes. (Plus, who puts their couch cushions on with the zipper facing out???) For the back part of the cushion I cut 6 pieces that were 23.5" x 4". I hemmed one long side of each piece. I then sewed one of the 23.5" x 4" pieces to the back part of each of the 23.5" x 23.5", right sides together. I then took the long 72.5" x 7" pieces and sewed them to the top/bottom pieces. You then attach another top/bottom to this piece and sew along the 72.5" pieces. You then sew along the front/side pieces and the backs making sure that your back pieces are the same on each side. Now you should have a cube with "slit" opening where you can put your cushion in. (I fold mine in half because it's a pretty tight fit.)
Now you put the slipcover on your couch, sit down and have that Diet Coke (Mt. Dew, Dr. Pepper, Coke, etc.--you get the picture) . . . Go ahead and have a cookie, too, you earned it!
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