Refresh Patio Furniture with New Cushions and Covers
With constant use, cushions both fitted and loose lose their bounce and become flat and hard, but it's good to know that you can refresh patio furniture with new cushions and covers.
21/01/2022
peonyst.com
When you first purchase patio furniture, everything is soft and comfy and the fabric is fresh and bright, but over time and with regular use you find that the seat and back cushions are flat and not fluffy, as if the insides have squashed, and the fabric that covers the cushions is faded and dull. Not only that, but as the fabric ages it easily rips and tears along the seams. Unfortunately, that is a fact of life when it comes to outdoor furnishings. Even weatherproof and UV-resistant fabrics have a hard time with our extreme hot and cold climate.
As you can see from the above and below images, it isn't that hard to replace cushions and pillows that fit onto outdoor or patio furniture and it is far cheaper than buying readymade - if you can find anything readymade to fit on your furniture!
Patio furniture doesn't come cheap and even budget-priced furniture costs a pretty penny these days, so it isn't easy to just toss out and replace what you have and far better to renew and make new - or at least as close as possible. Making new seat cushions and back cushions for existing outdoor furniture will extend the lifespan and allow you to save up for new furniture if it really does need to be replaced.
When making cushions for outdoor furniture, you ideally should use outdoor fabric. The only problem with outdoor fabric is that it is expensive and hard to come by in colours and patterns. If you want to save and not buy outdoor fabric, at least invest in a cover that can fit over the furniture when not in use. That will reduce fading of the fabric.
I have used bull denim and heavy-weight linen for cushions, and if you purchase light colours, these will not fade as quickly as darker colours.
Using the video tutorial below, you will be able to make any size of cushion to fit your outdoor furniture and the added benefit is that the cushions will have a built-in zipper which is great for when you need to remove the covers for washing or add extra batting to keep the cushions soft and comfy.
The video below takes you step-by-step through making a box-style cushion with zip that you can make in 30 minutes. If you don't already have a sewing machine, you can pick up a basic model for between R300 to R600, and that works out cheaper than buying readymade cushions any day!
These two mini portable sewing machines are available at takealot.com. The prices range from R230 to R339, and they are ideal if you don't plan on doing a lot of sewing on a regular basis. Think new patio cushions, new pillowcases, custom curtains and so on. At the cost they, are sure to be worth it!
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make custom box-style cushions for your outdoor or patio furniture.