Lisa Comfort upcycles…
Are you sitting comfortably? This simple idea will brighten up an old seat
Give an old seat a new lease of life
STEP-BY-STEP
❶ Trace around your existing cushion cover on to your paper to create the template for the top and bottom pieces of the new cover.
Using a tape measure, measure the circumference of the piece you’ve just drawn. Measure the depth of your original cushion. Using these two measurements, draw a rectangle on your pattern paper to create the side panel. Add a 1.5cm seam allowance to all edges on both pattern pieces. Cut the pattern out.
❷ With right sides together, fold your fabric in half, matching the selvedges. Fold the side panel pattern piece in half lengthways and line up the fold of the pattern with the fold of the fabric. Place your top/bottom piece on to the fabric, taking into account the direction of the print. Pin and cut these out. You should have three pieces: cushion top, cushion bottom and side panel.
❸ With right sides together, stitch the short ends of the side panel piece, using a 1.5cm seam allowance, to join it in a loop. Press the seam open.
❹ Fold your cushion top piece in half, bringing together the two side front edges. Snip a notch into the centre front and centre back points at the fold. Repeat for the cushion bottom piece. In the same way, fold the side panel flat so that the seam sits at one end of the fold. Snip a notch into the fold at the other end on both the top and bottom edges.
❺ With right sides together, align the side panel and cushion top around the long edge. Match the front notches, and align the centre back notch on the cushion top to the centre back seam on the side panel. If your fabric is directional, make sure the side panel is the right way up. Pin all around and stitch with a 1.5cm seam allowance.
❻ Repeat for the cushion bottom, this time leaving a gap at the back, large enough to squeeze your seat pad through. Backstitch well at the start and end of your stitching. Turn the cover through to the right side and at the opening press the seam allowance inwards by 1.5cm. Insert the cushion pad, and then with a slipstitch, sew the gap closed by hand.