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A few years ago, I rescued a set of dining chairs from Urban Ore, one of our favorite places to find treasures. (Also a popular haunt for the MythBusters team.) If you’ve never been, it is thrifter paradise – a giant warehouse of stuff Goodwill and Salvation Army wouldn’t touch – everything from old windows, doors, and toilets, to furniture and ancient electronics.

Anyway, as is the standard ritual when I bring a thrifted chair into the house, I disassembled and recovered the seats. I’ve since had two kids who are learning to eat like civilized beings, but who have their share of cookie monster episodes where more food ends up on their surroundings than in their mouths, and as such, the fabric seat covers just aren’t holding up.

The solution? Recover these seats in new fabric and covered with vinyl.

Tools Required:
– screwdriver that fits the screwhead on the seatbottom (you’ll be happiest if you have a cordless electric driver)
– flathead screwdriver or tack puller to remove the staples holding the old material to the seat bottom
– pliers to remove staples
– power stapler and staples (I used 3/8 in)

Choosing the fabric:
I considered oil cloth, but wasn’t excited about the limited selection. There are a few cotton fabrics laminated to vinyl, but again, the selection is exciting, tho limited. So, I opted for upholstery weight fabric and clear vinyl. There are various vinyls on the market. The one I chose had a picture of a chair on the wrapping and had a stretchiness to it.

How much fabric do you need?
You can figure this out in one of two ways – the least error prone is to take the seat bottom off the chair, remove the old fabric, measure the old fabric and then multiply by the number of chairs. You can also measure the width and depth of the seat cushion and add 6-8 inches to each measurement to account for the depth of the padding and the fact that you need plenty of “hangover” fabric to securely fit the cover to your seatbottom. (My reasonably standard seat bottoms require 24in x 24in squares of fabric per seat, but I have another set that requires 30in x 24 in, so it is prudent to measure your own set.) Here’s a calculator for figuring out how much fabric you need.

Removing the seat bottom:
– Turn your chair over and unscrew the seat bottom (Note: you can click on any of the thumbnails below to get a full sized picture)

– With your flathead screwdriver or tack remover and pliers, remove the staples holding your old fabric to the seat bottom

– If you need to buy your fabric, you should measure and calculate the amount you need based on the old fabric you removed in the step above. If you’ve already purchased your fabric (and vinyl), you can get started making your pattern.

Cutting the new fabric and vinyl:
– Place the old fabric on your new fabric, cut around the old fabric. I usually allow plenty of excess for error, trimming the cover to fit after I’ve attached it to the seat bottom. I also don’t use one seat cover as the template for all of the new seat covers as I’ve learned that there is a little bit of variation across the seats, and it is always better to custom fit to the seat you are working on.

– Cut your vinyl to the same size as your new seat cover.

Covering the seat bottom:
– Attach the new fabric seat cover to your seat bottom using the power stapler. Lay your seat bottom padding centrally on the wrong side of your new fabric cover. You’ll be stapling the excess fabric to the wooden side of your seat bottom. It is important to get your fabric taut across the seat bottom and to keep the fabric clear of your screw holes (screws don’t travel through fabric well). I do this by choosing a starting side, securing the fabric to that side with one or two staples, then pulling the fabric taut on the opposite side and securing that side completely. I work in a cross – securing top and bottom then side to side. As I work, I cut the excess fabric clear of the screw holes. The fabric will inevitably stretch on the seat bottom, so you can’t possibly get it “too tight” in your securing. The tighter you can stretch it, the better. I fold my corners like “hospital corners” when making a bed.

– Attach the vinyl. Using the stapling pattern above – staple one securing staple at top and bottom sides, secure the bottom side, secure the top; flip the seat and follow the same process – affix your vinyl. Again, it is important to avoid your screw holes, so as you work, continue to trim the vinyl clear of the screw holes.

– Re-attach the seat bottom to the seat. I work in an X, securing the top left then the bottom right, ending with the top right and bottom left screws.

– Voila! A new seat bottom that can handle toddlers AND fraternity boys!