How to Refill or Stuff a Large Sofa Cushion Pillow

A sofa is the hard-working heart of your home.

Sofas are perhaps the hardest working pieces of furniture in the house. According to DiySofa, "Sofa history can be traced back to ancient Egypt of around 2000 BC, but true sofa was invented in the end of the 16th to the early 17th century." Sofas, as known today, come in various styles and of varying materials--leather, vinyl and cloth over frames of wood or metal or a combination of the two. After wear, cloth sofas sometimes need to be restuffed to maintain cushion loft. You can refill a sofa cushion pillow at home without the expense of a costly decorator.

Things You'll Need

• 3-5 lbs. polyester fiberfill stuffing
• Needle
• Thread to match cushion fabric
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Seam ripper
• Stuffing stick (dowel rod or pencil end)

Instructions

1. Place the sofa cushion pillow on a flat surface and examine it. If the sofa cushion pillow has a Velcro or zipper opening, open the cushion. If not, use a seam ripper to remove the stitches from a 4-inch section of a side seam.

2. Press the cushion as flat as possible using your hands. Make a mental note of where the cushion feels like it needs new stuffing.

3. Take a handful of stuffing and push it into the places within the sofa cushion pillow that need to be refilled. If the entire cushion needs to be restuffed, fill the pillow with a handful of polyester fiberfill at a time. If the sofa cushion pillow's stuffing is old or otherwise breaking down, remove all of the old stuffing and refill the cushion pillow with new filling.

4. Continue refilling the sofa cushion pillow until it returns to its natural shape. Take care to force stuffing into the corners with the stuffing stick if necessary.

5. Turn the edges of the 4-inch opening under, touching the wrong sides of the inside fabric, and pin.

6. Hand sew the 4-inch opening in the side seam shut or close the cushion with the Velcro or zipper.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy more stuffing than what you estimate you need.

• You can also use shredded sponge to fill your cushions, but it is messier to use. You can buy shredded sponge in sewing stores. For you prefer to use natural materials, cotton stuffing is available at sewing and craft stores.

References

• DyiSofa Manufacturing