I did it! It was a little rough going in the end but I powered through and finished. What a conquest!
Do you remember my original couch?
It actually doesn’t look half bad in this picture…but believe me, the material was terribly worn and the dirt was just ground in. I might have revitalized it if I’d paid someone to come clean it professionally, but I was really tired of the red. It is very limited in my decorating.
So I decided to get a slipcover. But after looking around a lot on the internet, the most affordable one for me was still kind of expensive and not really what I wanted. And after I made my wing chair slipcover, I knew I could make one for my couch.
I wanted white canvas. I debated white for a VERY long time and still decided in the end that yes white will be a little more maintenance, but I can always bleach stains out of it and I really wanted white! And after having a white rug, I thought “Well a couch slipcover has to be easier to keep clean than a rug!”
The thing that finally sold me on the white slipcover was the idea from The Inspired Room of using quilts on top of your couch. This really opened up my eyes to the possibilities of “dressing up” your couch with quilts! Now I’m planning on making lots more quilts for my couch, especially for all my favorite holidays. I made this zig zag quilt for the standard every day one.
So I saved up some money and bought my fabric. I got 10 oz white cotton canvas from Fabric.com. I consulted their upholstering guide to figure out how many yards to buy. I knew that I was going to make individual cushion covers for both the seats and the back rests so I added some more yards. I bought 22 yards. And I got too much. I think I stil have like 3-5 or more yards left over. But that will be handy if something gets ruined and I can make matching throw pillows!
I started with all the cushion covers first. I knew it would be the most straightforward and would ease me into the project. I cut out very large pieces of fabric and pre-washed them (which was a pain but the fabric shrunk quite a bit in the wash!) I did not want to make a custom fit slipcover and then wash it and have it not fit at all…which it wouldn’t have. It was terribly wrinkled so I had to iron a lot of it which was very time consuming.
The first thing I did was tear the cushion backs off the back of the couch, since they were sewn on. I just got my seam ripper and went to town. This is how it looked:
Pretty scary right? I had to sew some white felt onto the back of the back cushions to keep all that stuffing in. I sewed it by hand so it took some time. Then I also hand sewed the brown thingy back onto the couch back.
(I haven’t sewn it yet in this picture.) After doing all that, I sewed the couch cushion covers.
To see the tutorial on how to make the piping click here
To see the tutorial on how to make the cushion covers click here
The next step after the cushions was to cover the rest of the couch.
First I cut huge pieces the length and approximate width of the couch and kind of rested it on the couch, putting a few pins in the top to keep the fabric from sliding down. Then I draped another large piece over the arm rest, although I didn’t pin that piece to the large couch piece. I did the arms separately first.
To make the arm fronts, I took two large long rectangle pieces and pushed a few pins in to hold the piece up as I traced the shape around with a fabric pen. After tracing, I cut them out (two layered pieces of fabric so I could get two identical arm fronts) with about a 1″ buffer outside the pen to allow for the seam allowance and piping. Then I sewed on the piping and made sure to sew the piping on opposite directions (you don’t want your arms to be facing the same direction.)
After I sewed the piping on, I turned them right side facing the couch and pinned them to the arm pieces…it really was pretty simple. Just make sure that you pin everything inside out.
After doing the arms, I pinned the arms to the main couch piece. To get a better idea of where exactly to sew, I traced a line with my fabric pen. This always helps me so much since my edges are always really jagged and uneven (until I trim them later.) I then sewed those together.
To do the back side, I used safety pins to hold up the large piece of fabric so I could cut it to the approximate size and then I repinned it (with regular pins) more accurately and sewed the back on. Actually really easy!
Starting to come along! Next post will be the bottom skirt part and the velcro on the back. And the finished result!!!
Click here to see Part 2 and the Slipcover Reveal!!
Hi! I'm Heidi and welcome to Honeybear Lane! Stay awhile and check out my craft, sewing, and home decor projects. And visit the Honeybear Lane Shop for puff quilts and other goodies! 
So great! I’m kicking myself over here for not drawing a line with a pen like you did. That makes so much more sense!!
hey, we have that same red couch in our basement – - – want to come recover mine?!?!
Oh my goodness, I’m so excited to see it finished!
I am jealous of your skilz u rock girl!
amazing!
