DIY Patio Set Refurbish...PART 2 CUSHIONS

This is a tutorial of the Seat Cushions I made by hand with NO PATTERN and just an idea in my head about how I wanted them to turn out.  I liked the boxy look to the cushions I was researching and decided that it would make my fabric choices blend better and stand out more.

Here are my fabric colors:

I knew that I wanted to cover the woven seat (from part 1) with the coral color, but it wasn't until I set out to measure and create the custom cushions that I decided to make them square and add the blue color into them.

So having said that here's what you'll need to recreate my ideas (keep in mind that your measurements will NOT match mine exactly):

3/4 yd of your accent fabric (I used this as the accent color on the cushions and also as pillows, and chose a fun pattern here)
1 yd. of the cushion main fabric.  (I chose a solid with texture here.)
Thread
Pin cushion and pins
Sewing supplies be it a machine or a needle and thread
Stuffing or a foam cut out in the shape of your seat
a dowel rod or wooden skewer to stuff the stuffing in good and help flip inside out
iron and ironing board
good scissors
measuring tape and cutting board/surface

So the first step was the measure and cut out the main fabric for the seat.  Mine was measuring about 16x18 so I went up and added a few inches and made it 18x20.  I left the natural crease uncut on my fabric.

Then I took the accent fabric and cut about 2" wide pieces to match the length of my cushion sides and the front piece.  I put the pretty sides together and pinned them, then sewed them together.

So here's the first strip sewn on correctly

And here's how it looked pinned together with one side sewn and one side ready to sew. see how the pretty part stays inside and now you have a pillow inside out with the strip sewn so all seams will not show.

Don't forget to leave little holes in the back for the ties to be added on later.  It also serves as a way to pull the fabric right side out.

Inside out view of hole left open

Keep in mind the whole time you are pinning and sewing that you are going to be keeping the seams INSIDE and it will all be turned right side out and you won't want any stitching showing.  Don't get scared when the whole pillow ends up sew all around inside out because eventually you will be turning it back right side out through our little holes we left open in the back for the ties to go through.


Keep in mind also that you will eventually have to add ties to keep the cushion on the chair so do not sew about an inch towards the back of the pillow where your crease side is.  Leave those small holes for filling up the pillow with the last bits of "fluff" if you are using your own stuffing or just as a space to sew in those ties and also a place to flip the pillow inside out. :)

Right side out view of the hole left at the back by the crease

As you wrap up your cushion with the accent fabric it should look like this.

Right side out view

Inside out view of the sew on accent color strips

I will show you how to stuff and close up the whole thing and then make ties and close up around those as well in this last part:

Once it's sewn all around inside out correctly, flip the whole thing right side out through the tiny holes you left.  I know it's going to be a difficult task, but it does eventually all slip through that hole and go right side out.

After it's the right way, start stuffing it with fluff stuff.  If you do this method you cannot use a foam piece.  If you want to do a foam piece instead of fluff you'll have to hand sew on whole side back together or leave a LARGE hole towards the back and hand sew that back together after getting the foam to fit inside.



I stuffed mine very full because I wanted the full box shape and the extra padding for my larger half.

When you are finished stuffing all you have left is to make the ties and close it all up.

For the ties you take the leftover square of fabric (you should have some left in a square shape) and you cut in into strips as long as you can get them to be.

Take the strips and iron folds into them.  Fold a little bit on each side inward.  Then fold those together and iron closed.  sew up the seam so they stay closed and burn off or tuck in the ends and sew again.  Then close up the hole in the back of the pillow with the ties sewed into the inside nice and neat. You can hand sew this closed or try on the machine which is how I did it.

Once you have sealed up the two holes in the back and sewn in the ties you are done and ready to tie it on and enjoy your work. 

COME BACK FOR PART 3

THE BACK PILLOWS

Pickin' and Ribbons...my repurpose project ONE

So I've decided that it's time to redecorate or actually start to decorate to begin with.  I picked up the following at various garages sales for $19.00 the other day.

Some doll sized benches and step stools
A toilet paper closet with chicken wire front
A random yellow ring with spirals and a country star on it
several baskets
a few country star candle holders
many wrought iron candle holders and baskets
and a free window from my awesome neighbor.


So project #1 was to make a Mizzou wreath out of the random yellow ring thing.  Here's the progress and final product.

I chose some Missouri Tigers fabric, a little tiger stripe fabric, some felt in black and some tulle in sparkly yellow/gold and black.  At the end I added some gold and black ribbons.

This is the ring with the first few felt pieces on it.  See the country star and the random ring with metal wound up in springs around it?

And here's what it looked like when I was all finished.

It really is just like the commercial...

YES, there is one product that I just switched to that I swear I was just exactly like the commercials.

Here's the story:

So, I bought my son some cute little shorts and polos off one of the area swap shops on facebook.  Yes I've also become a swap addict, but that's a post for another day.  So I got his new clothes home and of course like any good mom I washed them in our laundry.  They smelled really good before I placed them into the laundry to wash, but I always want to rewash things that I buy him.  So I did and guess what??  They came out smelling amazing STILL.  Hmm...I held my nose into them, I sniffed them on my son's body, I was obsessed with how good these things smelled.  So fresh, so clean, so perfect.  So...so...WHAT IS THIS AMAZING STUFF?  I had to know.  So I did what any awesome person does and I messaged this woman I bought them from and asked her....WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU USE TO WASH YOUR CLOTHING?  She said the obvious...GAIN.  Oh my goodness, she uses GAIN. I've just played right into every single one of their commercials and I am obsessed with a smell.  I'm walking around with my nose buried in clothing smelling of GAIN.  So of course I went out and bought it.  And I still love the smell.  I still pull laundry out from the dryer or wash and sniff it a ton.  I'm so totally just like their commercials that it is cracking me up.  I've got it bad for GAIN.

And NO I was not paid to advertise them, or put their name in ALL CAPS, or anything else.  I really am just a normal mommy who was impressed with the smell and now impressed with how long it lasts and how clean my clothing is.  Thanks GAIN. :)