I really don't like slip covers. I think they look cheap, but I don't have the energy to re-upholster the whole chair, so I'll try to make it look not cheap. There was lace at the top of the flat sheet that I had chosen to make the slip cover from, but it was coming off here and there so I sewed that back on first. I pinned the sheet straight to the ottoman and used my tailors chalk to draw a line where to cut. The lace wouldn't reach all the way around so I make a little placket out of one of the pillow cases, which also had the lace on the end. I cut a piece quite a bit larger but the same shape that I needed for the top and pinned it to the top of the sides, (wrong side out, by the way) pinning the fabric together instead of into the ottoman. Then I slipped that off and sewed it all up where everything was pinned. I made a big bow (and I did this blindly, with no pattern, so I can't really explain how I made the bows, but it's similar to a bow tie and tied the same) and sewed that to the front and it just so happens that the bow was perfectly sized to cover the placket that I had to add.
The arms of the chair were very dirty. I wanted the lace at the bottom of the arm covers so I used the 2 pillow cases. I cut them open down the side and bottom seam and placed them over the arms of the chair. I pinned them directly into the chair all the way around, marked with my tailors chalk and cut the excess off. I then made 2 pieces slightly bigger than the front of the arms of the chair and pinned that to the fabric, marked and cut. I took the pins out of the chair and sewed the arms up, hemming all around the raw edges. I used ribbon to hold the backs of the arm covers tight. It ties into a cute bow in the back. I made 6 more smaller bows and tacked them on each of the covers.
I think it looks quite nice and it's very comfortable. :) I may make a throw pillow out of the rest of the sheet.
close-up of the bows:
