How to Make a Homemade Chair Cushion

Spruce up your chairs with new cushions.

New chair cushions may be all you need to spruce up the décor in a room. Give your chairs a makeover with cushions you can make yourself. If you can sew a straight seam, making homemade chair cushions is a simple project. Stitching seams by hand is an option if a sewing machine is not available. Select upholstery fabrics to coordinate with the room's existing décor and create custom cushions to fit any size chair.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Marker
• 2-inch-thick upholstery foam
• Electric knife
• Scissors
• Batting
• Spray adhesive
• Fabric
• Chalk
• Straight edge
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine and iron
• Self-adhesive interlocking strips

Instructions

1. Measure the dimensions of the chair seat. Draw an outline of the chair seat dimensions onto one side of 2-inch thick upholstery foam.

2. Cut the foam around the outline with an electric knife.

3. Cut a section of batting to cover the foam cutout. Place the batting face up on a flat surface. Spray the batting with adhesive. Center the foam chair seat cutout on top of the batting. Wrap the batting around the foam. Apply pressure to the batting until the adhesive sets up. Fold the batting along the 2-inch edge of the foam and hold it in place as well.

4. Roll out a section of upholstery fabric onto a flat work surface. Place the batting-wrapped foam on top of the fabric, close to one corner. Place the back edge of the foam 1-1/2 inches from the back edge of the fabric, and 1-1/2-inches from the left side of the fabric.

5. Fold the front edge of the fabric up over the foam until the uncut edge at the fabric roll meets the cut edge at the back of the fabric. Mark the underside of the fabric with chalk where the uncut edge meets the back edge to get the cut line for the length of the chair cushion. Fold the fabric back over flat. Measure and mark 1-1/2 inches from the right side of the foam cutout to get your cut line for the width of the chair cushion cover. Remove the cushion.

6. Cut a straight line along the width of the fabric to coincide with the mark. Cut a straight line along the length of the fabric to coincide with the chalk mark.

7. Fold the fabric in half, face to face. Pin the edges of the fabric together along the two sides that are adjacent to the center fold, 1 inch from the outside edge. The center fold is the front edge of the chair cushion. Leave each side unpinned 1 inch from the back edge.

8. Stitch a seam along both of the pinned edges. Remove the pins as you sew. Make sure that you do not sew the unpinned section of each edge.

9. Fold the edges along the open side of the fabric back 1 inch. Pin each edge separately. Stitch the seams along the pins. Remove the pins. This is the open slot for the chair cushion. The opening will allow you to remove and wash the cover as needed.

10. Iron the two seams along the back of the cushion flat. Iron the two seams along the sides of the cushion open.

11. Attach a length of self-adhesive interlocking strip across the width of each seam at the back of the cushion.

12. Reverse the fabric cover. Insert the foam. Press the interlocking strips together to close the chair cushion.

References

• Upholstery Supplies Guide: Cutting Foam

Resources

• Sewing: Simple Seaming Techniques