Glider Rocking Chair Makeover {Tutorial}

I set up sewing camp on my dining room table this week and it feels so good to be checking major items off my to-do list each day! Reese’s nursery is coming together and I’m thrilled to see the colors I chose work together rather than be too busy. A major accomplishment on Monday was recovering the cushions and ottoman for the glider rocking chair.

This chair is special to us. My brother and sister-in-law bought it for their first son’s nursery. It then was used for their next son and their daughter (and recovered for her). They passed it along to us for Jace’s nursery and I just took the covering from my niece’s nursery off to expose the original blue (we hadn’t taken the brown off the ottoman yet when this picture was taken).

My SIL took her kids’ pictures each month for their first year in the rocker, and I continued the tradition with Jace. It’s so fun to look back on how he grew throughout the year! I knew the chair would be a major player in Reese’s nursery, and used the same fabric to recover the chair as I did for the window covering (which I’ll be showing you soon!).

I used white piping to trim out the cushions and love the professional touch it gives!

I followed the original tufting on the seat back cushion and added a pop of turquoise with buttons.

Ribbon was used to attach the cushion to the chair. The project as a whole came together very quickly. I think more time was spent pinning than anything! I know there are several glider recovering tutorials out there, but I haven’t found one with piping yet, so I thought I’d do a full tutorial for you.

I started out by tracing the cushions onto freezer paper to create my pattern. Just the extra amount drawn on because of the width of the pen allowed for enough seam allowance.

I made notes for myself that the bottom edge would be left open so I could slip the cushions in. Then I cut out two of each from my fabric.

The cushions are two inches thick, so I cut four three inch wide strips of fabric. I just sewed the strips together to make long enough pieces to go around the three sides of each cushion.

I know it’s incredible when you make your own piping, but I like to take the easy route and buy mine pre-made from Joann’s.

I then pinned my strip around the top/bottom piece with the piping in between. You’ll want the non-piped edge to line up with the raw edges of your material. Be sure and use plenty of pins around the curves so that the fabric doesn’t pucker or gather. Then sew! You’ll want to check and see where to position your needle so your piping sits right against your seam.

I wanted my material to last well with all the rocking we’d be doing, so I used home décor fabric. And if you’ve worked with it before, you know that it frays like crazy. So I did an additional line of zig zag stitching around the edge so my seams won’t tear out with heavy use.

Then admire your beautiful piping.

Pin the other top/bottom piece to the strip of fabric with the piping, just like before. You can see the seam attaching the strip to the other side of the cushion cover just above where I’ve pinned in the picture above.

Slide the cushion in, clap your hands and do a little happy dance over how much you love the way it turned out!

Assembling the seat back cover is done the same way, only I attached some ribbon to the back piece before doing any sewing so they can be used to tie the cushion to the chair.

I can’t wait to rock my sweet baby in this chair and take her pictures each month!

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