ARM-CHAIR COVERS

Evening Post, Issue 20, 23 July 1935, Page 15

ARM-CHAIR COVERS

PROTECTIVE DECORATION

It is always the arms and back of an easy chair or couch that first show signs of wear, remarks the Melbourne "Age." A dismaying fact that, because it is just here, that any shabbiness is always most conspicuous! The oldfashioned antimacassar had its advan-. tages. For quite apart from its main purpose of protecting the chintz or tapestry from the macassar oil with which the beaux of the day would pomade their locks, the antimacassar served as a shield for the chair back, saving it from much wear and tear. But in our modern homes there is no room for the mid-Victorian antimacassar—we would throw up our hands in horror at the thought!—but an excellent substitute and a much more decorative one to our modern way of thinking, is a fitted cover for the chair back, matched up with a pair of "sleeves" for the two arms. This notion can be as attractive as it is practical; with a little pains a set of this kind can be made to provide quite a decorative finish to a chair, as well as a protection for the upholstery or loose covers against unnecessary wear and tear.

It will depend, of course, on the chair covering just what kind of material you choose for the sleeves and back covering. A deep oatmealcoloured linen crash will make a most attractive set, and one that will look well with almost any colour scheme, but you may prefer, to choose a coloured fabric either to tone or contrast with the chair covering. Choose a plain material in preference to a patterned one; it will look very much smarter, especially if you lend it interest./with, a little decorative-motif in applique or embroidery. A monogram worked in brightly-coloured wools makes a most attractive finish, and you will be charmed with the effect if you add, too, a cushion of the same material, with an embroidered monogram to match. A NEW LEASE OF LIFE. Before cutting out the fitted cover for the back and the sleeves for the arms it is as well, to take the precaution of making a paper pattern to serve as a guide. To do this pin a sheet of paper over the back and arms, adjusting it as neatly as possible, and pinning in darts or tucks where necessary. The sleeves should fit right down over the ends of the arms—it is just here that they usually begin to wear first —and the fitted cover for the back should be just deep enough for the head to rest on. The covers should be properly fitted and neatly piped; this is well worth the little extra trouble it entails, for it will make a very much neater and more professional looking job. The squared pieces for the end of the sleeves and the sides of the covers for the back are cut separate, and joined to the main sections with the piping—a strip of the material cut on the bias, folded in half, and inserted between the sections, placed right side together, and machined along. A cord run through the piping will make an attractive finish. These covers you will find an excellent notion if the chairs are badly worn, for they will effectively hide their shabbiness and lend them a new lease of life.