Oh, the joy of settling into a lounge chair after a long day and simply relaxing. Whether that lounger is in your lounge or TV room or outdoors by the pool, a lounger is built for comfort. Sadly, the upholstery does tend to take a beating with all the use. Reupholstering your favorite lounge chair does become necessary, but how much fabric to order?
Learn how to measure an outdoor lounge chair right here and keep that lovely lounger looking great while you chill out next to the pool.
Measuring My Outdoor Lounge Chair
An outdoor lounger is essentially made with two separate cushioned areas: the seat and the back. Given the positioning of the lounger, these two cushions are often joined together. Measuring these cushions separately helps to get an accurate measurement for the yards of fabric required.
Four Measurements for an Outdoor Lounge Chair
The seat and back cushions each have two basic measurements: length and width.
1. Seat Cushion
Measure the distance from the front of the seat to the back of the seat area. This is the length of the seat cushion.
Next, measure the distance from the left edge of the seat to the right edge of the seat. This is the width of the seat cushion.
Finally, measure the width you would like the cushion to be. Measure the thickness of the mattress of padding. This will give you the thickness or boxed cushioning you desire.
Add an additional inch and a half to the length and width for seams. Use this measurement to cut the extra side panels for a thicker or boxed cushion. If you desire a piped edge, cut a section an inch wide and as long as the combined length and width times two plus an additional inch for the length of the piped edging.
So if your width is 27 inches and the length is 58 inches, then the combined length times two would be 170 inches. If the fabric yardage is lacking this length, then you can cut two strips of 85 inches (86 inches when adding one inch each for fabric joining or seaming).
2. Seat Back Cushion
Measuring the seatback of the lounge chair is exactly similar in method.
Firstly, measure the width from the right edge to the left edge of the seatback. This is your width. Next, measure the distance between the seat back top and the bottom edge of the seatback. This is your length. Add a total of one inch per length and width for seams.
Determine the thickness of the cushions and cut an additional section for the boxed side panels of the back cushion. Add an inch to the length and width measurements for seams. Adding a small folded pleat on each corner will also allow more give in the cushions when you are lazing in the lounge chair.
Repeat the same method for piping, only using the length and width of the seat back cushion for piping if you desire this.
3. Joining the Seat Back and Seat Cushion
There are two ways to approach joining the seat back and seat cushions. The method you choose will influence the way you make the lounge chair cushions.
Method One: Single Front Panel Joining
To join the two cushions (because nobody wants to sit on two cushions that separate once you sit on them), join the two front panels or use a single front panel.
This means you add the length of the seat to the length of the back cushion and cut this as a single panel. Sewing can become a bit tricky to attach the two boxed edges at the back, and having a heavy-duty sewing machine would really help.
Method Two: Single Front and Back Panel Joining
The alternative is to join both the front and back panels as single panels. This means you would cut a single front panel by using the same width and combined length for the front seat and front back panel, and a single back panel with the same width and combined length of the back panels. You can still add about an inch (though ⅔ of an inch works as well) to the length for seams. Add an inch to the width for seams.
Method Three: Ties Joining
Another method to join two single cushions is to sew ties to the sides and middle of the two cushions. This method allows for cushions to be joined together by tying the three ties so the cushions become a single cushion.
For this method, be sure to cut extra ties from the same upholstery fabric. A single tie should be an inch by four inches, with the middle of the tie being sewn to the cushion.
Determining Fabric Measurements Using an Online Yardage Calculator
If you are using the services of a professional upholsterer, they may determine the measurements for you. However, if you simply want to know the number of yards of fabric you should purchase, you can use an online yardage calculator like the Kovi Fabrics Yardage Calculator.
With a yardage calculator, you simply click on the image of the furniture item similar to your project item, and the enlarged image will show you how much fabric you should order. In this case, you would need about seven yards of upholstery fabric for a lounge chair.
Be sure to keep the pattern repeat in mind. Each fabric has a guide as to how much of an extra percentage of fabric you should order to match up patterns. Contact your online fabric merchant, like Kovi Fabrics, to inquire as to the required extra fabric needed.
Choose from a wide range of upholstery fabrics and textures from Kovi Fabrics to make your blissful lounge chair upholstery project a dream come true.
The Final Seat
Choose an upholstery fabric that will give you years of good wear and resilient use to upholster your lounge chair with quality and professionalism. Kovi Fabrics has you covered with this measurement guide and the yardage calculator, so knowing how much fabric to order will no longer be an issue.