Outdoor Furniture Home Depot

eric: this video is brought to you by sailrite. visit sailrite.com for all your project supplies,tools, and instructions. after several years of heavy use, a qualitypatio sling chair’s fabric may need to be replaced. in this video, we’ll show you the propersteps to sew up perfectly fitting sling replacement panels, and how to properly install it inthe sling rail channels of your chair. follow the steps of this video for a “fitlike a glove” sling chair. i’m eric grant, and my wife billie willbe filming this project. let’s get started.

after cleaning dirt and mold off the chair,it’s time to take a few measurements. these measurements will be used to determinehow much fabric is required, and also will be used in the fabrication process for thechair. we will start with the length measurement. we want to start this measurement where wewant the fabric edge to sit. i like to keep mine about 1/8” or more fromthe end of the sling rail. use a fiberglass tape measure and carefullyfollow the contour of the chair, as seen here. when the opposite end is reached, that isyour length measurement. i also like to end my panel about 1/8” orless from the end of the sling rail.

for the width from sling rail to sling railon our chair, we will measure from the outer edge of the channel, which accommodates oursling spline cording to the opposite sides outside channel edge. for us, it’s 19 3/8”. some sling chairs are not rectangular. be sure to take a measurement at the frontedge as well as the back edge along the width. if it is the same or slightly off, it’smeant to be a rectangular sling. use the smallest measurement as your standard. this patio sling chair is slightly different.

the seat portion of this chair is not a perfectrectangle, but is actually smaller in the rear. also take a look at the back rest panel. it does not have sling rails on the sides,but on the bottom and the top edges. it is measured in the same manner from slingrail channel to sling rail channel. but it is also important to measure and writedown the opposite ends size, as you’ll want to duplicate the shape when making the newpanel. now let’s focus on the back rest. the sling rail channels are along the topand bottom edge.

we will measure vertically for our width measurementand horizontally for the length measurement. that is only because the rail channels arenot on the sides for this back rest panel. your chair’s configurations may be different,but the principles are the same for all types of patio sling chairs. with those measurements in hand (yours willlikely be different) we can now figure how much fabric we need to order from sailrite. it’s easy to calculate how much fabric isrequired. typically the mesh vinyl fabric is 54” wide. so panels can be orientated lengthwise alongthe selvage edge of the fabric or along the

width of the fabric. so let’s go over both approaches in detailstarting with #1- lengthwise along the selvage edge. eric: this video is brought to you by sailrite.visit sailrite.com for all your project supplies, tools, and instructions. replaced. in this video, we’ll show youthe proper steps to sew up perfectly fitting sling replacement panels, and how to properlyinstall it in the sling rail channels of your chair. follow the steps of this video fora “fit like a glove” sling chair. i’m eric grant, and my wife billie will be filmingthis project. let’s get started.

after cleaning dirt and mold off the chair,it’s time to take a few measurements. these measurements will be used to determine howmuch fabric is required, and also will be used in the fabrication process for the chair.we will start with the length measurement. we want to start this measurement where wewant the fabric edge to sit. i like to keep mine about 1/8” or more from the end ofthe sling rail. use a fiberglass tape measure and carefully follow the contour of the chair,as seen here. when the opposite end is reached, that is your length measurement. i also liketo end my panel about 1/8” or less from the end of the sling rail. for the width fromsling rail to sling rail on our chair, we will measure from the outer edge of the channel,which accommodates our sling spline cording

to the opposite sides outside channel edge.for us, it’s 19 3/8”. some sling chairs are not rectangular. be sure to take a measurementat the front edge as well as the back edge along the width. if it is the same or slightlyoff, it’s meant to be a rectangular sling. use the smallest measurement as your standard.this patio sling chair is slightly different. rear. also take a look at the back rest panel.it does not have sling rails on the sides, but on the bottom and the top edges. it ismeasured in the same manner from sling rail channel to sling rail channel. but it is alsoimportant to measure and write down the opposite ends size, as you’ll want to duplicate theshape when making the new panel. now let’s focus on the back rest. the sling rail channelsare along the top and bottom edge. we will

measure vertically for our width measurementand horizontally for the length measurement. of patio sling chairs. with those measurementsin hand (yours will likely be different) we can now figure how much fabric we need toorder from sailrite. it’s easy to calculate how much fabric isrequired. typically the mesh vinyl fabric is 54” wide. so panels can be orientatedlengthwise along the selvage edge of the fabric or along the width of the fabric. so let’sgo over both approaches in detail starting with #1- lengthwise along the selvage edge.if when you measured your chair’s width the measurement is 20 â½â€ or less from slingrail channel to sling rail channel and you’re using a 54” wide fabric, then you can gettwo up along the width of the fabric. to make

