dining chair pad tutorial

Box cushions give chairs a sleek and tailored look. Chair cushions bear the brunt of wear and tear in most seating, which can make them flat and uncomfortable. Replacing old cushions with handmade cushions is an excellent way to bring your favorite chair back to life. Sewing box cushions may look daunting to beginners, but they are basically a series of straight seams. Measure the seat of your chair from side to side. That is the width of 2-inch foam you will need for each cushion. Add six inches to get the total width of fabric you need for each cushion. Measure your seat from front to back to get the length of 2-inch foam you need for each cushion. Double that number, and add six inches to get the total length of fabric you need for each cushion. Draw your foam dimensions out on a piece of craft paper or newspaper. Use a straight edge to keep the lines straight. Cut out the pattern along the lines you drew. Place the pattern on your foam, and trace around it with a marker.

Trace around the foam. Measure out 1/2 inch on all four sides, and draw another line. Cut out two pieces of fabric along the outer line. Repeat for the short side of the foam, or cut one long piece 1/2 inch longer and 1/2 inch wider on each side for a round or oval cushion.
buy chiavari chair Pin your long side strips of fabric together at their short sides, printed side to printed side.
hanging egg chair apartmentLeave one corner open.
buy teak dining chairs Sew 1/2-inch seams along the short ends of the fabric strips that you pinned.
cheap swivel office chairs uk Pin the side strips to the top piece of fabric, printed sides together. Fit the seams you sewed to the corners of the top piece of fabric.

Place the fabric printed side in on the foam to make sure it fits. Pin the final corner closed. Make any adjustments to the pins. Remove the fabric from the foam, and sew the final corner closed. Sew the side pieces to the top piece. Pin the side pieces to the bottom piece, printed side to printed side. Leave the center 1/3 of one side open so you will be able to slip the foam inside of the cover. Sew the side pieces to the bottom piece. Turn the cover right side out, and slip the foam inside of it. Roll the foam up to make it easier to get it through the opening. Smooth the foam into the corners of the cushion. Sew the remaining opening closed with a needle and thread. Things You Will Need Measuring tape Craft paper or newspaper Photo Credits Visage/Stockbyte/Getty ImagesChair pads are a great way to bring a little extra color and comfort to your dining room or breakfast nook. A simple chair pad can easily be DIY-ed and is a great project for beginner sewers!

A chair pad can be an easy way to try out bold colors or patterns in a room, not to mention a cushion will up the comfort level of any dining room chair. Our chair pads feature a simple design and attach to the chair with ties at the back of the cushion. To add a little extra style, we used a decorative Sunbrella piping around the perimeter of the chair, but you could leave this off or create your own piping for an exact match with your fabric. If you wanted to add more interest to your chair pad you could add button tufting using Snap Together Button Forms, V-92 thread and a long needle. We filled our chair pad with a 2 inch thick piece of Fairfield’s Poly-Fil Nu-Foam, which is a densified polyester batting. Nu-Foam is a great choice for chair pads because it can be hand washed, so you can wash the whole cushion in case of spills. However, if you prefer the feel of denser foam, 2” polyurethane foam is also a great choice. This video will walk you step-by-step through the process of making a chair pad including how to pattern your fabric, cut the foam, sew piping, make fabric ties and insert the foam.

If you’d prefer the look of a whole seat cover to the chair pads, check out our tutorial How to Make a Kitchen Chair Seat Cover. Have you done a project like this before? Share your ideas and tips in the comments!My tush loves them. The girls both said, 'Wow, Mom, our chairs feel so GOOD now.' Looking on the bright side, I guess sitting on hard chairs may have built some character along the way. The chairs were purchased about ten years ago from Crate & Barrel and they are, in fact, pretty booty-friendly, even without the cushions. But it was time. Here's how to make your pattern: 4) Now you'll need to gather: Fabric for tops and bottoms (Decor weight works best, but I used quilting cotton on some of mine. You can always add fusible interfacing to beef it up.) Eight self-cover buttons for each cushion you make. I used 7/8 inch buttons on mine. One-inch wide cotton webbing or ribbon for the straps. I used about 20 inches per cushion (four 5-inch pieces), but that will vary for you because your chairs are different.

Velcro for closures (see note below about using a long piece as opposed to a square) One package of premade piping for each cushion (Jo-Ann had a nice selection of Wrights bias piping, which comes 2 1/2 yards per package. I had about 18 inches leftover from mine, so this should cover a variety of cushion sizes.) Scraps of fabric to match your piping for the self-covered buttonsI used 2 1/2 large bags (32 oz) of Polyfil stuffing for six cushions, and I probably err on the understuffed side. I really hate to stuff things. 5) Cut lengths of cotton webbing or sturdy ribbon for the velcro straps. You'll need two pairsUse this formula for sizing: *** Late Note *** After some real-life road testing, I've found it's probably better to use a longer piece of velcro (as opposed to a square) unless your house contains only small, waif-like adults who move with quiet grace, and do not squirm and fidget. Otherwise, a longer piece of velcro with more overlap will provide a more secure fastening.

make the straps, press over 1/2 inch of one end. Tack with a dot of glue, then sew the velcro square rectangle so that it covers the cut edge. The picture shows a short piece of velcro, but you are going to use a longer piece because you are smart. You'll have four straps for one cushion. Two with the fuzzy side, two with the hooky side. Hooky is the technical term. 7) Trace and cut out two pieces of fabric for each cushion from your pattern and mark the button placement on the right sides. 8) Glue baste the piping round the edges of one of the cushion halves (using the same method I used in my Four Leaf pillow tutorial ) except if you used a 3/8" seam allowance you can glue the piping so it is flush with the raw edge of the material. Snipping the flange around the corners makes it easy to curve the piping. 9) Using a zipper foot, sew the piping down just a few inches along the back of the cushion half, so that when you hand sew the opening together later you won't be juggling loose piping as well as two layers of fabric.

You can also take this opportunity to sew a corresponding few inches along the seam allowance on the other piece of fabric, so you can use that as a guide when you hand stitch it closedI highly recommend that. 10) Next, glue baste the straps on with 1/2 inch overlapping the seam line, two straps per corner, one with fuzzy and one with hooky. Make sure that in each corner one strap is basted on with the velcro up and the other with the velcro down - learned that the hard way. 11) Glue-baste the other piece of fabric on top of that, right sides together, leaving an 4 inch opening in the center back so you can stuff it later. Pin for extra security. Using your zipper foot, sew as close to the piping as you can, all the way around except for the opening. Be sure to backstitch at 12) Notch the curved corners and turn it right side out through theI always love that part. 13) Now set up your iPad on your work surface with Doctor Who Season 2 streaming (that last bit is optional) and stuff and stuff and stuff, until each cushion has a nice shape and is filled out but still pretty spongy.

Don't sew it shut. 14) Add the buttons at this point. Thread a doll needle with a long piece of embroidery floss, doubled. 15) Go into the pillow at the button mark you made, then out of the pillow at the corresponding mark on the other side. You'll leave a tail of floss out the other side. Don't worry, you are going back to meet it. Now thread on a button (which you have already covered in matching fabric, right?), then go back through the pillow very close to where you just came out, and come out on the opposite side very close to where you came in (see the transparent diagram below). 16) Cut off your needle and tie a very tight square knot with the floss, pulling it as tight as you can to create a tuft (see diagram below). Oh, look at that. Tie an extra knot for security. Then thread on another button and tie another couple of tight square knots that will disappear under the button as you tighten them. Trim the floss ends so they are hidden under the second button. Repeat those steps to add buttons on the other three sets of marks.