How to Make Cushions

If your couch or chair is in good shape, sometimes all you need to do is revamp the cushions. It's not hard to do. All you need is a sewing machine, new material and a little bit of time. Making new cushions is cheaper than going out and buying a new piece of furniture. Below are some tips for making new cushions and covering them.

Things You'll Need

• Foam rubber Knife Scissors Material Sewing machine Velcro

Instructions

How To Make New Cushions

1. Figure out how many cushions you need to make. Sometimes the old foam is still good and just needs to be covered with new material. You might be able to get away with using some of the old cushions and have to make only a few new ones.

2. Use the old cushion as a measuring tool for the new ones. Measure the dimensions of the old foam rubber. This will let you know what size of foam rubber you will need to purchase when making new ones. If using new cushions with the old, make sure they line up, or they will not fit correctly when placed together.

3. Purchase new foam rubber at your local sewing store. They generally have the material you need located in the section where drapery material can be bought. Generally the pieces of foam will come in large sheets that you will have to cut to size. Some stores will cut it to the right size.

4. Buy the material you'd like to cover the cushion in. You will need a piece that is the size of the cushion, but you must allow for the sides and approximately 1-inch seams. It's better to purchase more material that you might need than to run short.

5. Cut the foam rubber to the needed size using a knife or large pair of scissors. Because the cushion will be covered with material, the edges don't have to look perfect. Once you've cut the cushions to the appropriate size, it's ready to be covered.

6. Cut your material to the appropriate size, allowing for sides and seams. Turning the material inside out, sew up three sides, leaving the fourth side open so the cushion will fit inside it. Once the cushion is inserted, fold the material over to have a clean edge and hand-sew the remaining seam together.
   If you don't want to hand-sew the remaining seam, you can attach Velcro and pull the open seam together. This will allow you to remove the covering and wash it as needed.