How to Make Camelback Sofa Slipcovers

If you love hand crafted one-of-a-kind furniture but can not afford the high price tag of buying new, you may want to consider buying a used one from an antique store or thrift store and recovering it yourself. With the focus on retro style these days, an artisan style contemporary camelback sofa would look lovely in any home.

Things You'll Need

• Upholstery Fabric Thread Measuring Tape Scissors Sewing Machine Batting (optional) Staple Gun

Instructions

Making Your Slipcovers

1. Remove the old fabric from the sofa. You can use the fabric pieces as a pattern to create your new slip cover if you remove them carefully. If you want to plump up the fold foam, you can either totally replace the foam or wrap the foam with batting and staple it to the wood frame by turning the sofa over and securing it with staples to the back underneath side of the sofa.

2. Measure and cut fabric pieces for both the front, sides and back of the sofa. Remember when you are cutting the fabric for the back, follow the same curve of the sofa so that the cover will fit correctly after it is sewn. Electric scissors work best to cut upholstery fabric due to the thickness of the material.

3. Sew the pieces at the top and sides using a 5/8-inch seam, with right sides of the fabric together. Leave the bottom of the slipcover open so that it can be slipped over the back of the sofa.

4. Measure and cut fabric for the seat.

5. Attach all of the pieces to the sofa, one at a time, stapling them on the underneath side of the wood so that the staples will not be visible on the finished product. As you staple, pull the fabric taunt so that there are no wrinkles but not so tight that it will not give when pressure is applied.

Tips & Warnings

• If you wish, you can apply decorative fringe around the bottom front of the sofa for a more dramatic look.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Upholstery Classes on DVD