After waiting 2 months for new fabric and after overcoming my fear of messing this project up, I finally started and finished upholstering my Ikea Paong chair pad. And it was way easier than I thought it would be. This chair is a popular chair from Ikea, and I see many people who either have the chair OR try to sell the chair because the colors can be a little too bright and bold. But I want to show you how to do this DIY Ikea chair upholster project without using a sewing machine. It took me a few hours, but between the cost and the outcome, it was so worth it.
The chair pad we had was this bright red. If you’ve seen some pictures from my house, you’ll know that bright and bold colors aren’t really my thing. I like neutral tones, I like natural tones, and I like calm tones. In the living room, I have a lot of browns and blues. So I wanted this chair to go from red to a natural blue color. I almost went with a beige color, but my husband quickly shot that idea down. He likes having a little more color in areas than I do. So I chose this blue/grey, sort of denim color. It’s soft on the eyes, yet it’s thick enough to be durable for a chair covering.
I took plenty of pictures so you have visual examples of how I went about upholstering this Ikea chair pad. And like I said, it’s so easy (and cheap)! I’ll start about by showing you the items you’ll need and then I’ll get into the step by step process I used. At the end, I’ll show you the before and after picture side by side so you see the transformation:) But for now, I’ll show you the chair before I upholstered it:
Items You’ll Need
+Your Ikea chair pad
+Fabric… I bought fabric specific for upholstery because it’s thicker and sturdier than your average fabric. I bought this fabric off myfabric.co.uk. The size of fabric is 8ft long and 4.5 ft wide. You’ll need this size of fabric for this specific DIY.
+Scissors
+Thread… it doesn’t have to be the same color as the fabric. But you do want it close in case some of the thread does end up showing a little.
+Needle and pins
Step #1
Turn the fabric with the outside facing down. Place the chair pad on top of the fabric, but closer to one side than the other. Leave enough room on one end to bring the fabric up and over the chair pad by a few inches.
(A) 
(B)
(C)
Step #2
Start sewing the fabric to the pad. There are 2 very important things to keep in mind in this step. First, remember to keep that fabric tension pretty tight (see (C) picture above). You don’t want a lot of excess room with the fabric over the pad because it will not look good. I just sewed a very basic and easy stitch. It doesn’t have to look pretty or completely straight as it’s going to be covered. But we want the fabric to be attached to the chair pad here.
(D)
(E)
Second, when you get to the little divot/dip in the center of the pad where it actually folds, make sure your fabric goes with it. If it’s too tight there, then it won’t fold nicely as it needs to when placed back on the chair.
(F) 
(G) 
(H)
Step #3
Once finished sewing that part of the fabric on the chair pad, flip the pad over with the fabric so that the chair pad is completely covered. There should be about 6 inches left of fabric once the chair pad is flipped (see I picture). Take that little section of fabric and fold it in on itself underneath the pad. What we’re creating is a seam that’s smooth and where you won’t see any thread. Once you have it looking like the (L) picture, pin it in place (see (M) picture). Remember to make room for the divot in the middle(ish) of the pad so it can fold easily when finished.
(I)
(J)
(K)
(L)
(M)
Step #4
In this step, you’ll need to use a slip stitch (also called a ladder stitch). Here’s a video that shows how to do it really well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbE5hXt27uU). It’s not a difficult stitch at all, and you’ll have it down in no time. This type of stitch allows you to close seams together without seeing the thread. That’s why I was saying it doesn’t matter a whole lot what color of thread you use because, if done right, the thread won’t show.
(N) 
(O)
(P)
Step #5
Once the entire seam along the side of the chair pad is finished, then it’s time to move onto the ends. Cut off the excess fabric on both ends, leaving about 6 inches of fabric overhanging from the edge of the pad ends.
(Q) 
(R)
Step #6
Fold one side of the fabric over the end, as if wrapping a present (see (S,T,U) picture). Remember to keep the tension pretty tight when pinning down the fabric on the chair pad so there’s not a lot of wiggle room between the chair pad and the fabric. Then you’re going to do a basic sewing stitch like earlier. This part of the fabric won’t be seen, so the stitches do not have to be perfect at all.
(S)
(T)
(U)
(V) 
(X)
Step #7
Now you’re going to fold the other side of the fabric in on itself again, just like you did on along the side of the chair pad. And you’ll be using the same slip/ladder stitch here. Make sure there’s a slight amount of tension, pin it in place, and start sewing. When you fold in the ends of the fabric, the corners on the left and right should come meet together as well (see (Z) picture to see the corners on the edges).
(Y)
(Z)
Step #8
Repeat step #7 for the other end of the chair pad.
_____________
And that’s it:) This is a really simple project to do, but the results are fantastic. It does take some time to do all the hand stitching. I think in total, it took me about 4 hours to upholster this chair. But when stitching by hand, it’s really not that long at all.
Are you ready for the before and after now?? (I am!)
BEFORE
AFTER
I am so so pleased with how this chair turned out. And I love that it didn’t cost me very much to do it. I hope that you’ll be able to upholster your similar Ikea chair just as easily and budget friendly as I was able to. As always, if you have any questions along the way, let me know in the comments below, or send me an email at boldlyrise@gmail.com.
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