BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using a vintage dress

vintage chair makeover, vintage dress, diy, chair makeover

BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

I think I’m going to have to change the name of this blog to The DIY Vintage Chair Makeover Blog. If you’ve been following along you know that this is the third vintage chair makeover I’ve done and the second time I’ve used a vintage dress to do so. There was this fab folding chair makeover and this really simple but sweet vintage sewing chair makeover.

Well I have another one for you. I found this danish chair with great lines at Goodwill for $10 and this dress with the most beautiful flower burst on the AS IS rack at my local vintage store for $15 (I tried for $10 but they wouldn’t go for it & I had to have it). I’ve been searching for the right fabric to cover this chair for at least 6 months. When I saw this dress it was love, no lust, as first sight. The vinyl was about $5. I decided it would match my current dining set and clean better than leather.

BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

What’ you’ll need (a guideline):

• 1/2 yard of vinyl (or enough for your chair)
• 1/2 – 1 yard worth of fabric of your choice that can hold up to furniture wear
• staple gun
• scissors
• tape for finishing (optional)
The great thing about dining chairs in this style is that they’re pretty simple to take apart – they’re usually just held together with a few screws. Here’s the how-to steps for this specific chair but keep in mind that each chair may vary.
For the base:

BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

Half way there! This was the really easy part.

BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

The back of the chair was much trickier because I had limited fabric and the shape of the chair was awkward. Ideally you would use one piece of fabric that’s big enough to wrap around both the front and the back of the chair. That would’ve made this about 95% easier. But because I was so set on using this awesome vintage dress fabric, I had to pull some serious staple gun vinyl McGyver’ing. I had to do the front then create a seam at top by folding the edge of the vinyl and pulling tight and stapling. This isn’t shown because I was getting pretty frustrated at this point and forgot to take pictures. It happens. But I swear if you just use one piece of fabric this would’ve taken about 15-20 minutes.

BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

I’m happy to say that eventually I figured it out and then all the frustration was forgotten and I stood back to admire this beauty.

BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

Now, how’s that for a makeover!?! If this chair was in high school it went from being a brown corduroy wearing book nerd into a hot, creative, boho babe.
BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

The chair is now living as an end accent with my dining set. Don’t they just work perfectly together?! You would never know that they didn’t come from the same set. She’s so sexy don’t you think? 
BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using vintage dress / The Sweet Escape

If you liked this, you can see more Before & After posts here.


7 responses to “BEFORE & AFTER: vintage chair makeover using a vintage dress”

  1. “One hot number” I love it (I’m a bit of a sucker for the perfect title). The chair does look great with you dinning room set, which is also amazing! Xo Caitlin

  2. I just posted this morning about a mid-century chair I bought at a yard sale with every intention of just turning around and selling. Until I brought it into my living room and now I don’t know if I can ever let go of it. Love your idea of the dress! Thanks for the inspiration!

    • I know! I bought this chair originally and thought I may just sell it because I didn’t think I had room. But once I found that dress I knew it had to be in my dining area! It’s hard to part ways sometimes..lol.