The Painted Chandelier

A Creative Companion Home/Design blog to Interiors by Melanie Robinson

How to Make a Sofa Table Slipcover

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How to Make a Sofa Table Slipcover

 
Hey, Friends! How’s your week going? We are having Round 2 of the frozen tundra-like weather in the ATL! Craziest Winter in many years. Global freaking warming, anyone?! We don’t have a clue about snow, ice, or any of that, but we do love to get out of school, make fires, take snow pics, and drink coffee. Yes, we do warm, sweltering humid heat much better, but say what you will, one thing’s for sure: I could never, ever, ever live up North. Never. My hubby flew to Ft. Lauderdale Monday, despite me grabbing both his legs,threatening him kindly asking him to cancel his flight, but he didn’t, and luckily made it home in the nick of time. Now we have snow + sleet, and so far we have power. Let’s pray we don’t lose it!!
 
From time to time, I like to post tutorials for those of you that want to use beautiful fabric and trim, but don’t have any “formal” sewing lessons, like me! I do want to take a sewing class, but so far I’ve been able to figure out what I need to make what I want- give or take a few things. The Internet is an amazing resource, isn’t it?! Today, I’m going to share an easy sofa table slipcover tutorial. A few years ago, I bought some dropcloth and draped it over my sofa table in my foyer. And left it. And it kinda fit the table perfectly just loosely draped. I lived with that for a while, until I started looking at table covers on Pinterest, and I thought with some basic hemming and stapling, I can make a pretty decent table slipcover properly. I mean, improperly!
 
Here’s the previous dropcloth slipcover that I basically patterned the new one after:
 
 
 
 
Stairway before repainting
 
 
 
 
It looked ok, but I wanted something more finished looking. I basically left this for over a year because it was neutral and went with everything, but I still had not figured out what fabric I wanted in the foyer. I always go back and forth with this foyer area: do I want my wall to be patterned here or the fabric? The pivotal moment was when I recently repainted the balusters and railing in my stairway. (Sad truth: Sometimes that’s the thing that triggers me to act on something~ changing one thing which leads to another thing, which leads to another thing,etc.) 
 
So let’s make a table slipcover!! Items you will need for this project are:
 
  • fabric and trim ( if desired )
  • good sewing scissors
  • hem iron on tape 
  • iron
  • staple gun/staples
  • decorative upholstery tacks ( optional )
  • sewing machine ( if using trim )

 

 
 
 
I love linen, and I found both natural linen and black linen blend fabrics at Hobby Lobby, along with some coordinating Greek key trim. I decided to go with the natural linen blend fabric with the black/natural trim.
 
My sofa table measurements were 50 W x 31.5 H x 20 D. This table cloth/slipcover is 7 pieces of fabric: 1 large main piece of fabric measuring 51 inches wide by 80 inches long, 2 side pieces measuring 32.5 inches H by 21 inches D, and 4 corner pieces measuring 9 inches by 32.5.  These are all pre-hem dimensions; I allow about a 1 inch allowance for the Stitch Witchery hem tape I use. ( Note: The only piece I did not allow a seam allowance for is the 9 inch wide corner piece- it will be hidden underneath, and the edges do not need finishing.) This is going to make alot more sense with pictures! I bought 4 yards of fabric which was 54 inches wide for my table. I had some left over, but not much. Plan your pieces before cutting. You know what they say…. measure twice, cut once.Yep, made that mistake a few times……
 
 
It may seem strange, but I hem one side of the length of the main large piece of fabric to start, as well as the width of both sides. Follow the directions on the hem tape, I use Stitch Witchery because it gives clean hem lines and is a no-brainer. ( no, I’m not being compensated by them…although I do love this product!) 
 
 
 
By draping the fabric across the top of the table to the back, it gives you the correct front length for the table. The back of my table will never be seen, but I did want it to be finished and neat looking.
 
Yes, alot of excess. No worries, you will use this fabric for the other pieces! Carefully cut off the excess, allowing a few inches. One inch will be your hem tape, and the other is just to be conservative.You can always trim more off, but there’s nothing worse than cutting too short!
 
 
Tip: If you don’t know this trick, it’s a good one! I learned it by eavesdropping at the fabric counter. (Right…like you’ve never done that!) To insure you cut a straight line when using natural fiber fabrics like linen and burlap, lay your fabric our smoothly, then find a string in the fabric. Gently pull the string until it gathers the fabric, then gather the length of the fabric to the end where you are going to finish cutting. It creates a line in the fabric for you to follow, and you just cut along this line. Who knew?!
 
Now for the side pieces. Same thing as with the big piece of fabric. Hem the width and the length, and then hold up to the table to see where you will need to position it.
 
Too long? No problem. You’re just going to pull up the fabric until it is the same length as the front main piece of fabric. You’re going to be stapling this after turning under the top.
 
 
 
The cutting and hemming is the hardest part of this project. Not that it was hard at all, but it’s probably harder to write a tutorial for…ha!! 🙂 The corner piece is first. Hold it up, and curve it around the table edge. Use a staple gun to attach to the table.
 
 
 
Next, hold up the side pieces and staple them, tucking under the extra fabric if needed ( or your hemmed piece if it’s the perfect length )
 
Here is the configuration. Corner pieces first, then sides, then the large main piece of fabric draped over the top to cover the corner and side pieces. If you wish to add trim, do this before attaching. I simply pinned the Greek key trim to the sides and bottom of the main large piece of fabric, then stitched all the way around.
 
 
After attaching the main piece of fabric to the table, you can add decorative nailhead or upholstery tacks to the corners to hold it in place. It also adds a nice finished touch.
 
 
And there ya have it. Pretty much a no-sew project except for adding the Greek key trim! Not too shabby, huh? Can you see the MANY possibilities here?
 
 
 
FotoFlexor app for PC….fun!!
 
I like the new table slipcover so much better with the newly painted stairway. I think it adds a much more finished touch to the foyer space. I’m still looking to add some pattern to this area, but for now, I added a new rug from Home Decorators in soft aqua with olive green and persimmon accents to update the space. Love it! I also have been collecting darker floor samples, to replace these floors, which is something I want to do after we finish our basement. The list is never-ending, isn’t it? 🙂
 
I hope this tutorial made sense to you! If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me, and I’ll try to clarify! I hope this has inspired you to try and make a table cover for an area in your home. These are really helpful for hiding storage areas under tables and even bookshelves. I remember seeing a picture of a bedside table that actually was a dog crate with a slipcover very similar. Lots of cute ideas! Go and create! You can do this ( and you don’t even have to have taken a sewing class….I am proof! lol )
 
Have a great rest of the week! We will be snowed and iced in probably through Friday or Saturday. Then this crazy weather is supposed to be back in the 60’s! CrA-cRa!!!!!
 
xxooxx Happy Valentine’s Day!!
 Melanie+Signature+Styles
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Comments

    • Thanks, Kelli! I never thought I would staple a nice piece of furniture either, but wood putty will fill the small holes in if I ever want to use it without the table slipcover! Where there’s a will, there’s a way!! LOL 🙂

      Reply

  6. I’m such a fan of Greek Key trim, it’s the perfect detail for your slipcover, it turned out amazing!! That trim at Hobby Lobby is such a deal, I used it on a pillows awhile back. Thanks for stopping by Best of the Nest!

    Reply

  7. Melanie, I am a newbie sewer and am so excited to read this tutorial. Hem tape is my very favorite thing ever! I love how the Greek key trim kicks this table cover up a notch and gives it such a finished and polished look. Thanks so much for sharing how you made it on Best Of The Nest! So glad to find your blog and read more!

    Reply

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