Grain Sack Chair Covers

As we are counting down the days until school starts I keep thinking of new projects that I want to get finished before next week.  I've been wanting to spruce up my very boring breakfast area.  I love all of the things that you see in blogland made of antique grain sacks.  I decided that I wanted to make some chair covers for my breakfast table chairs out of grain sacks.  I went onto Ebay to see if I could find some.  WHOA, those things are expensive.  I could buy new chairs for the price of a grain sack.  So I chose to make my own version.  You are going to love what I used:

I found both of these at my local Walmart.  And let me tell you, if you have never made anything out of a canvas dropcloth (I hadn't) you have no idea what you are missing.  You get a buttload (in case you don't know, that means alot!) of fabric for less than $10.00! 

I found out that a standard pillowcase fits perfectly over my chairs so that is what I used for my pattern.  I cut the front and back.  Another great thing about the dropcloth is that it is hemmed all the way around.  I used this as my hem for the inside of the covers.  I knew I wanted to add a ruffle to the back.  Once I had my pieces cut out, I went out to my new favorite site, The Graphics Fairy, and found four french designs.  I printed them out onto the transfer paper (don't forget to reverse your image) and ironed them onto the back pieces.

Next, I cut out an eight inch strip of fabric and folded it in half for my ruffle.  Because the fabric was so fabric I couldn't use gather them using a stitched thread.  I had to gather them by hand.  Never did that before, but it turn out great!

I sewed on the ruffle, then topstitched to make it look nice.  Last I pieced it together like a pillowcase and VOILA...

my version of a grain sack chair cover (I have no idea where that stripe of sunlight is coming from).

I used a different graphic on all four because I didn't want them so matchy, matchy.  Here is picture of all four.



I'm linking up to:

Savvy Southern Style

French Country Cottage

Just a Girl