Cheap Patio Furniture Covers

I have been looking for cheap patio furniture covers for the past few months. I live for the part of each year in Nicaragua. Nicaragua is a stunningly beautiful country with a punishing sun and a punishing wind. Even the most carefully varnished patio furniture built with the most durable tropical hardwoods can only last 8 - 12 months before it shows visible signs of age and wear. Given that I don't like to strip and re-finish my patio furniture under this same blistering sun, I have decided that I need to find some cheap patio furniture covers.

This task has proven to be more daunting than I would have thought. Although in hindsight thinking I could simply buy patio furniture covers in Nicaragua was a bit of a fools errand in the first place. (I recall spending a half day looking for a can opener during my first days in San Juan del Sur.) Most patio furniture here is hand made and is often the result of hiring a local carpenter and handing him a roughly sketched out design. As a result there is very little uniformity in patio furniture and most pieces are unique. After a few futile searches in the major department stores of Managua, it occurred to me that if my patio furniture was hand-made and custom designed then my patio furniture covers would also have to be hand made and custom designed. Thankfully, arranging to have things made here is a fairly simple and in expensive procedure. I reckon with a little planning and sketching I can have some cheap patio furniture covers within a month.

The first thing I need to do is measure my furniture to determine the appropriate size of my new patio furniture covers. I think I will design the chair covers with two side panels adjoined by a long strip covering the back, seat and front. The cover for the patio table will simply be a flat piece the size of the table plus 6 inches on each side. The edges will have an elastic insert allowing the patio table cover to simply slip onto the top of the table like a shower cap.

Once I have the furniture measured and the covers designed, I will attempt to make a pattern out of newspaper that I can pass along to our local seamstress. I will have to also shop of an appropriate material. I want the material to be as cheap as possible without being hideous. Much like my patio furniture was, my new patio furniture covers will be exposed to a punishing sun and can't be expected to last more than a year or two. Given the short shelf life it is important that I can create some cheap patio furniture covers. I expect that I can get a set of covers for approximately 25 dollars including material and labor.