How to Sew a DIY Papasan Chair Cover

This sewing tutorial will show you how to make your own papasan chair cover!

With garage sale season in full swing, right now is the perfect time to be on the lookout for some amazing Trash to Treasure Projects.

I love making cool stuff out of trash, or taking things that are looking a little worn and dated and giving them new life.

That is, if your husband will “let” you attend garage sales.

Mine is apparently highly encouraging a hiatus from garage sales this season… something to do with “doing something with all the junk we already have stored in the garage”…

Not sure what that is all about.

Luckily I do have some DIY projects “stored” and just itchin’ for a makeover.

Like today’s project: my DIY Papasan Chair Cover gave new life to an old papasan chair.

how to make your own DIY Papasan cover full easy tutorial.

I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make, and it’s now the star of our gorgeous deck overlooking the lake.

All you need, aside from an old papasan chair (with a cushion in reasonable condition), is a couple of yards of your favourite fabric, scissors, a felt pen, a sewing machine, and a good old fashioned needle and thread.

DIY Sewing Tutorial

This papasan chair was given to us last summer by some friends of ours who were trying to clean up their basement. It had originally been handed down to them from some friends, and it had been loved for many years. The cushion had been replaced and was in pretty decent shape, but I wanted to use the chair outdoors for the summer months so I chose to recover the cushion in this beautiful OUTDOOR fabric. I picked it up at my local Fabricland – but it is a Richloom Solarium fabric, perfect for the Westcoast elements.

An old red papasan cushion on a chair on the porch.

Measure your cushion and figure out how much fabric you will need to cut and cover both sides of it. My original cushion measures around 54″ across, maybe slightly less, so I bought about 4 meters of fabric to start with – but discovered that I really only needed about 3 max to sew this. Even less, perhaps. I had enough left over to make that cute little pouf you see in the finished images- more about that to come soon.

The red cushion on the floor for sizing.

Lay down your cushion, and trace all the way around it – about 2 inches out from the edge – with a pen that you can see well enough that you can later cut along the line.

In pen marking the area on the new fabric for the papasan cushion.

Once it has been traced onto the fabric, you can move the cushion and cut along the line.

Cutting the new fabric on the traced outlines.

You end up with a large circular shape (more like an oval, not perfect, but it worked out fine in the end once it was all stuffed full of cushion).

The new blue and white fabric cut out on the floor in a circle.

I used that cut out shape to trace the second half – depending on the pattern of your fabric, you may wish to flip this “template” piece over and trace with it facing in the same direction as the pattern on the second piece.

Tracing the new fabric circle to cut out a second fabric circle.

Again, trace the shape and then cut along the traced lined.

Cutting out a second circle from the fabric.

Once both your circles are cut, pin them “right” sides together (so that the two pretty sides of the fabric are facing in and the plain backs are facing out).

Pinning the two circles together.

Then you are going to sew along the circular shape – with a hem about 1/2-1″ inside the edge – I chose to use a more secure stitch then usual because this is almost like and upholstery cushion. I felt it needed to have some additional strength to the stitch.

Choosing the stitch settings on the sewing machine.

Sew sew sew….

Sewing the two pieces of fabric together.

You can see here about the size of the space I left open. Once you have stitched up about 3/4 of your “circle”, flip it inside out and then stuff it with your papapsan cushion.

Stuffing the red old cushion inside the new fabric.

Now is time to finish it off with some hand stitching. Thread up that needle and stitch the cushion closed- folding down the edges so as to create a neat finished edge as you stitch it together. Knot if off… and there you are!

Scissors, white thread, and a sewing needle on the table.

Done!

What do you think?

I love the stunning transformation!

It became such a cute, funky, eclectic addition to our deck. My boys and the hubs LOVE it for it’s comfort factor.

The newly covered papasan chair on the balcony.

The white and blue papasan fabric covered chair with a white owl table beside it on the porch outside.

I’m pretty thrilled with this transformation. I almost didn’t think this big ol’beauty of a chair had a spot in our home, after being given it, but it turns out we found the perfect place. And all it took was a couple of meters of outdoor fabric and about an hour of cutting and sewing time. I couldn’t believe how easy this DIY sewing project was!

An ottoman pouf in the same fabric as the papasan chair on the balcony.

Do you have an old Papasan chair to recover?

This is awesome! Pin it to remember it!

How to recover a papasan chair cover - makeover your old papasan chair cover easily graphic.

A Little More Inspiration

Some of my blogging friends have joined me today for a Trash to Treasure Challenge.

Check out their amazing projects!!

Trash to Treasure poster.

Faux Mercury Glass Vases  from The DIY Mommy

DIY Marshmallows Roasting Sticks from Fynes Designs

Papasan Chair Cover Turorial from The Happy Housie

Cobalt Blue Glass Vase Birdbath from Time with Thea 

Reclaimed Wood Towel Bar from Joy In Our Home

How To Make a Fairy Garden from Life Is A Party

Reclaimed Headboard from New House New Home New Life

Any trash to treasure projects happening around your place these days? I’d love to hear about them!

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14 Comments

  1. I want to make covers for my 54 inch papasan chair for Christmas, using Christmas fabric. This is a really stupid question, but I don’t sew…….When I order the fabric and I order 4 yards, what width is the fabric? I mean if the width is 44 inches, it certainly won’t fit a 54 inch project. So, I’d need fabric that was at least a 56 inch width?

    1. Hi Paula,
      It depends on the type of fabric, but generally cotton fabrics are 44″ and upholstery fabric is 54″ wide. When you look at the fabric online, it should list the width for you. Good luck with your project!
      Krista

  2. Do you have a tutorial for the matching pouf cover? Now that I see yours, I feel mine needs one too! Thank you for sharing!

  3. This is AWESOME!! My problem….I am not sewing machine savvy. I am pretty good with a needle and thread, tho. By needle and thread, this looks like a very daunting/intimidating project I desperately want to make removable/washable canvas covers for my papsan cushions. Our greyhounds LOVE them as dog beds but well, they’re dogs. They get pretty nasty from mud….drool…..snart…. If they had a removable cover, it would make them a lot more durable and, making the cover removable+washable would be a dream! Anyway…I can’t a locate a papasan cover to buy anywhere online and I would love to make this myself – but I couldn’t figure out a sewing machine to save my life.

    1. I think I have seen ones you can order through places like Wayfair or Amazon. You can also order a whole new cushion through Pier1, I believe and maybe those other retailers I mentioned. Or find a local seamstress to make one – it’s quite an easy project so it wouldn’t take long!

  4. Your tutorial was bang on and so easy to follow. I thought it would be a bigger job than what it actually was. Good job on yours. Love the use of the extra fabric.

  5. I think I would switch out that finishing stitch with a zipper so you can take it off and wash it once it a while

  6. I love the update you gave the papasan chair. Your tutorial made it look so doable and easy. It definitely was well worth the time and effort to create the new look. It definitely is a treasure now! The fabric is gorgeous also!

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