I am excited to share this with you. This is a project – fixing a ripped up folding chair – that I had on my to do list for a long time and finally just made the time to do it.
My two oldest boys had a folding chair in their bedroom that had lost its back and its seat cushion. My husband wanted to throw it away, but the boys wanted to have a chair in their room. I wanted to fix it for them so it would be comfortable.
Not very pretty – functional but not pretty. Not that my boys are looking for “pretty” but you know what I mean.
I took some paper (it was around the roses my husband gave me ☺) and cut it to to the approximate size of the seat. Then I pushed down around the edges to get the outline of the seat so I could cut an exact pattern.
It worked…a perfect pattern piece.
I forgot to take a picture of the next step. Sorry. I took an old blanket that we didn’t use anymore (As an aside – I’m a bit of a blanket junkie so finding a blanket to use wasn’t hard.) Using the paper pattern I cut several layers to use for cushioning.
Then I cut a piece of fleece a bit larger (okay a lot larger) than the chair seat and started hot gluing it to the seat bottom. It was a bit tricky because I couldn’t turn the chair upside down so my glue gun was pointing up. I did the back then pulled the fleece tight to do the front. Doing the sides was a little hard because I had the screws to glue around. Since the fabric I used was fleece I didn’t have to worry about it raveling. I just pulled it as neatly as possible around the screws.
For the top I was going to make a paper pattern again and then decided that was too fiddly. Instead I folded my fabric over the back frame and pinned it in place. I sewed the sides following the pins. Then I trimmed the seams, turned it inside out and…
…voila! The boys have a nice looking chair for their room. The only downside is it can’t be folded anymore, but they said they can live with that. This probably only took me about forty minutes. Not bad considering all the interruptions I had.
I’m very happy that I can cross something else off my to do list.
Do you have something you’ve saved from the garbage with a simple fix?
Intentional Simplicity 
AWESOME – great job! What a quick fix!Can’t say I’m restoring much right now – but maybe in the near future lol 😉
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Thanks. It was fun AND simple – the perfect kind of project.
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That’s really cool Jennifer – love the camo! I have loads in my garage requiring repurposing when i have the time! Got to have something to look forward to on retirement 😉
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With five boys our home is inundated with camo. This is a super fast and easy fix.
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Very nice. I did that once to my glider & footstool cushions. But the fabric has gone really dirty in time so I had to get rid of it 😦 I haven’t done any fixing since. I know I will have to restore something in the very near future. It is just the reality of a home full of boys, things get broken a lot 🙂
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I hear you, Rowena. But then the alternative is a quiet, perfect home. I think I know which you would choose. 🙂
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That is a great chair makeover. I hate folding chairs–both the look and the lack comfortableness. Good job.Rachel recently posted Tell Your Story
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Thanks, Rachel. I was glad to spruce this chair up.
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I am definitely going to have to try this, Jennifer! We have a TON of fabric lying around the house and our chairs could use some sprucing up!
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This is certainly an easy and fast fix.
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I love these kinds of refurbishing projects that don’t cost a dime 🙂 Great job!
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Thanks. It felt very good to not send this to the garbage.
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What a quick and easy fix! Great job with the chair!
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