Seat Covers

I have had an ongoing dilemma with our dining room chairs. They are quite old (were given to me by my aunt, who got them from her parents, are they older than that?) and the chair cushions were rotten and the dog would nibble on them as he passed by. Even with covers, they were disgusting. So I tore the upholstery off and now they are bare wood. I was thinking of reupholstering them and even got some fabric. Now, the problem is that I don't have the money for upholstery foam AND I really need the chairs to be washable. I was reminded of this yesterday when Leah threw up all over her chair. They were bare wood, so I could wipe them down, but that wouldn't be possible if I reupholstered them. However, I can't leave them bare wood. They are flat (no little curves in them to fit your body) and extremely ugly, plus there is a little tiny bit of a nail sticking out of each one in four places where the seat is fastened to the chair so you can prick yourself on them if you don't sit right in the center of the seat. In short, I can't leave them the way they are and I can't reupholster them. I was thinking of asking someone to cut a thicker piece of wood for me for each seat, so the nails are not a problem, but -- again -- that is time and money. I want something thick and comfy but removable and washable. Today in the car it struck me:

FELT!

I have all the supplies on hand -- old sweaters from the salvation army. I can felt them, sew them up nice and thick, put ties on them so I can tie them to the chairs and when someone spills something or throws up on a chair I can pull the felt seat covers off and throw them in the wash in hot water and it won't ruin them! I am so excited about this! My project for today is to work on this & I will let you know how it goes.