I followed along to make 6” deep cushions for outdoor chairs...thank you for making it so easy! I do not sew often at all I my cushions turned out great!
I believe the purpose of this is to allow the cushion to be slightly compressed which would help keep the shape of the fabric without wrinkling or moving too much
Great video, however, I made the cushion exactly as described and once you reduce by 1/4" and then by the 3/8" seam it was VERY tight. So tight that the edges were rounded. Also, why not just cut to the size of the cushion and then use a 5/8" seam rather than reducing by 1/4" and sewing at 3/8"?
OK, great video. But! The thickness of the foam was 3 inches. Why ? Did you cut the end material at 2 and 3/4 inches. Isn't the cushion now only 2 and 3/4 inches thick and not 3 inches. At the end you measured width and length, but not thickness. I'm just assuming it's for a nice tight fit. I'm currently reupholstering my caravan cushions and this video has given me the confidence.
Great demonstration and information. As a quilter who uses a rotary cutter often, I gasped in horror when I saw you cut toward your body with the rotary cutter. Please always cut away from your body. The cutters do slip and they are surgical-sharp blades. Many quilters share their 'war stories' about their encounters with blades and subsequent trips to the ER.
I used this tutorial to make a new chair seat pad and footstool cushion for a used platform rocker we found at a second-hand store. Very easy to follow. Excellent results! He is right when he says that inserting the foam pad into the finished cushion is like "wrestling an alligator." So for each pad, I first made a cushion liner out of lightweight synthetic fabric and covered the foam pads before inserting them into the exterior upholstery fabric cushion covers. The permanent underlining will also make it easier to remove the chair pad and footstool cushion for cleaning, if necessary.
Follow this video step for step and it is SO easy and great. We reupholstered our couch cushions in 3 hours and have never tried anything like this. Super satisfying. Thank you for the video! (note: If you dont like the zipper thought, just do a envelope opening. Its fast, easy and works perfectly)
EXCELLENT video; loved the walking foot sewing machine & magnetic edge guide. I am a quilt maker & seamstress with over 50 years of sewing experience; great job to sewer & narrator, video graphics & technique! Recommend never using rotary cutter to cut towards yourself. Also, there's a resting place on top of rotary cutter handle for your index finger, for more balanced pressure while cutting; just a suggestion! Please include rotary cutter safety instructions that state why blade is always closed or covered after each cut, when putting cutter down. You DID show best reason why you place ruler on cushion fabric & not on waste fabric...excellent tip & demo. Thanks much!!!
Thanks for the video! Let me share what has worked very well for me for FREE MATERIAL!, much of which I've learned from my brother who is a professional upholster, with making a new bench or van bench seat or boosting old car seat foam: For car seats that need boosting, most often they just need more foam added to be like new again, I find used carpet pad foam often in a neighbor's trash or dumpster behind a carpet store. Remove the car seat fabric clips and carefully peel the front and sides of the fabric to gain access under the seat foam core, which often requires the seat be unbolted from the floor. Place a sheet of it or two under the seat foam core, right on top of the spring wire deck(carpet pad foam is tougher than the core so this also stops the spring wire deck from cutting into the seat foam core bottom). Your second sheet can be cut smaller just covering the area the butt sits on. Also inspect the top of the foam core and add carpet pad foam or regular foam where might be needed like by the door, worn from getting in and out over the years. Spray adhesive can be used to bond the foam to the foam but is not necessary except for any top foam added. Your seats will be firm and new like for many years now, it's like free magic! The seat back usually doesn't need a any foam because it's the seat that gets the body weight on it from gravity. If you seat back should need a boost, you can add polyfill batting on top of the foam for free-see below. These methods can also be used on sofa seat cushions. I'll share below where to find FREE used good foam below! To make a bench- where to get free foam: there is so much FREE foam and FREE polyfill - in many soft pillow backs and polyfill batting often wrapped around foam cushions for the taken in people's discarded sofa's and chairs found outside dumpsters at apartment complexes and the back of thrift stores. Even though it's used, it has been well protected covered inside the upholstery. Of course in the event it's a cat lady's furniture and the cats happened to piss all over it, you'll smell it and know to move on lol Most apartments don't allow pets or make it expensive to have a pet so a lot of furniture is pet free. Use a box cutter to open the old furniture to get at the free foam or poly as you need or use the zipper you'll find on some pieces. Some foam in old sofas contain like a 1" thick panel of foam on top of other foam that is perfect thickness to add to your sofa foam to give it the new boost again. Foam can be cut to size using a hack saw loose blade only in your hand holding the end making a sawing motion. New foam looses some of it's firmness over a break in period, say after 5 years depending on how much it's sat on. But then the broken in foam lasts a very very long time at that softer level firmness before it really starts to break down. You might be able to buy complete new expensive foam cushion cores but they will sag after the break in period as well. This is why so often we love a new firm piece of furniture but then it gets soft and saggy on us. Now the sofa companies could to put super firm more expensive foam in their sofa's when new that might be a perfect firmness for us when broken after the 5 years break in period, but then we wouldn't buy the sofa if it's not nice to sit on from the beginning in the show room, so there's the dilemma when you fabric is still in great shape after 5 years but the foam is now sagging. The free fix: So just add more foam if you can firms it up to make it like new again, unzip and compress the foam as you slowly peel off your fabric from the cushion core. Then either add more foam to the top or bottom or hack blade saw through the center horizontal line of the foam core all the way from the back to almost through the front but not through, so you leave a good hinge of foam in the front. Then place about a 1" thick of used foam in the sandwich and holding it closed peel the fabric back over the foam cushion. You can also add more polyfill pad to the cushion core on it's outside to add more softness and support but adding more foam is the big boost. Spray adhesive is optional to bond the foam to the foam. People often think that when the seat sags that the springs under the cushions, have weakened but no, it's the foam, the springs are metal and strong, the foam is just foam. For making complete new cushion tops for say a bench, besides free foam, you might even find a lightly used fabric in some part of a discarded sofa to use IN FACT the back side of sofa's is often a large sheet of fabric that has been hidden against the wall never sat on all it's life and so still brand new! Discarded trash at a dumpster is free for the taking and your reducing what goes to our planet's landfill. This is win win, real free hard core recycling, helping to save our environment as well! Take care!
This video is awesome. I bought the underlining and double sided tape (a miraculous invention!) and I finished my 2 cushions in record time. Had to laugh at myself as I was wrestling the alligator-great analogy. The cushions are perfect! Thanks for a great video.
I would love to be able to place a photo here of my completed glider cushion covers I made with your instructions. Turned out beautifully and brings a beautiful spot to my front porch.
What a great tutorial!! I'm an experienced sewer and still loved this...you have it all laid out for me!! I can just follow and do ..instead of working out all the steps/dimensions. THANK YOU for filming this.
Hey I'm confused. I understand why the foam is cut 1/4 inch bigger on each side. I don't understand why the underlining cushion is cut 1/4 inch smaller than the foam. That makes the cut out underlining the size of the required cushion. What about the seam allowance? Once the underlining and fabric have been stitched together it will end up smaller than the required cushion size.
The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better. At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.
I just used this tutorial to make cushions for my cat window perches. It was so easy and they look great! I have sewing experience so I was able to follow easily along and start to finish took 5 hours for 3 covers 😍
Well tried it epic fail. Not your fault. My base was a sleeve for a frame to slide into wider than foam piece. Unfortunately I cut top piece now too small. May have to piece side panels and cut new foam. I should have read comments to see where people were messing up. Ha😅
C'est ma première expérience sur une machine à coudre. J'ai réussi à fabriquer mes 4 coussins pour mon véhicule récréatif. Je suis très fier du résultat. Merci pour cette vidéo.
Thank you for this great video! It clarified some things for me and also gave me some ideas. I'm looking at making new covers for my motorhome and this was exactly what I needed. I do have some questions : is it possible to use the same fabric on the bottom and instead of cutting the bottom plate to keep it as a one piece and only cut and sow corners and the zipper? And also regarding the zipper is it possible to replace it with an envelope type of closure? I've never seen it done in upholstry only in pillow cases. If someone with some experience would be kind enough to answer I would highly appreciate it. Thank you!
Hi, I am wanting to make this cushion. My foam is already cut to the exact size of the box I’m making a cover for. Do I still add the 1/4 inch with the fabric on the bottom, or do I take off 1/4 inch to make it tight like you suggest? Thank you!
I'm jumping for joy! With relatively little sewing skill, I just finished covering the first cushion for our RV per your excellent step-by-step video. The result is very professional looking. I am so pleased with the products I ordered from your website. Your cushion underlining material and the basting tape, used in the video, are awesome products. The price is fair and delivery rapid. Thank you, Sailrite!
Great video.. Getting ready to do my first set of bench cushions and need to confirm that your fabric cover dimensions are smaller than the foam? In other words, once the foam is inserted, it's compressed? Just curios as other videos show the material is cut to actual dimensions, plus extra for the seam. Thx.
The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better. At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.
Great tutorial and exactly what I needed. I am making cushion covers for my neighbor and I wasn't sure how to do it with boxed corners. This is perfect and so simple to do. Thank you!!!
Used your video to reupholstered my cushions for my 1981 eriba caravan and they look great!!!! Instructions were sooo clear and easy to follow. For my first time making seat covers they look amazing!!! Thank youuuuuu 😃
This was a really helpful video with the exception of one thing. You say cut the foam 1/4" larger than the required finished cushion and then cut the base fabric 1/4" smaller than the dimension of the cut foam, but you don't explain WHY. I've watched the video three times now and got my husband to watch it too in case I was missing something quite obvious, but no, you just don't explain WHY! I've read the answer you gave to Barbara Wardlaw 2 years ago, but this is even more confusing than the lack of explanation in the video - it just doesn't make sense at all. Is the reason you cut the foam 1/4" larger and the base plate 1/4" smaller, to ensure the foam fits the cover snugly? I simply can't figure out how there ultimately being a 1/2" difference between the size of the foam and the base plate makes sense - that would be a very snug fit, surely? Maybe I'm thick, but please explain in words of one syllable to a novice cushion maker. Thanks.
The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better. At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished. Basically this allows for a tight fitting cushion cover.
You said it clearly but I just wanna double triple check. Did you really trim off 1/4 inch like they said in the video and the cover fits just right??? My first time making it and I don’t wanna screw up. The fabric is pricey. TIA.
great tutorial, thanks! Could you do an envelope style opening on the bottom plate instead of a zipper? Trying to avoid the zipper damaging the paint in the bench underneath.
I have the same issue--don't want to damage the paint on my bench. I'm concerned that an "envelope style opening" would not give the nice snug look I'm after. Wouldn't it gape some?
Great video, good and clear instructions. I just scaled this up a little bit and made a queen size boat mattress where one long side is a couple of inches shorter than the other. It becomes a little tricky if you have to sew two pieces of fabric together to make for the 60-inch width. But if you stick to the instructions it becomes clear how to manage that.
I’ve watched this video for what seems like the 100th time! I’m recovering interior cabin boat cushions using the existing bottom plate with the zipper already in place. So, with my iPad next to the sewing machine, this video on pause at each step and a quick prayer....it turned out perfectly! One down, three more to go! Your videos are so helpful for a rookie seamstress and I send my heartfelt thanks!
Helpful video, but annoying ads. Fast forward? Ad. Jump back? Ad. Reload video within a couple minutes? Hey, another ad! Isn't this video, in and of itself, already an ad for Sailrite? Doesn't make me want to shop there.
I absolutely hate the music and voice over.... I made sure I skipped all the rotten commercials.... And no I am not gonna buy a $1000 sewing machine Or anything else from rip off sale right
I love this video. My only criticism is that the narrator does not say his company name properly. Please enunciate SaiL Right. No Sareright. Thanks! Good job guys!
Great tutorial. I plan to use this to make a cushion for a bench I use at my sewing table. A couple of tips - be very careful with the rotary cutter. The cutter should be pushed away from you will cutting (I noticed you cut toward yourself). And the blade should be closed any time the cutter is not actively cutting. Keeping the blade open while repositioning the ruler and/or fabric increases the risk of hitting either open skin or other materials.