I am so inspired!! I think I can make a slipcover for my chair and couch now. Thanks so much for all of the great ideas. Did you make your piping by sewing a piece of thread into a strip of your fabric? I saw that idea somewhere in “blogland” and it worked perfectly for a bottom hem on a dress I made for my daughter. You are so talented!
Sydney
I meant to say “by sewing a piece of yarn” rather than thread. Sorry about that!
Thanks! This link will show you how I made piping: http://www.honeybearlane.com/2011/05/how-to-make-piping.html I bought the natural piping from the fabric store…I’m not sure that yarn would be thick enough for me. But it could be very cute on other things!
That extra fabric will definitely come in handy. Having made natural duck slipcovers for a couple of chairs, between my two grown boys, hordes of their friends and two black dogs, the covers got to the point where even bleach didn’t help get rid of stains and dirt. Next time I make slipcovers I will make 2 sets of cushion covers because they get the most wear.
This is so informative. Thank you now I need to get off my butt and start looking for the fabric.
Thank you for the tutorial. Maybe I can do this after all?
For sure! It’s really not too hard, just time and labor intense.
I have reuhpolsered lots of furniture but just don’t have the nerve to make a slip cover. It is crazy. I did not know there was a pattern. Maybe it is just because my sofa and love seat have a ruffle around the bottom and attached pillows on each end. Makes me very afraid to start.
goodgolly that’s amazing! I mean you make a sort of intimidating project look totally do-able!
Just another idea…the wonderful Kimmy and Ash over at GEM did a supercool cushion for their white love seat. http://greeneyed.com/2011/06/diy-cushion-cover/ Perfect with the quilt to protect a white sofa.
Cheers!
How heavy were the 22 yds of fabric? I was wondering because I have to walk to the post office and back with my two boys. (I live overseas on a base).
Hi!
I am going to feature you on my Totally Inspired Tuesday segment this week! I just bought a couch for $35 since I just moved from AZ to New York and I’m on a tight budget! I have been dying for a white couch and I’m so excited/nervous to get to work on it!
Thanks for sharing and you did an AMAZING job!
Wow, this is gonna be a huge help! I have a forest green love seat that’s also really limiting my decor choices. It’ll be nice to have something more neutral!
Simply brilliant. I bought two slip cover books and none made it this easy.
Wow, thanks! What a great compliment.
I NEED you to guest post at LMM! NEED! did i mention you have the BEST taste?!
Thank you for an excellent tutorial! I love your site and am now following. Have a great week!
This is SOOOOO inspiring. I think I’m going to put my brave pants on and give it a try. Our couch wasn’t cheap, is very comfy but I hate the color!!!! Thanks you so much!
I love the way you just ripped out the cushions- way to go!! Fear has NO place in the worls up upholstery, hahaha.I so agree you just have to go for it!! The only way to learn! Now I am popping over for the reveal- I am verrrry curious !! Found you through Bromelaid by the way .
Bea
I don’t even own a sewing machine but will borrow one to do this amazing and inspiring . I just have one question, how many seperate pieces did you end up with? My concern is my couch has very big round arms and wondering how to make it look tapered from looking at the couch from a sideview.
I don’t have big round arms on my couch so I didn’t have to do that separate piece, but if you look at my wingchair slipcover I did cut a separate little piece to go under the arm so that it would be more tapered. Good luck!
I just wanted to thank you so very much. The last and only time I made a slipcover I was 8 months pregnant with my first daughter and had my mother standing right by my side, saying “It’s ok, just cut, it’s ok”…I would still be standing there not daring to cut. My daughter is now 26 1/2 and my mother has been gone for 10 years (still hurts).
Anyway, I had 20 yards of fabric that I got for another project that I decided against and a red couch that is very comfy but red! After searching online for tutorials for making slipcovers that were either vague or way too involved with making patterns and mock-ups with muslin, I stumbled upon your tutorial…jackpot!…clear, not fussy directions…gave me the “yeah, I can do that!” that I needed. I am not finished with it, but I just had to tell you how grateful I am you took the time to share this tutorial.
That’s great to hear Anna! Thanks for sharing this comment with me.
I was going to reupholster, but this will be much easier. I found a tiny couch on the curb next to our daycare. The cushions are in great shape, but the fabric has been shreaded! =)
good luck!
How did you like working with the 10 oz. weight? Someone suggested to me that it might be to heavy/stiff for me to use for my sofa when I get around to making mine.