Today my little Tiger was saying something about needing a chair. I remembered a picture I had seen on
pinterest (one of those uploaded by user things with no post to follow up on). I also remembered that I had a bunch of PVC leftover from the chicken coop (not to worry, I washed all the pieces). I made it up as I went along, but kept notes so I could repeat it later. So, here is how I made Tiger a Thomas the Train chair so he can have something to sit in while playing at his
train table.
PARTS
1: 10' length PVC Pipe ($3.39) cut into several pieces-
7@ 10"
6@ 6"
4@ 1 1/2" (could be a little shorter- just need to join tees and elbows without a gap)
8: PVC 1" Elbows ($.53 each)
6: PVC 1" Tees ($.64 each)
Fabric (can use one color cut twice or two contrasting ones for front and back)
2@ 9 3/4"x31 1/4"
2@ 6 1/4"x9 3/4"
*(I might even go up to 6 1/2" on the one piece- it fits at 6 1/4 but could be a little longer)*
Interfacing (same measurements as fabric, just to make it a little more sturdy)
Velcro (Sew On)- 3 strips cut 8 1'2" each
Spray Paint (if desired)
(The prices I pulled from Homedepot.com. Just the PVC adds up to $11.47, unless you happen to already have it on hand. I made my chair with things I already had around the house.)
1. Assemble chair like so. The small pieces are what hold the elbow and tee together in front and two tees at back with no gap.
2. Spray paint if desired. I used the blue leftover from the train table, and put a coat of clear on top of that. There were a couple spots on the armrests that got a little tacky- not sure if it was the paint or sticky fingers.
3. I made my seat cover so that it could be easily removed for washing. For the seat, take the two strips of fabric 9 3/4x31 1/4" and interfacing (the interfacing I had on hand was the heavy duty stuff that doesn't iron on. If you have the iron on stuff, just iron it on to one of your strips). With right sides together, sew down the two long sides and across one short side (1/2" seams). Clip corners, turn rightside out, and iron.
4. With the short strips of fabric, do the same thing, except sew the two short sides and one long side. Clip corners, and turn. (And iron, as you can tell I hadn't yet in this picture).
5. On the short piece, turn under and tuck in open end 1/2". Sew one side of a strip of velcro to close opening. Sew other half of velcro on opposite side as pictured.
6. On the long piece, do the same thing, except the other half of the velcro should be sew 5 1/4" from the end (both pieces should be sewn on the back side of the fabric).
7. Repeat on other end of fabric (back side as well).
8. Sew short strip to long strip 14 1/4" from bottom edge (it is almost in the center. It might even work if sewn in the center, but this is the way I did it). I used a fabric marking pen to draw a line in the center of the short piece, and at the 14 1/4" line on the big piece, lined them up, and sewed along my line.
9. Attach seat cover to chair and enjoy. Monkey might have come along and stolen Tiger's chair (and Elephant). The chair ended up being the perfect size for my four year old (almost five), three year old, and even the 18 month old.
My biggest problem with making this chair is that I only made one today. That means that Kitty and Monkey have spent the day trying to steal Tiger's chair. I have a bunch more pipe, and tees, but now I have to go pick up some more elbows before World War III breaks out in my living room.
NOTE:
The velcro on the front can come undone if the child is standing on the chair or putting a lot of weight in the seat. Next time, I think I will use some of those heavy duty snaps- just along the front. The velcro works perfectly fine in the other locations.
UPDATE:
After putting in snaps, I ended up just sewing along that front edge. The snaps held up the light-weight girls, but not my son. Fortunately, I was able to slide it on the chair without him seeing. I really didn't want him to discover that his chair can come apart.