required fabric calculations, plug your lengthmeasurement and the number of chairs into this equation. then pick and order your meshvinyl fabric from sailrite. for this size chair, we can complete four chairs with onlythree yards of fabric. using the length measurement you made on the chair- this measurement istaken along the sling rails- if the length measurement is 52” or less, you can orientatepanels lengthwise along the width of the fabric, as shown here. if your choice fabric has stripes,orientating panels along the selvage or width will change the direction of the stripes orpattern on the fabric. to calculate how much fabric is required, plug your figures intothis equation. the four chairs still only require three yards to complete them all.now feel free to use these equations for the

required amount of fabric for your chairs.pause the video here if you like. what type of fabric should i use on my slingchairs? the sling chair in this video is using a very tightly woven vinyl mesh fabric calledphifertex plus. it is a very dimensionally stable fabric and does hold its shape almostperfectly. why? because it goes through a tentering process. tentering sets the warpand weft of the woven fabric at right angles to each other and then stretches it and setsthe fabric to its final dimensions. some vinyl mesh fabrics have a blend of other yarns wovenin the batch. often those blended yarns like acrylics and olefins cannot be easily bondedto each other setting the weave firmly in place. a fabric which contains a blend ofpvc and other yarns does make a good sling

chair. but as you can see here, using thattype of fabric may result in a slight sag of the fabric, especially after heavy use.that may be desirable for some. if your goal is to keep the fabric nice and tight avoidingmuch sag, pick a 100% woven vinyl coated polyester like our phifertex plus.one more thing to consider when ordering your fabric from sailrite is the weight of themesh fabric. let’s just look at one brand when discussing the weight of the fabric:phifertex. most of the solid colors and stripes of the phifertex plus brand fabric are between15 oz.-16 oz. per square yard, and they are extremely easy to work with- both in creatingeasy hems and sleeves and also in feeding the fabric into the channels, or grooves,of the sling rails. however, if you get into

some of the wicker weaves, or basket weave,designs, those fabrics are much heavier- between 18 oz.-25 oz. in some cases. those fabricslook great, but do come with one disadvantage. they are more difficult to pull through thechannel, or groove, of the sling rail because they are thicker. with that said, we havedecided to use one of the heaviest- a 24.6 oz. fabric.- in this video to show that itcan be accomplished, especially if you follow the steps in the video. visit the sailritewebsite and pick your fabric. you can use the link at the top left to help narrow yoursearch results. in preparation for the disassembly of thechair, and also to determine the cut size of the new fabric, remove the end caps fromthe end of the chair’s sling rails. do this

very carefully as they may be very fragiledepending on how old your chair is. we like to use a screwdriver and gently pry untilwe can grab hold of it and pull it out completely. we need to know the size of the sleeve thatwill accommodate the sling spline cording. take a measurement from the sling’s railtop edge to the lower edge of the sleeve, as seen here. in most situations, a chairlike this will measure 5/16”. however, not all sling chairs are the same. this slingchair has a backrest where the rails are along the top and bottom edges, and the sling splinecording sits very far back along the sling rails. here you can see that the size of thesleeve that accommodates the cording is 1 â¼â€. however, turn our attention to theseat panel and remove the end cap and take

a measurement of the sleeve that accommodatesthe cording and we get the standard 5/16” there. these measurements should be writtendown as they will be used to calculate the cut size of the fabric. but first we willdisassemble the chair to remove the old fabric. disassembly of the chair is typically rathereasy. usually on the underside of the chair you will find bolts holding the sling railsto the frame. remove these bolts completely. cheaply made chairs are sometimes welded inplace. those welded together sling chairs are used for a season maybe two and discardedwhen the cheap fabric or frame deteriorates. once the bolts are removed, the sling railsshould separate from the frame. these bars on the backside are called spreader bars,or tension bars. they, along with the bolts

that you just removed, apply the tension tothe fabric holding it taut. we are working under our wire hung canopy that has been installedon this pergola. want to see how we build that? check out the link at the top rightcorner of this video. to remove the old mesh vinyl fabric from thechair, simply use a razor blade and cut the fabric down the center. the old fabric willbe rather stiff from years of use. wiggle it side to side a few times before you tryto remove it. this helps aid in the removal of the old fabric. using vice grips or pliers,grab the fabric close to the sling rail and pull on the fabric removing it from the grooveof the rail. do this for both rails. then grab the old sling spline cording and pullit out from the old fabric. our metal frame