Hello. Is it possible to sew the zipper on the side instead of the bottom? My fabric is very 'frill-y', and the foam that I have only has medium firmness and is only 2-in thick. Please help. Anyone.
thank you for this video. However, should it be possible to add the european values in cm to your explanation? it is quite confusing for me, i'm not used to this system.
Yes, this calculator may be helpful. It is our Folded Over Foam Cushions Calculator. It uses "inches" or "mm" to help you calculate the size of your fabric. Here is the link: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html
1. it's never going to come out as the size of the cushion because you haven't added seam allowances - so you're losing the seam allowance around the whole cushion 2. Step 6 - the two pieces are never going to line up because you've shortened the top piece by 4xseam allowance all the way around??
Hi. Love this video!! Thank you. Can someone explain why we add a quarter inch to the size of the foam beyond our actual dimension measurements or have I got that wrong?
Can someone please explain to me why the cushion you cut is bigger that the desired seat size and why the cushion cover is cut smaller than the foam size? I can’t seem to get my head around why this would be needed and I want to before I start cutting/wasting fabric?
Thanks for the excellent instructions I have ventured to upholster boat seats by following the previous covers and a few other projects just by guessing what to do - but started a new project and used your instructions without a hiccup great stuff
I have a triangular cushion I'm trying to make and boy I would have loved to have had that knife couple weeks ago and I cut the phone I didn't okay job but the edges just aren't that nice and flat you know I'm watching this to see if I can figure out how to make a cover for it
I was looking for a video like this! Every window in my home has a wide bench seat ...yes every window!! So I'll be busy. Thanks for the video, I saved it for later to watch. 😊
Wonderful Brian, you did so well and so clear. I put the cushion cover wrong side out and over the top and peel the fabric over and under. Found it much easier than jamming it in
I've used this to make several cushions and it's great! But now I need to do an inside corner on one of my cushions? How would I prepare the top plate for that?
I have never commented on youtube before but I am beyond angry. Just wasted expensive material by following this video. I was short on fabric from all those stupid quarter inches! How does it even make sense to cut the fabric smaller than your pillow and also allow for a seam allowance and expect it to fit??
Sorry to hear this! We want the cover to fit tightly over the foam, so the cover being smaller than the foam should compress the foam for a good tight looking fit, as it did in the video. Did you use the Sailrite Fabric Calculator to come up with the measurements? Here is the link: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html If you don't mind give me your measurements and I will check your work to see what may have happened. Send me photos of the cushion to ericg@sailrite.com I will be glad to help evaluate what may have gone wrong with your cushion. Thanks, Eric Grant, Sailrite
I do love Sailrite videos, but I had the same problem. My foam was only 2” thick. I think that taking down 1/2 inch on the length and width is TOO MUCH. My small cushion ended up to small as well.
Perhaps you should have had your cushions professionally made or did a practice sample using cheaper fabric first. I used this video and the result was perfect. This is a diy video made for our convenience for free. If you don’t mind me saying, you’re sounding a bit ungrateful and disrespectful to the makers of this video.
Thanks so much for this but a little confused. If the material is cutout to fit the foam but then we see a 3/8 seam all around, won’t the cushion be two small? Eg the sides will be 3/8+3/8=3/4 inch smaller than the foam sides
Yes, you are correct this makes for a very tight fitting cover. The foam will compress slightly, that is why we make the foam a 1/2" larger on both dimensions or 1/4" larger on all sides. Use this calculator and you will see: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html
Prep to completion was way more than an hour! I only like sticky tape for zipper. Otherwise, I find its a mess. I miscalc'd one cushion but easy fix and actually came out extra night. Thx for great instructions, although I lined up my box on the edge of material and subtracted .50", instead of wasting material, and cutting an entire back box minus .25. Did same for addition. Lined to side. No waste! NownI have extra material to make matching lumbar pillows!!!
