Making your own outdoor patio furniture covers is easier than you think. You need a a sewing machine, fabric and a little ingenuity. By making your own patio furniture covers you know exactly what you want and what you are getting. The Covers will be the color, style and quality you desire. If done wisely, making your own covers can save you a lot of money. I have seen patio set covers made out of a variety of different fabrics. Some people had recycled fabric they had around the house to save money There is no right fabric. The choice of fabric is up to the individual taste and only limited by individual imagination.
As you know from other posts in the blog, it is important that your patio furniture be protected from the elements. The amount of protection your furniture will need is dependent upon where you live and the type of furniture you own. Those people, like myself, that live in tropical areas will want to protection their furniture from the intense sun or salt spray every chance they get. The tropical sun will remove an entire layer of varnish in less than 6 months. Unless you don't mind spending your time sanding and re-varnishing you best acquire some covers for your patio furniture. On the other hand those people with plastic or resin patio furniture don't need to use as much protection. Good quality plastic patio furniture can last for years unprotected. Cheap patio furniture won't last as long even if it is meticulously protected.
The most important thing to keep in mind is proper measurement of your furniture. Nothing is more frustrating than have to tug and pull to get the patio furniture covers on. Or even worse to discover that the covers don't fir at all. You know the old saying: "measure twice and cut once". Well, that saying also applies to making these covers. The patio table cover will need to be made from a piece of material that is 8 inches longer and wider than the table top. I stitch over 3/4s of an inch and run a drawstring through the tunnel. It really couldn't be easier. In the alternative, you could run elastic through the tunnel. This design doesn't specifically protect the patio table legs but it is the simplest patio furniture cover design.
The covers can be made out of any material you have on hand. More expensive materials can include some UV protection and water proofing but this is not always necessary. Remember that when not in use these covers need to be stored in the shed or basement or in a closet. Try to use a material that folds down easily into a convenient size to store. I have seen covers made out of old sailboat sails. I've also seen covers made from burlap potato bags and plasticized sand bags. The covers can literally be made of anything. That said try to choose a material that doesn't absorb water like a sponge.
Designing covers for patio chairs can be slightly more challenging. These covers can either be fitted or bag style. Clearly the bag style covers are the easiest to sew. Simply measure the height, the width and the circumference of the chair. I stitch two ends of the material together to make a circle that is the same diameter as the circumference. Ensure that the height of the tube is lightly less than the height of the chair. This way the patio chair cover will not hang on the ground. I then cut a round top that can then easily be stitched to the top of the circle. Voila you now have a chair cover. The are more complicated designs using zippers.
Making a cover for a chaise lounge chair is slightly more complicated again. Making a chaise lounge cover will be the topic of another post.
I generally free hand my patterns and I've had great luck. However, if you want some more guidance then there are plenty of patterns to choose from at your local fabric store. Making your own patio furniture covers is fun and easy and inexpensive.
Showing posts with label cheap patio furniture covers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheap patio furniture covers. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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.
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.
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