To skirt or not to skirt – that is the question. Furniture styles wax and wane with the times, and although traditional styles in furniture never go out of fashion, skirts on furniture have taken a style hiatus with the re-emergence of the Midcentury Modern look. Many times, I’ve updated the style of chairs and sofas by removing the skirts, as the unskirted look on traditional furniture gives height and desirable sleekness.
In some cases, such as with swivel rockers, a skirt is necessary to cover an unsightly base mechanism. Modern swivel rockers now have bases that are hidden within the chair or meant to be shown off, but vintage (read: well built) chairs are very much worth reupholstering to give a fresh new look. Not all homes are meant to be minimalist, and most people still want comfort over trend in furniture. So, skirts will always be a good option for swivel chairs requiring a cover for the ubiquitous 5 legged brown rocker base.
I’m going to go through the steps of properly making a skirt. It’s not difficult once you know the basics. You will require a sewing machine, an upholstery stapler, liner fabric, and tissue welting to create a skirt for your project.
The first step is to measure the length of each side of your chair, and then the height from the floor to the top placement of the skirt. The front measurement will usually be different from the back measurement, so always measure all four sides.
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Where Does the Skirt Go?
The height of the skirt will be determined by a few things:
1. The wood base
The base of the chair must be even and the same height all the way around so that you have something to staple to. Often, you can add a rail to staple to if you want the skirt to be higher.
2. The style you’d like to achieve
The higher the skirt is, the more elegant the chair will look. Often, adding a couple inches to the height will dramatically update a chair.
3. The type of flooring & The chair mechanism
The space between the bottom of the skirt and the floor is important to consider, especially if the chair rocks. If the chair will be placed on a high-pile carpet, it will require a higher clearance so that it doesn’t drag. If the chair rocks, the skirt will need to be even higher so that the skirt doesn’t crumple at the back when tilted.
The Procedure for Creating a Skirt
Once you have your measurements, cut four skirt panels using the fabric from your chair project. Your panels must allow for 2” fabric folding on each side plus the seam allowance of 1/2”. So, a finished skirt measurement of 25” will be cut 30”. Mark each panel so you can identify it.
Next, cut the liner fabric. This liner will be sewn to the front panel, so fold the allowances and iron the folds into place on your fabric panels. Measure the space between the folds and add a total of 2” to this measurement (1” per side). This is the width you will cut your liner fabric.
The liner fabric is now sewn to the skirt panel on both sides. Once sewn, it will be evened out so both side fold are equal. They should match up with the ironed-in fold. Sew the bottom of the skirt panel and fold the fabric right side out. You should iron it flat again, and re-measure to make sure your finished measurement is true.
Piping is sewn to the top of the skirt panels to hold them together in their correct order: Front, side, back, side. You can join the piping now, or join it when attaching it to the frame.
The corners are filled with “patches”. These are 6” wide panels that fill in the gaps between the main skirt panels. The height of the patches will be determined by the height of your skirt, but the patches will be sewn onto the piping slightly higher than the main panels.
Cut the fabric for your patches and liner in the same measurements. Sew them together at the sides and bottom leaving the top open. Fold it right side out and iron flat. These can now be sewn onto the skirt to fill the gaps.
Now that we have our sewn skirt, we can shimmy it onto the base of the chair from the bottom. If you’ve measured properly, it will have a good, tight fit. Measure it so that it is even all the way around, and even to the floor all the way around. Staple it to the chair and secure it with cardboard strip. You may have to steam the skirt to get it to lie flat and perfect.
Don’t forget to watch the video tutorial to see the whole process!
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