Make your own cushions for outdoor furniture
New upholstered seat cushion covers and padded cushions for outdoor sofa
Having recently made my outdoor sofa and upholstered with navy blue bull denim, I wasn't quite feeling the excitement and sense of achievement that I should have been. The sofa itself is perfect, but the dark blue upholstered cushions didn't add anything and I decided to swap these out with a different fabric.
I'm still very much in love with turquoise and was lucky to find the perfect fabric - with cushions in a matching colour - that now have me feeling the look is perfect. Plus, the original cushions were a bit hard on the bum, so I added a thick layer of batting to the top of each cushion and now they are super-soft to sit on.
To finish off the setting I made a storage coffee table. The table is made using marine plywood that has a meranti veneer and perfectly complements the meranti wood sofa.
Making the upholstered cushions
To make the cushions you need to cut [1] top,
[1] bottom, [2] sides [1] front and [2] closing
flaps for the back - all with a 12mm seam
allowance added on.
The sides, front and
back need to take into consideration the height
of the foam for the sea (50cm) as well as allow
a little extra for stuffing a thick layer of
batting into the cushion for a soft topping once
you are done.
GOOD TO KNOW
If you are not using
an overlocker like me, you will need to run a
zig-zag stitch around the edges to prevent them
from fraying.
1. The sides are sewn onto the bottom piece - right sides together.
2. Working on one side only, attach the top section to the side - right sides facing.
3. Before sewing the top onto the other side it's easier to add the front panel before you do.
4. Align the front panel centrally and start sewing from the open side panel, continuing all the way around.
5. When you reach the open top/side panel you can continue down to sew this section closed. This creates a box-shaped cover with an opening at one end.
6. Not wanting to sew the cushions closed, I added two flaps at the back of each cushion and sewed on some press-studs. This allows me to remove the covers and pop them into the washing machine when required.
The finished cushions and upholstered seat were sprayed with Rust-Oleum Never Wet outdoor fabric spray and this will protect them from unexpected showers. When not in use the seats and cushions can be packed away in the storage coffee table.