I genuinely do not understand how making the foam bigger and the fabric smaller than intended somehow ended up with a perfect pillow but the witchcraft worked so whatever
I was able to make a cushion successfully but it was alot harder and took alot longer than I would have expected from the video. I would recommend to others some tips to make it easier. 1) Use stiff, sturdy decorative fabric without any give or stretch. Positioning and tracing the foam is very difficult if the fabric bunches up, stretches and doesn't slide on your workspace. 2) I did not order the Seamstick basting tape and instead used another (well regarded) brand. This was a mistake. The tape I used would not adhere to the rubberized liner fabric for the lower plate nor to the zipper. After wasting an hour messing around with the tape, I wound up removing it and just pinning the zipper on and then later pinned the top and bottom plate together. This was much quicker and easier; plus I didn't have to worry about accidentally sewing over or inside the tape, I could easily reposition my pieces, and I could attach my pieces without having to lay the assembly out flat. 3) I would not recommend using this cushion making method for a very large project like mine ( my cushion is 74" x 23") unless you have a very large work table and follow tips 1) - 3) above. Many people ask why the bottom plate is a little smaller than the cushion or why the top plate + sides deducts 1/4". The decorative fabric acts as a cap the fits over the cushion top and sides. It then attaches to the bottom plate just like an upside down bowl sitting on a plate that is smaller than the bowl -- the decorative top fabric should tuck under the sides of the cushion a little on the bottom. The fabric is cut a little smaller than the cushion to make the cover tight. I would also recommend deducting only 1/8" from each side vs. the 1/4" recommended (so 1/4" from your total length and width vs. 1/2") because if your measurements are off or uneven just a little (which can easily occur on bigger projects or with fabric that rumples) you won't have much margin for error. But all in all I am glad I used this approach and am very happy with the results, though it was quite frustrating to make!
Great comments and suggestions. You are correct, all double sided tapes are NOT equal. Sailrite makes the best seamstick or double sided tape for canvas and upholstery. If you want it to work - you got to buy it from Sailrite. Thanks for your comments!!!!
Very helpful! The only thing I did different: my fabric frayed a lot more at the ends, so when i cut the fabric to make the zipper show, i sewed as close as i could to the zipper with a zigzag stitch, to secure the excess fabric, and then cut the rest off so it didn't get stuck in the zipper. Also for people wondering: i couldn't get a really long zipper at the store, but it's best that you do!
Please can you tell me why the foam was cut 1/4” larger than it needed to be? The top plate was cut to fit the foam (which is 1/4” too large each side) and then the boxing is 1/4” too short so I don’t understand how you haven’t got a cushion which is 1/2” too wide and 1/4” less deep as it’s been compressed by the cover and that’s before seam allowances are taken into account. I’m sorry if this doesn’t make sense, I couldn’t explain it any clearer! Thank you.
LET ME EXPLAIN THE PROCESS SHOW IN THE VIDEO: The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better. At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished. Let me know if you have more questions.
Is there a way to use this concept, in a thinner basis, to make insulated sides and bottom for an insulated shopping bag? I'm new enough to sewing that I don't know how to get this idea into a project. (I've received insulated packing for packages shipping cold be foods, and want to recycle this insulation). Do you have any suggestions?
I should have listened to my instincts that this made no sense! I followed the directions exactly and ended up needing to trim my foam down to fit it inside and now the finished cushion is smaller than I needed it. My only guess is that my foam is more firm, and my fabric less stretchy. In that case the directions should say that this won’t work with woven, non-stretchy fabrics.
I will be trying this for a 28x38x6” thick dog bed using faux leather fabric, im having trouble calculating the measurements as i will be installing zippers to connect the top and bottom. i calculated 45x35 which includes 3” overlap on both sides and 1/2” seam allowance on both sides. gotta get that electric knife for the foam it looks seamless.
If you use our fabric calculator you will have to calculate nothing yourself, it does it for you. Here is the link: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html
Thank you for this great tutorial. I learned so much. I especially liked the commentator adding tips and the displayed notes. Easy breezy and I'm going to attempt to make our seat cushions! Getting on your site to order materials/tools. Thanks again. Great job.
You can cut foam with a band saw, too. You just have to have a carrier underneath so it slides easily on the saw table. Maybe a table saw will work -- I didn't try it. I didn't have an electric knife and scissors gave ragged results, so -- I improvised!
Can I use this instruction to make outdoor sectional cushions? It looks way simpler than your French style mattress cushion video. It is going to be 4inch thickness and two 45inch long cushions. Also can I simply add the zippers to the back and not on the bottom plate with same method?