and spreader bars are still in great shape.they are made from aluminum. but they need a fresh coat of paint. we will clean any dirtstill on the metal and then remove any loose paint. then we will spray with our favoritespray paint applying several coats as directed. our new fabric and supplies have been orderedand they’ve arrived from sailrite. we’re ready to cut it to size using the measurementswe took earlier on in this video. that’s coming up next.using the measurements taken earlier and written down on paper- the length, the width, andthe slot measurements- those will be used to calculate the cut size of our panels. firstwe will start with the cut width. use this equation and plug the width and the slot sizeinto the figure shown here. we wrote these

measurements down earlier here for our chair.yours may be different. after plugging them into our equations, you can see our examplehere. we should cut our fabric to 24” in width and our finished size should be 20”in width. want to test your figures? using the old fabric from the chair, push the sleeve’sopenings as flat as possible on the ends to be measured. then lay the panels cut sideson the floor side by side and lined up. now take measurements from folded edge to foldededge. is it the same, or very close to your calculated finished size? our calculated measurementswas 20” for our chair, and our old fabric measures that almost perfectly. so our calculationsare correct. if your chair is meant to be rectangular andone measurement is slightly off, use the smaller

measurement as the standard. to calculatethe cut length of our sling fabric, simply take the measurement you took along the slingrail earlier and add 2” for a 1” hem at the top and bottom of the fabric. now we’rearmed with a cut size width in length and a finished size width in length. now we cancut the fabric to size. first, we must be assured that the cut edgesare square. here we’re using an l square to ensure that they are straight. once wedetermine that and make any trimming that’s necessary, we can use our width measurementfor the cut size and measure across the fabric. here we’re marking the phifertex plus fabricwith a pen. once it’s marked at several locations, we can use the yardstick and strikea line through those marks. once that line

is struck down, we can measure for our cutlength. this is the actual length of the chair plus the 2”. again we are marking the fabricat a few locations so we can strike a line across at that location. the phifertex plusfabric can be cut with scissors. edges do not ravel much. no need to use a hotknife.next we’ll create the hems. hems are placed along the edge that does not accommodate thesling rail. for us that’s the short sides, and we need to just measure over 1” andstrike a line. no need for a double hem. a single hem will work perfectly here. we’llcrease the fabric along that struck line and press it firmly creating a slight memory.i’m going to flip it. once it’s pre-creased, i can take a hard object like this here canvaspatterning ruler and crease it down well.

if you don’t have the sailrite canvas patterningruler, you can use something like the edge of your scissors to crease it really well.now we’ll take this, since this is folded this direction, we need to do the same thingon the other short side. a 1” hem on the other short side can be done in the same manner.fold the fabric under since the hem on the other side is under. that hem is folded underso it’s on the same side as the first one we created.we’ll use the deluxe 5 â½â€™ magnetic guide like a table saw’s fence. because it’sfolded, it should stay right where we pressed the crease in place. first stitch then doa little reversing. the reversing locks the stitch in place. we’ll sew a straight stitch,about a 6mm long straight stitch, then when

we reach the other side, we do some reversingthere as well. so far we have only one stitch in this 1” hem, and it’s about 1/8”from the raw edge of the fabric. we will sew one more row of straight stitches about 1/8”to the right of that first stitch we just created- reversing it at the beginning andthe end of our sewing to lock the stitch in place. then we’ll repeat that procedurefor the opposite end following the same procedure. our two hems are sewn in place. up next, we’llconcentrate on the sleeves. flip your fabric so the hems are facing down.we’ll be doing a â½â€ hem so we can mark it there down both sides at a â½â€. thisis the outside surface. hems are facing down. for us, this is our long sides. this is theside that will slide into the sling rail’s

channel. we’re marking a â½â€ and strikinga line there. we’ll do that on both long sides. our â½â€ hem line is here. we wantto mark 2” over and strike another line here. so we’ll measure in a few spots at2”. strike a line through those spots. this will be our finished size when we’re done.we’ll put the final fold here. that 2” measurement was from the edge of the fabric.we have a â½â€, and from this edge, we have 2” here. from this edge â½â€; from thisedge 2”. so now our sides that slide into the channel have a â½â€ line struck downand a 2” line struck down on both edges. once that’s done, let’s confirm. okayif you’ve done it right, from the inside line, which we struck at 2”, to the nextinside line, which we struck at 2”, that

