How to Make a Papasan Chair Cushion

If you have a leftover papasan chair from your college dorm room or a purchase from your first apartment, it's possible that all you've got left is the frame. Well, you're in luck, because you can make a new chair cushion for your papasan and it'll be just like the good old days again.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Lay out the materials that you have to make your papasan chair cushion. Your standard papasan chair cushion is going to measure 46 inches in diameter. So you need to purchase your fabric, preferably upholstery quality fabric, in the correct measurements. You'll need to find fabric 50 to 60 inches wide and you'll need 3 yards of it.

2. Make a paper pattern for your chair cushion by taping newspaper or tissue paper together. Make a perfect circle pattern that is 50 inches in diameter. You are going to have a circle with a 2 inch edging all the way around. Place your circle pattern on the material that is folded in half. Pin the pattern in place or use weighted objects to hold the pattern in place while you carefully cut around the pattern edges to cut out two circles at one time.

3. Place the fabric so that the right sides of the fabric pattern are touching or facing each other and the edges of both circle pieces are even all the way around the circle. Sew the two pieces together with a 2-inch edge seam, leaving an opening of around 24 inches. It's best to sew this on a sewing machine and stitch the seam at least twice for a secure seam.

4. Decide what type of stuffing will be in your papasan chair cushion. These are most often thick pillows in wedge shapes. You can use old pillows and cut and stitch them into wedges or cut pieces of upholstery foam into wedge pieces. Your wedge pieces need to be around 22 inches from the outer edge to the wedge point. Make or construct enough of these wedges to fit all the way around the circle area of the fabric you've just sewn.

5. Turn the sewn fabric circle right side outward and smooth it out. Push the inside cushion wedge stuffing evenly into the fabric circle. Hand stitch the rest of the fabric opening to secure the edges of the fabric circle.

Tips & Warnings

• If using all pillows cut and sewn into wedges, take it an additional step and sew the wedge pieces together until you've formed your circle. This will enable you to take the cushions out easily if need be.

• Instead of sewing the opening shut after inserting the pillow or foam cushioning, close the opening with Velcro strips on each side of the opening. This would give your papasan chair cushion more options, because it turns it into a slip cover. Make a variety of slip covers to use with your one cushion insert, so you'll have a papasan chair cushion to suit your every changing style.