The easiest way to match pattern on chair seats

This is by far the easiest and most accurate way I’ve found to match pattern on chair seats and backs.  Plus it allows me to determine if I have enough fabric for all my chairs and eliminate wasted fabric.

For professional looking results the chair seats and backs should have the same pattern repeat in the same position on all chairs.The absolute easiest way is to make a pattern out of a semi-transparent or sheer fabric.  I used drapery lining, but you could use muslin, voile, cotton, or any fabric that you can see the print of your fabric through.  I lay the drapery lining on top of the chair seat and cut around the seat making sure to leave enough to go around the underside of the seat. Essentially making a pattern or “stencil” (I’ll refer to this as a “stencil” from here on, to eliminate pattern confusion).With my fabric all laid out on my cutting table(could be laid on the floor or on a bed) I place my “stencil” on the printed fabric in the position I want.  For this project my client wanted three harlequin shapes lined up in the center of the seat and the back.    So I place the “stencil” with the three harlequins in the center of the patterned fabric and trace all the harlequin shapes onto my “stencil”.

This way I can move my “stencil” around the printed fabric, lining up the hand drawn harlequins to the printed fabric and cut out my pieces which will later be stapled to my chair seats. This method ensures that every seat will have the exact same pattern in the exact same position. It also allows me to move the “stencil” around on the fabric before cutting anything to determine if I’ll have enough fabric for all my chairs.

This is a little hard to explain with all the talk of patterns and printed fabric.  Which pattern are you talking about anyway????

So I made a quick video that will probably clear things up a bit. Check it out….

Tell me what you think and let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Up next….a slipcover video with the chair you see in the background of this video.