should be your final measurement- from hereto here. our final measurement was 20”. it’s perfect. that’s our finished size.at the â½â€ mark, we’ll crease the fabric by hand, and then we’ll crease it with aheavy object right along that line that we struck on the fabric. this is our â½â€ hem.we’re folding the hem under so that it’s on the same side as the hem on the two shortedges. we’ve creased the â½â€; now we’ll crease it at 2”. once it’s creased, we’llflip it so that the hems are facing up. then we’ll crease it with a solid object justto be sure that it stays there when we sew it. again, you can use some hard object likescissors or you can use the sailrite canvas patterning ruler to crease it along that edge.these folds will create the sleeve for the

sling spline cording.okay, this is their 1/2” hem. we’ll fold it under. we’ll fold on that 2” hem here.so we need to keep that hem under as we sew. so where do we want the first stitch? i’mgoing to move magnetic guide so that we put the first stitch so that the outside of thepresser foot is right along this fold, which will put my stitch about a â¼â€ inside thisfolded edge. that’s my first stitch; we’re going to have two rows of stitches here. soi’m going to set the magnetic guide up right there. this part is chunky. this is a heavyfabric here so we’re going to sew through it, do some reversing there, and then i’mgoing to carefully make sure that my hem is in the right spot. so i’m going to holdmy hand back here and try to feed my fabric

through flat, and keep my fabric up againstthe fence as i sew. sew a few inches, fold it flat. we’re working outside under ourpergola, which has a wire hung canopy installed on it. want to build that? check out the linklocated at the upper right corner of this video. the phifertex plus fabric we’ve chosenhere is the heaviest we stock at 24.6 oz. per square yard. most phifertex plus fabricsare about 15 oz.-16 oz. and are much easier to sew. we’re sewing it with a heavy dutysewing machine. however, if you’re using a home sewing machine, we recommend the 15oz.-16 oz. phifertex plus fabric. a second row of straight stitches should be installedright along that first one approximately a â¼â€-1/8” away from the first. we’lldo that at along both long sides. since we’ve

already sewn the fabric on both sides witha single stitch, this time we can sew right along this rather quickly because we don’thave to worry about folding the fabric. there we go!we’re going to use mclube here. this is sailkote. it’s a lubricant. we’re goingto spray it on our rag. then we’re going to clean the grooves of each one of thesechannels. so we’re going to insert the rag inside there, stuff it in there where thelube is, and then just run it in the groove. this cleans it and it lubes it for the insertionof the sling fabric. next we’ll insert our new sling chair spline cording into the sleeveswe created, leaving approximately 1” sticking out of the ends. it can easily be cut withscissors. this track has two holes on this

side and multiple holes on this side. themultiple holes are for the bar stretchers. so we’re going to insert the fabric in sothat the multiple holes will be towards the inside. this is the outside surface of thefabric so the fabric will go into the channel just like this. the hems are facing under.it’s best to start with a long edge. so here’s how it goes: multiple holes, bottomside of the fabric, top side of the fabric, we start it in like this. because we’reusing the heaviest of phifertex plus fabrics, we’re going to pry the ends open slightly.this will allow our heavier fabric to slide through here at the end where we will insertit. this is not required for lighter phifertex plus fabrics. the end of the panel has a singlehem and also incorporates the sleeve. so it

is the thickest part of the panel and willbe the most difficult to pull through the channel, especially because we’re usingthe heaviest of phifertex plus fabrics. having difficulty pulling your panel throughthe channel? a trick is to cut some of the scrap fabric into a rectangle and fold itover the end next to the sling rail. then lock on a pair of vice grips and use thatto pull the fabric into the channel. remember, what you’re seeing here is the most challengingapplication ever. if you use a lighter phifertex plus, you will not have this much difficulty.because i can no longer reach the open end of the channel, i grabbed one of my sons,silas, to help guide the fabric into the end of the sling rail’s channel. he is ensuringthat the weave of the fabric is not getting

caught on the end of the sling rail’s frameas i pull the fabric using the vice grips. eric to silas: almost there.twisting the fabric as i am here will sometimes make it go through the channel with a littlebit more ease. eric to silas: that’ll help. do it again.for some reason this always seems to loosen it up by pushing it over. now how close areyou to the end? okay, about the same. how close are you? oh, not bad. just wiggle thefabric a little bit. okay so, take a look over here. because weused the vice grips on a scrap piece of fabric, when i release them, any damage is usuallydone to the scrap piece of fabric, and our fabric is still in great shape, as you cansee here. so we have one side done. now we

