How to Recover a Glider Chair

Recovering glider chair cushions gives new life to old furniture.

You will often see glider chairs in nurseries, but homeowners also use them in living rooms and dens. They function similarly to rocking chairs, but the motion is enhanced because of the glider mechanism. Glider chairs have wooden frames and are upholstered with custom-fitted cushions. If your glider chair needs a facelift, recover the cushions in a new fabric to bring new life to an existing piece of furniture. Recovering it yourself saves money and customizes the look to your room décor.

Things You'll Need

• Seam ripper
• Pins
• Fabric
• Scissors
• Tailor’s chalk
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Needle

Instructions

1. Insert the pointed side of a seam ripper between the fabric pieces on the glider chair’s existing cushions. Gently push the seam ripper into the seam so that the curved cutting edge severs the sewing thread. Do not cut into the fabric’s woven threads -- only cut the sewing thread. Continue down the seams of each cushion to remove the cushion covers and separate them into their individual components. Rip out any dart seams to flatten the pieces. Once you have the cushion cover pieces separated and flattened, they now become your pattern for the new covers. Mark the pattern pieces so you will remember which ones go together for each cushion.

2. Pin the pieces of the old cushion covers to your new fabric. If your new fabric has a nap or a printed pattern, place the pattern pieces to match the nap or print on adjacent cushion cover pieces. Cut out the new fabric pieces. Mark the darts on the new fabric with tailor’s chalk. Remove the pins.

3. Pin the darts closed on the new fabric pieces. Pin the pieces together, right sides facing, in the configuration of the old covers. The darts should line up.

4. Sew around the edge of the pieces using the same seam allowance as the old cushion covers. Sew around all the corners, but leave a hole in the back of the cover large enough to insert the cushion into it. Turn the cover right side out. Push out the corners from the inside.

5. Insert the cushion into the new cover. Match up the corners and adjust the cushion inside so that the cushion lays flat and there is no bunching of the cover or foam.

6. Fold the edges of the opening in the back of the cushion cover to the inside and pin the opening closed. Stitch the opening closed by hand. Use an invisible ladder stitch so the hand-stitching doesn’t show. For a ladder stitch, run your needle alternately through small segments of each folded edge of the fabric all the way across the opening. When you pull the thread up at the end, it will close the opening invisibly.

7. Stitch any tucks in the cushions by hand by inserting a needle from the back of the cushion and all the way through the foam through the front fabric. A tiny distance away from the exit point, reinsert the needle and draw it all the way through the back. Knot off the thread to finish your tuck.

8. Repeat Steps 2 through 7 for each cushion of your glider chair.

Tips & Warnings

• If your original glider chair cushions had buttons, remove the buttons before removing the old covers. Glue new fabric onto the buttons over the old fabric. Reattach the buttons after the new cushion cover is finished.

References

• YouTube; How to Make a Cushion Cover; Val Wotton

Resources

• Lil Blue Boo: Reupholstering a Nursery Rocker