Needing new replacement sling seating for your furniture ? Consider making them yourself. We understand, since you likely never have done this before, there is no way you can do it currently. Know it is difficult not to say that to yourself, but honestly, it is not difficult and you need to consider it before: 1) paying someone else $ 100 per sling for their efforts; 2) taking your furniture to the recycler
Understand that getting into the business of making the sling seating FOR AL framed furniture is easy and that is why so many of the mom-n-pop shops have appeared online as a business. We can tell you how to do it and at least then you can make an educated decision as to tackle it or not
First thing, remember to use a resin-coated yarn material (we explain later) because they be more durable outdoors long-term. Also, do not get too fancy and expensive with the material. The thicker the material, the MORE difficult it will be to work with and some thicknesses will make it impossible
Before anything, do a youtube search on installing AL sling seating onto patio chairs. You will need to be advised on exactly how it is accomplished and suggest watching the three top rated videos on the procedure. They also likely have vids on how to make your own and those would be worth a watch as well
Step 1 Measure your sling seating is measured as instructed in the AL Replacement Sling Tab at the top
Step 2 Order the material online. Most material (check first please) will be standard at 54” in width. You will get TWO replacment sling seats out of the width with 54” width material. With your length dimension in hand, you will know how many LY (linear yards) you will need to order. The LY prices vary from $ 15 / LY to $ 29 / LY. If your sling seating is 42” in LENGTH, and you have FOUR chairs, then you will need 2.5 linear yards of material for all four chairs with 54” width material. You may want to buy another 48” in LY to have as a “practice piece sling”
Where to Buy:
The PhiferTex Plus materials are a good construction for sling making: https://www.phifer.com/product/phifertex-plus/
Also, sailrite should be looked at as well: https://sailrite.com/shop/fabric/outdoor-living-fabric/sling-chair-fabric
Step 3 Lay the material out on a table and have a hard point pen in hand and a 48” yard stick. Make a straight line across for the bottom and measure up one side for the side hem. We are going to turn a ONE INCH hem around the entire perimeter. Therefore, Let’s say that your dimensions are 19” wide by 42” in length. You will want to measure your width at 21 1/8” in width and the length by length of 44 18/”. You see we added 1 inch in those variable numbers for width and lenght and also threw in 1/8” for good measure. Actually, the 1/8” is for the material turn that you will loose upon turning the hem
Step 4 Sew the one inch hem on top and bottom FIRST. Only one pass needed as no pressure will be applied to these hem lines. On the sides, sew the one inch hem and then come back just to the inside (middle of sling) and make another hem pass,and possibly a third. There will be a lot of pressure on these side hems and therefore the need to reinforce them
Step 5 Insert your sling spline into the side hems and, voila, you are ready to install. Be advised that you will likely need to purchase new spline as your current is likely dry rotted and brittle. Suggest 7/32” diameters (standard on market) and you can buy by the linear FOOT. Suggest purchasing from below
https://www.patioproducts.com/slingspline.asp
Questions ? Email us HERE