just need to do it to the other.so you see the holes are on this one- the multiple holes. this side has only two. yourchair may be different. multiple holes go to the inside so it goes on like this. thisis the outside surface. eric to silas: silas could you start guidingthis through there? i notice that i make some great facials wheni’m pulling this fabric through (laughs). wow, we got a lot of distance with that one.we’re going to move on ahead. here’s what it looks like when the fabric is fed in bothsling rails. up next, we’ll re-insert the spreader bars.this is a bar clamp spreader, and the idea is that right now it’s set up to be configuredto be a spreader. but this end can come off

and can be moved this direction on the otherside, and it’s a clamp. in our situation we want it to be spreader. so we’re goingto position it like this and secure it in place. so our first tension bar goes here.as you can see, it is going to be under a great amount of tension so i need somethingto spread it apart. we’ll use this bar clamp/spreader as a spreader, and apply tension very closeto the holes where the spreader bar needs to be inserted. you need to be sure that theclamp jaws are very close to the fabric to avoid it from slipping out when the frameis put under great tension. each of our spreader bars have washers that go on prior to insertioninto the holes at each of the spreader bar openings. so we inserted those washers inplace. yours may not have those. once the

bar is in place, you can release the tensionof the spreader. billie to eric: i jumped (laughs).eric to billie: first one’s in place! here you see two holes. which one does thetension bar go into? well, it won’t fit into that one, for one. but this hole goesall the way through; it’s for a bolt. so the tension bar goes through this hole. we’llfollow that same procedure positioning the spreader very close to the holes where thespreader bar, or tension bar, needs to be inserted into the holes. we’ll keep thejaws very close to the fabric to helpfully avoid it from popping out when great tensionis applied. the bar does not yet fit. we need more tension. but we’re almost to the max.its close, but i can’t spread any more than

that with this tension here. i am so closeto that, but i’m not close enough. so i’m going to bend this bar slightly. i’m goingto go in the middle position. that table is not going to do it so i’m going to do iton my leg. that should shorten it up. let’s check. yep, shortened it up beautifully. infact probably too much, but we can pound that out. so i’m going to position it over thehole here, and then i’m going to release my tension bar (bar spreader; not tensionbar) because it’s going to spring forward. billie to eric: (makes a scared noise)eric to billie: there we go! billie to eric: scary!eric to billie: beautiful. (my wife is filming. every time i do that, she jumps. [laughs])

because this bar was bent, we can take a rubbermallet and a rag to help prevent damage to the paint job. we can pound it down and it’llactually spread it out. there, that makes it nice and stiff. this is the spreader barfor the bottom. you can see this one has a bend outward, and this one’s more of a straight.this is for your butt so wherever the seat is, that’s supposed to accommodate for heavypeople (laughs). okay, looks like we don’t have too far to go. going to put a washeron this. the other one has a washer. need a little bit more tension. now we can getin there. if we use a rubber mallet, we can pound it into place. there we go. now i canrelease the tension. and our last one is here. silas, being young, uses his hand. (laughs)i would use the rubber mallet here instead.

eric to silas: good job! look at that. wegot it. once the spreader bars are in place, all wehave to do is reassemble the chair. for us, it’s four bolts. i strongly recommend insertingall of the bolts and twisting them a few rotations by hand so that several threads are lockedinto position. then after all of the bolts are inserted by hand, use a wrench or socket,as shown here. now the excess sling cord that’s stinking out- sling/awning cord- just takea razor blade and cut kind of at a “v” angle. that should give you enough room toput the end caps back on. our end caps are fairly fragile since they’re old so be carefulwith them. we’ll carefully pound the end caps into place on each of the ends of thesling rails. that’s all there is to it.

coming up next is the materials list and toolsthat we used. eric to billie: another job done! (laughs) you will find many gorgeous high quality outdoorliving sling fabrics at sailrite. they will last for many years, even in the harshestoutdoor environments. as you can see by the list, only three materials are required fora project like this: fabric, thread, and spline cording. sure, you’ll need some tools anda sewing machine, but hopefully you already have those at home. the bar clamp/spreadermay be the only tool you have to purchase, but they are not too expensive. for your convenience,here are the calculations for ordering from sailrite again. our patio sling chair panelswere sewn with sailrite’s profilen ptfe

thread in a clear color. as you can see, thatthread blends with any color fabric beautifully. it’s a lifetime thread that will never rot.however, it’s more expensive than polyester thread, which is uv resistant but not uv prooflike profilen. the choice is yours. sailrite carries both polyester thread and the ptfefor your next outdoor sewing project. it’s your loyal patronage to sailrite that makesthese free videos available. i’m eric grant, and from all of us here at sailrite, thanksfor watching.

Outdoor Furniture Home Depot