Custom Made Outdoor Furniture Protective Armrest

We have had this outdoor furniture for about 5 years. I love the sectional, but the arms started drying out and other than that, the furniture is in great shape. So I wanted to create some sort of ‘armrest cover’ to protect them and make this furniture last. Since the furniture has a weaved pattern, I decided to make a weaved armrest cover! I used a very basic simply weave, but it took a little thinking on how to actually make a pattern that custom fit my armrests. 

Heavyweight Vinyl: 55” x 25”

Rotary Cutter or Scissors

Fabric Glue

Fabric Clips (Clothespins would work too!)

Yard Stick or Tape Measure

Painters Tape or Masking Tape

A Glass of Wine (optional :-)

See the pic above... I measured the width at the top of my armrest to be 4”, and from the top, I wanted the armrest to hang down 5” when finished. This is how I came up with the strips sizes I needed.

For the top I measured the length at 25” and added 5” more inches to drop down the front edge. This 5” drop is what I will be weaving through to make the front shape of the cover. I also add 1” more for an allowance that I will trim later. This is how I came up with the 31” long strips.

I knew I wanted the drop from the top to be 5” on each side. So I added 10” (drops on both sides), plus 4” across the top and an extra 2” for good measure when trimming the edges and came up with the 16” long strips.

Now I was going to weave the longest strips from one end of the outside, around the front and continue through to the inside of the back of the sofa. So I measured 25” x 2 (the width of both sides) plus 4” across the front section and that one extra inch for good measure. This is how I calculated the 55” strip lengths.

Mark you fabric and cut 1" strips as shown in Illustration above. I find using a rotary cutter and a self-healing cutting board with measurements is ideal since all the strips are 1” wide. Just be sure if you are using a rotatry cutter, that the surface below the vinyl won’t get damaged.

When done you should have:

• 26 strips 16” long
• 4 strips 31” long
• 5 strips 55” long

The weave pattern I used is the basic weave, under and over as you see in the illustration above. I clipped one 16" strip to the top of my board, aligning the left edge to a line on my cutting board to keep everything straight. From the left edge, I measured up 6” for the drop and took one of my 31” long strips and clipped it at the 6” mark, over the 16” piece. So I now have a horizontal 16” strip and a vertical 31” strip clipped on at the 6” mark.

Then I added, the additional three 31” strips, alternating the strips to be over and under the 16” strip, clipping each strip as I went. This was followed by the five 55” strips alternating and clipping in the same manor (See Pic#2). Then I firmly taped the ends of all the long strips to the board. This will help in weaving. 

Once I had my strips taped down I was ready to weave.

Taking another 16” strip I weaved under and over all the long taped down strips until I reached the end. Make sure all the edges of the 16” strips are lined up evenly on the left edge. The right edge will be a bit crooked, but it gets trimmed later.

Once you have added all 26 strips, it will look like Pic#2. At this point, I wanted to be sure my ‘weaves’ would stay secure, so I took fabric glue and put a drop under each square in the weave. This dried quick and was really helpful in keeping the shape I wanted. Once done, you can unclip and take it to your armrest! For added security, at this point I ran a stitch across the top edge where the clips where, so they would stay in place.

I laid the piece on the top of the armrest with the four 31” weaved strips going across the top section, taping it securely into place at the back of the armrest. I smoothed the 4 unweaved strips down over the front section of the armrest snugly, as I will be weaving through these pieces. Make sure this center top section is taped securely everything aligns correctly as you start weaving. 

I didn't get a picture of this step, but you should now have the 4 weaved strips starting at the top of the armrest, taped at the back and all 4 strips taped firmly at the front. On the inside of the armrest, there will be the unweaved portion of the 16” strips hanging down, and the outside of the armrest will have the weaved, 55” sections with the long unweaved remainder of the strips hanging loosely. 

I taped across the bottom of the inside section with the loose ends of the 16­” strips. Then I taped the outside strips that were weaved, at the bottom, so everything was taped securely and wasn’t sliding around. 

Then I took the first long 55” strip that was hanging loosely, and started weaving it across the front of the armrest through the front 4 strips and continued weaving on the inside across all the loose strips. (See Pic#3) When I got to the end, I clipped it in place and applied a dab of glue under all the weaved blocks, and making sure every weaved section was butted up snugly against each other and everything was aligned good. I clipping each weave in place as it dried to be sure it wouldn’t slide out of place. I continued doing with with each of the four remaining 55” strips, weaving, gluing and re-clipping these strips into place. I just used the previous clip and moved it down to clip the new strip.

Once done and everything was snug and glued securely, I let it sit and dry for about a half hour. I then took the weaved cover to my sewing machine and stitched all around the bottom edge, and then up around the back edge that from inside to outside section. I then simply trimmed my vinyl about 1/8 from the stitch line.

For a little added security I found putting a few rolled duct tape pieces under the cover to hold in place helped it stay securely in place without sliding off.

This is where the optional glass of wine come in. Sit on you deck and enjoy your custom made arm rest covers while sipping on a glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

Thanks for viewing my project!