This Granny Square Seat Cover is a quick and easy way to spruce up an old chair cushion. Depending on your chair, you could make this a permanent solution or a temporary one that you could change out with the seasons or as the mood suits you! Read on to see how I made this crochet chair cover.
I had an old child-size chair that my mother-in-law had purchased for my daughter and planned to refinish, but she never was able to do before she passed away. I kept the chair and wanted to do something sweet with it, but I couldn’t decide.
I had kept it in our guest room and after moving my office in there, I was seeing it day after day and knew that I needed to figure out a solution.
Granny Square Seat Cover
5 Steps to Create a Granny Square Seat Cover
Step 1 – Take it apart and see what you have
The first thing you need to do is take the chair seat off and see what you are working with. If your can’t get it apart without tearing something up, then stop and reassess your options. Could you do a piece that lays over it and ties in the corners or around the legs?
My chair bottom came off and I was able to pretty easily remove the old cushion and fabric.
Step 2 – Replace the old cushion and cover with a fabric to match your yarn
Next I bought a piece of chair foam and two fat quarters of fabric for my small chair. You would size the foam and fabric to match your needs. I went with a thick foam because I had the space for it. There are different thicknesses of foam available, so be sure to check out your options.
I put the foam in place and then put the fabric over it and stretched it to the back. Then I used my staple gun to attach. I just wanted it to be smooth and the only thing to remember is to keep the screw holes open and free so you can reattach. I just cut around the holes after I stapled. If you have a pattern on your fabric, you would spend more time lining it up. Mine was plain white, so I just smoothed it out, folded the corners like a bedsheet, and then stapled.
Step 3 – Crochet your Granny Square in the color or colors of your choice.
I really needed a flat crochet pattern for this and because I was honoring my mother-in-law, I decided on the appropriate Granny Square (my kids called her Granny). I had this lovely lilac color that matches the decor in my guest room/office and I worked this up following the traditional granny square pattern. Rose wrote about it and shared a tutorial here.
I chose a single color, but you could also make a beautiful cover with multiple colors or even a variegated yarn. Granny squares are so quick to work up, you could make a swatch and test it out until you get the colors and combination you love.
Work the Granny square to fully cover the top and sides of the chair cushion and be able to reach to the bottom to attach. If you are just tying it to the legs or back, just make it so it drapes nicely over the edges. In this case, you might want to add a border, maybe a half-double crochet stitch all around, just to finish it off.
Step 4 – Attach the Granny Square Cover
I centered the middle of the granny square and then draped it over the sides. I used my staple gun again to staple the yarn to the bottom of the chair. Because the yarn has some stretch in it, I was able to adjust it after putting in two staples. This way, I could keep it centered and looking nice. I again just folded like a sheet in the corners and attached.
Step 5 – Reattach whole seat and enjoy!
I painted my chair to brighten it up and make it look good and then I reattached the freshened seat cover to the chair base.
My daughter loves the way it turned out and I love seeing it in my office each day. Guests can put a bag on it or just enjoy the beauty of the granny square in this color. I am really pleased with how it came out and I am glad I finally tackled this project!
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