How to Build an Outside Lounge Chair

Cut a 3-by-3-inch square out of all four corners of a piece of 32-by-32-inch woven mesh fabric. Discard the cut-out squares. Fold one side of the square around a 2-inch diameter PVC pipe. Adjust the fabric until there is a 1/4-inch gap between the fabric and the PVC pipe. Pin the mesh to itself using straight pins. Remove the pipe. Fold the other three sides of the fabric around the pipe, pin the fabric, and remove the pipe.

Repeat Step 1 with two more pieces of 32-by-32-inch woven mesh fabric. Cut out the corners and fold the edges over a PVC pipe, each in turn, and pin them down.

Fold the 2-inch sides of a 32-by-2-inch rectangle of woven mesh fabric over a PVC pipe as you did with the squares. Leave a 1/4-inch gap, and pin the edges down before removing the pipe.

Sew along the pinned edges on all four pieces of mesh to create pockets. Use a sewing machine with a straight stitch. Leave the ends of the pockets open to allow you to slide PVC pipes in. Remove the straight pins.

Insert a 26-by-2-inch PVC pipe into the mesh square pockets. Place one pipe into three pockets on the squares, leaving one pocket empty. For the rectangle, insert a 4-by-2-inch PVC pipe into each pocket.

Place one of the squares in front of you with the empty pocket closest to you to begin the back of the lounge chair. On the pipe opposite the empty pocket, place a 90-degree corner joint on each end. Adjust the open ends of the joints to face you. Insert the ends of the adjacent pipes into the 90-degree joints. Place a 45-degree angle corner joint on the two remaining pipes. Turn the 45-degree joints so the open ends face you.

Place the two 4-inch pipes in the pocket of the rectangle into the open ends of 45-degree angle joints. Place a three-way PVC Tee on the end of each 4-inch pieces. Adjust the Tees so that the opening on the side faces down, creating a joint for the legs of the chair.

Insert the ends of the second three-pocket square into the open Tee joint to create the seat of the chair. Position it so the empty pocket is closest to the long edge of the rectangular mesh. Place another 3-way Tee joint on the other end of the pipes. Turn the third joint of the Tee to face inward toward the opposite Tee. Insert the ends of the remaining pipe into the inward-facing Tee joint openings.

Place the remaining mesh square on the end of the 3-way Tee joint, positioning the open pocket next to the last inserted pipe from the last mesh square. Attach a 90-degree-angle, three-way corner joint to connect the remaining pipe ends. Orient the third joint opening downward for the legs.

Insert an 8-by-2-inch PVC pipe into all four open three-way joints for the legs. Place a 90-degree-angle corner joint on each open pipe end. Insert a 26-inch PVC pipe into each of the open joints, leaving a small gap between the pipes as they meet halfway under the chair. Attach a straight PVC pipe connector to the open ends of the pipes to finish the chair’s base.