Old sofa - fabric dye advice needed

I had a sofa that was faded. The material was mainly linen and was a plain fabric.

I used a product called Fabricoat. The sofa was originally medium blue and I dyed it dark grey.

I took the sofa outside and sprayed the dye on - you can buy all of the equipment online. You would have to do a test patch first

It cost me about £100 altogether (about four years ago) and, although it did dye the fabric it looked a bit shiny. It went on evenly and it didn't transfer onto clothing

I did dye the four cushions covers separately as they zipped off. I used Dylon in the washing machine. I dyed them two at a time and one set came out lighter than the other one, even though I used exactly the same dye.

I have since considered just having new cushion covers made and some arm covers.

I enquired about re-upholstering the sofa but they wanted almost as much as it would have cost for a brand new sofa!!

I think I have seen that you can paint furniture with Annie Sloan chalk paint but I think that gives it a leathery kind of effect.

Here is the link for the Fabricoat:

www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/fabric-products/fabric-paints-dyes/fabricoat-fabric-paint?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlPWgBhDHARIsAH2xdNfBL_Qa15fPXD8EW8uXIeFsi_eFv3Ce61eA9B4IvaY75InQHG29ns8aAjCBEALw_wcB

I would say it’s worth getting proper loose covers rather than stretchy ones.

Do stretchy covers really fit? Is there one size fits all? I've never thought about that. I just can't bear to part with this sofa.

I’d be concerned about dye transferring onto clothes when I sat on it. Why not get a loose cover for it?

I think you'd need to consider fire safety with whatever you may be considering putting on it. Why not try a stretchy cover for it?