How to Sew a Custom Slipcover on a Budget

Sewing a custom Slipcover for a sofa can be easy and cheap if you know a few trade secrets. Many custom slipcovers are expensive, don’t fit properly, and are always moving. Creating a custom slipcover on a budget is great way to recover and old sofa minus all the drawbacks slipcovers are known for. Most slipcovers slide, bunch, wrinkle, and don’t hold their shape. Whether you sew or now, creating a custom slipcover is easy to do if you know a few trade secrets.

For those of you who don’t own a sewing machine, don’t sew, and have never worked with fabric before this short cut step is for you. Purchasing an existing slipcover that matches the general shape of the body of your couch is a quick and inexpensive way to deal with covering the main part of your sofa. The secret is to remove the seat cushions and pillows. When all cushions are removed put the slipcover on the body of your sofa. This may not seem like a big secret, but it is. The secret part comes in with the addition of upholstery screw. They look just like upholstery tacks, but they screw into your couch and hold fabric firmly in place where there is no wooden frame blow to put a tack into.

Start by taking your lose slip cover and start tucking and pinning to make it really fit the body of your sofa. Because you are not using the cushions, there will be extra fabric that you will need to bunch up under the cushions. Try to fold them down so the cushions can lay flat when replaced. To hold the slipcover in place make sure you put a row of upholstery screws along the seat of the couch where it meets the back. This will keep the back smooth and the parts hanging over the front of the sofa level with the ground. Don’t forget most of these screw will be hidden, so do as many as you like!

Move onto focusing on the arms. Use the upholstery screws to make it snug and fitted up under the arms. This looks great if you can use clear upholstery screws that disappear into your fabric. If your couch has rolled arms, the addition of upholstery screws can really hold the fabric of the slipcover firmly up under the arms and give a custom fitted look.

Now, for the final step with slipcovering the body of your sofa. Start working around to the back. Fold back and screw in any of the slipcover fabric leftover from the front. If you have an abundance of fabric make sure you tuck and fold evenly. This is especially important if the back of your sofa is visible.

Now for a little trade secret to slipcovering the cushions. Anyone who can sew or not sew can do this. You can use a sewing machine or not. The trick here is to either purchase the same fabric as the base slipcover covering the body of the sofa. If you can’t find it in the local fabric store try purchasing two slipcovers. You can use the second one to cut out the pieces to cover the pillows; this will ensure a definite match.

Most pillows and cushions are square and simple shapes. Lay them out over the fabric and cut out the same shape. Be sure to leave at least 2 inches of extra fabric around the border. Now, here is another secret to making a custom slipcover. Use a no sew product that allows you to make the cushion slip covers. A hot iron is all you need. No Sew together the top and sides of the cushion. Leave the back to bottom open to slide the cushion in. Once the cushion is in fold the rough edges of the open area of the fabric in and use No Sew to bind them together. The heat of the iron should not hurt your sofa. Continue slipcovering the rest of the sofa cushions. This is also a great method to create custom throw pillows that match your newly slip covered sofa! If you do sew, you could sew instead of using this fabric bonding tape. It really will be more permanent and allow you to wash your slipcover repeatedly. If you don’t own a sewing machine, many fabric stores do rent them. Replace the cushions and pillows and enjoy your newly custom slipcovered sofa!