Couch Slipcover Materials

Series Summary

When reupholstering a piece of furniture, it can extend the life of the piece for 20 to 30 years. A master upholster will strip a piece down to the bare frame, re-spring it, re-web it and refurbish it with all new filling. Every piece of stuffed furniture is made so that the fabric can be replaced when it wears out. Basic tools and sewing skills are needed to accomplish this task. However, none of these tasks are as satisfying as creating your very own decorative couch slipcover.

In this free video series Karen Weisman will show you all the steps necessary for creating your very own couch slipcover. Karen will begin by describing the tools you'll be using in order to cut, shape and sew your slipcover. She'll then show you some useful tips for measuring and cutting the fabric, so as to ensure a tight and snug fit. Later, Karen will show you how to attach your pieces together in order to create an interesting and decorative couch slipcover that will keep you enjoying your favorite couch for years to come.

Video Transcript

"Today I'll show you how to make a no-slipping slipcover for any couch or chair. This is a great design, because there's no constant tucking and fixing of the cover. I'll show you how to make a fitted cover for the base of the couch. It's completely fitted on the arms, and throughout the base of the couch. And then I'll show you how to make cushion covers, and the cushions hold the base cover in place, and there's no slipping. This cover was made using a regular home sewing machine, and it looks like it was reupholstered. These are the materials we'll be using for our no-slip slipcover for our couch today. You'll want to have plenty of pins. We're going to be using some cording for piping. Now if you're not if you're not interested in doing the piping, you won't need the cording. And there are several different kinds of cording that you can use, and I'll tell you about that when we do the piping. You may want to use zippers to close the cushions, or you can also use Velcro, so you'll have to decide if you want to use zippers or Velcro. You'll need a seam ripper in case there's any mistakes. You'll need a zipper foot if you're going to be doing piping. If you're not using the piping you won't need the zipper foot. You'll need a regular either a regular foot, or if your machine has a special foot for dealing with heavier fabrics, you'll want to make sure you use that. You'll want to use needles that are for heavy fabric, so check with the instructions on your machine, and see what's appropriate for that. I'm using a Jeans/Denim needle for my machine. You'll want to have plenty of bobbins loaded, because we'll be using a lot of thread, and you don't want to have to stop in between to reload bobbins. You'll need a tape measure, some good scissors for cutting heavy fabric, plenty of thread for your whole project, and a nice heavy material for the couch cover. You don't want to use anything light, like cottons or dress fabrics, because the couch, it just gets too much wear and it won't last. So, you can use canvases, you can use even outdoor fabrics, or there's a huge array of upholstery fabric that you can find. Okay, I think that's it, let's get started."