How to Attach a Cloth Toilet Seat Top Cover

According to Julie I. Horan in her book, The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet, "Toilet-philes argue that civilization began not with the advent of written language but with the first toilet." Throughout the years, toilets have been colored, embossed and dressed up with covers made of carpet, vinyl and cloth. Attaching a cloth toilet seat top cover to the toilet seat involves variations on the attachment of elastic.

Things You'll Need

• Toilet Seat Top Cover
• ¼-inch wide elastic OR 1-inch wide elastic
• 2- safety pins
• Needle
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Seam ripper
• Tweezers
• Tape measure

Instructions

Elastic Casing Toilet Seat Top Cover

1. Examine the toilet seat top cover. Does it have a casing for elastic? Elastic weakens, losing elasticity and warranting replacement. Find the base of the cover (where the cover meets the seat hinges).

2. Use a seam ripper to remove the stitches at the casing ends.

3. Using tweezers, remove the old elastic by pulling it from the casing.

4. Measure the casing length. Divide the measurement in half. Cut a piece of ¼-inch wide elastic according to this measurement.

5. Connect a safety pin to one end of the elastic. Connect a safety pin to the other end of the elastic and to the fabric on the seat cover.

6. Take the safety pin attached to the elastic, and feed the pin through the casing and out through the other open end. Straight pin the elastic against the fabric.

7. Sew both ends of the elastic to the fabric with needle and thread. Remove safety pins and straight pins. Place on the toilet seat top.

Toilet Seat Top Cover Without Elastic Casing

1. Measure your toilet seat top width. Cut a piece of 1-inch wide elastic ½ of the width of the toilet seat top.

2. Turn the cover inside out. Pin one end of the 1-inch wide elastic to the center inside edge of the cover. Pin the other end of the elastic onto the other side of the cover so the elastic is straight across the opening.

3. Sew both ends of the elastic to the cover.

4. Turn inside out. Place on the toilet seat top, stretching the elastic over and under the seat top so the elastic is visible across the inside toilet seat top.

Toilet Seat Top Cover Without Elastic Casing But With Old Elastic

1. Measure around the old elastic inside the cover. Cut ¼-inch wide elastic according to half of the cover diameter measurement.

2. Using a seam ripper, remove the old elastic.

3. Form a casing by turning ½-inch of the edge of the cover to the wrong side of the fabric and sewing by hand or machine.

4. Continue attachment by following the above instructions for "Toilet Seat Top Cover With Elastic Casing."

Tips & Warnings

• Standard toilet seat top measurements - Round: 14-3/16x16-5/8-inches long. Elongated: 14-3/16x18- 5/8-inches long.

References

• The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet
• Standard Toilet Seat Measurements

Resources

• Photo of Toilet Seat Cover Set