Fast and Easy Pleated Ruffle Ottoman Slipcover {tutorial}!!

Fast and Easy Pleated Ottoman Slipcover!

I recently ordered this pretty blue chevron material fabric.com.

I love the color because it can go in almost any room in my house.

I bought this ottoman at a discount store about 15 years ago and for the past 5 years it's been sitting in my basement, waiting for a makeover. So I decided to give it a little facelift with my new fabric.

This was my first slipcover project, and I kind of made it up as I went along.

Here’s what I did:

The first thing I did was I measure the top of the ottoman and added 1 inch to the width and the height.

Then I measured the width of the sides of the ottoman and left about 2 inches for the pleated ruffle.

I drew the picture on a piece of paper with the measurements. I am a visual person and this is the best way I could figure this project out.

Then I cut out the top of the ottoman and all four sides.

I sewed the sides of the ottoman onto the top of the ottoman cover.

sew on the top and sides of the slipcover

And then I sewed the sides up. I made the seam allowances as small as I could because I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough room to fit the cover over the ottoman.

Luckily the cover turned out to be the perfect size once it was sewn.

Now I turned my attention to the pleated ruffle.

I measured the circumference of the ottoman and added 150% to the total. Then I measured 5 inches high and folded the material so that the ruffle was 2.5 inches high. I sewed the ruffle and then ironed it so it was flat.

Now the next step is how you get the ruffles to be even. Take your huge circle of ruffle fabric and pin one section to one end of the ottoman cover. Then take the opposite side of the ruffle material and pin it to the opposite side of the ottoman cover. Do this on all four corners. Then do it again in between each section -- so you have eight sections pinned.

Now you have an even amount of material in between each section so when you make your pleats, all of the pleats and the number of pleats should be the same. Now take the ruffle fabric and make 1 inch pleats every inch or so. And this part of the slipcover is tedious, but so worth it once you are done!

Once the ruffle was pinned, I sewed it onto the inside of the slipcover.

And then I was done!!

I just love my new slipcover. It totally transforms the look of the ottoman – totally updating it!!

And, just for fun – I made a couple of matching pillow covers.

They look so good in my living room. And, they would also fit in perfectly in my bedroom too!!