Tweedlebud Megan's Highchair Facelift

It’s me again, Tweedlebud Megan! 

It seems as though the DIY projects just keep continuing over here!! Recently I had been wanting to throw our current highchair off the deck! I just couldn’t take cleaning it anymore! The seat covering was ripping and food was getting into cracks where it shouldn’t and it was just a pain!! Bryan didn’t seem to share in my frustration so I thought I was over reacting, that was until my parents came to visit. After about two days my mom shared in my sentiments of ‘love’ for the chair! Thank goodness! I wasn’t a crazed cleaning freak after all, unless we both are?!

My parents offered to buy us a new highchair for Olivia’s birthday. YEAH! Now, you might be wondering, really? She isn’t even one and her highchair is already falling apart?! Well, the highchair actually travelled across Canada to make it to us! Bryan’s sister used the chair for her 2 daughters and sent it out with her father when Olivia was born so it’s at least 5 years old!

We started our highchair search on-line...craigslist, kijji, used Nanaimo...no luck! So it was off to the mall! Since we already had a pretty decent chair- Peg Perego(!), we were pretty disappointed in other chairs, and weren’t really prepared to spend the big bucks for one as good as ours. So, we decided to just cover the seat of the current chair.

The chair before!...Look at those rips and cracks...I was constantly cleaning UNDER! Gross!

I knew that I wanted to be able to make more of a slip cover for the seat rather than a permanent cover. If I was going to put the effort into it, I wanted to be able to take it off and throw it in the wash.

Like the baby bonnets, I first made a template with inexpensive fabric. I didn’t bother washing and drying this fabric as it was jus being used to make a pattern for the real thing. We found the perfect fabric that was intended for cloth diapers. It has an cute owl pattern and the wrong side has a water-resistant lining! It was perfect!

Here’s what we did:

Step 1
We took off the seat cover and traced it.

Step 2

Then we sewed up the side seams with a loose stitch so that it would be easy to remove once it was perfect.

Step 3
After, we put the test cover onto the chair and made adjustments where needed. It fit almost perfectly. I missed getting a picture of this step!

Step 4
Then we took it apart and traced it onto the good fabric. We got lucky and and the owl fabric was wide enough to make two covers! (which I am sooo happy about!)

Step 5
.... we sewed up the seams...

Step 6
and added a square to cover the post between the legs so that food stays out and it’s easy to remove. 

See how the square piece tucks in? It works perfectly!!

It was a pretty simple project and for a fraction of the cost of a new highchair!! Olivia noticed right away and loves to point out the eyes on the owls!!

Tweedle Tip: Before deciding to buy something brand new, always exhaust all other options first. Try second hand stores or websites, ask friends for hand me downs and research what it takes to make yourself. You will be surprised at how much money you can save by DIY-ing or thrifting!