I wrap the cushion in plastic and take a vacuum cleaner and suck it down. Makes it a lot easier stuffing the foam. I like the zipper in the back and the same fabric on the bottom so it’s reversible.
Im already lost. It looked like you made a back stitch across both ends of the zipper but when you cut the slit down the length of the fabric on the backside of the fabric there was no back stitch across one end of the zipper. ???
Why did you cut the fabric 2 3/4 inches wider than the cushion when the cushion is 3” thick. Is the cover intentionally smaller than the cushion in order to have a tight fit? Thanks.
he top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better. At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.
I followed along to make 6” deep cushions for outdoor chairs...thank you for making it so easy! I do not sew often at all I my cushions turned out great!
That is awesome!!!! I am glad that this video helped with your cushion project.
Just followed this video and made some very nice asymmetric, trapezoid shaped cushions for our kitchen window bench. Thank you sailrite!
Glad you liked it and your cushions came out great! Good job!!!!!
am i thick? i don't understand why you minus 1/4 inch from the bottom plate AND the top plate. doesn't that make the whole thing too small?
I believe the purpose of this is to allow the cushion to be slightly compressed which would help keep the shape of the fabric without wrinkling or moving too much
Your tutorials are the best! It's like college for upholstery!!!! Jut did camper cushions and the method worked beautifully!
Wow, thanks!!! Good job on the cushions.
Great idea for saving labor in making rectangular cushions, thanks guys!
+Sue W I am glad you liked it. Let us know if you have questions about the project.
Great video, however, I made the cushion exactly as described and once you reduce by 1/4" and then by the 3/8" seam it was VERY tight. So tight that the edges were rounded. Also, why not just cut to the size of the cushion and then use a 5/8" seam rather than reducing by 1/4" and sewing at 3/8"?
Very nicely done video and easy to follow it thank you
Great video! Instructions were clear and easy to follow.
Thank you
I am very glad that you liked the video. Let us know if you have questions.
Fantastic video! I'm a professional handy woman and love this version of "how-to' for box cushions. Well-done and easy to understand!
Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
OK, great video. But! The thickness of the foam was 3 inches. Why ? Did you cut the end material at 2 and 3/4 inches. Isn't the cushion now only 2 and 3/4 inches thick and not 3 inches. At the end you measured width and length, but not thickness. I'm just assuming it's for a nice tight fit. I'm currently reupholstering my caravan cushions and this video has given me the confidence.
Great demonstration and information. As a quilter who uses a rotary cutter often, I gasped in horror when I saw you cut toward your body with the rotary cutter. Please always cut away from your body. The cutters do slip and they are surgical-sharp blades. Many quilters share their 'war stories' about their encounters with blades and subsequent trips to the ER.
Lol. Maybe only gasp in horror if he actually cuts himself.
Good to know, I won't be using it often. I'll probably just use scissors.
What was the name of the bottom plate fabric? What type of fabric was that?
I used this tutorial to make a new chair seat pad and footstool cushion for a used platform rocker we found at a second-hand store. Very easy to follow. Excellent results! He is right when he says that inserting the foam pad into the finished cushion is like "wrestling an alligator." So for each pad, I first made a cushion liner out of lightweight synthetic fabric and covered the foam pads before inserting them into the exterior upholstery fabric cushion covers. The permanent underlining will also make it easier to remove the chair pad and footstool cushion for cleaning, if necessary.
Follow this video step for step and it is SO easy and great. We reupholstered our couch cushions in 3 hours and have never tried anything like this. Super satisfying. Thank you for the video! (note: If you dont like the zipper thought, just do a envelope opening. Its fast, easy and works perfectly)
Wow, good job! 3 hours for couch cushions is very fast, glad this video helped and thanks for the suggestion about the envelope opening.
EXCELLENT video; loved the walking foot sewing machine & magnetic edge guide. I am a quilt maker & seamstress with over 50 years of sewing experience; great job to sewer & narrator, video graphics & technique! Recommend never using rotary cutter to cut towards yourself. Also, there's a resting place on top of rotary cutter handle for your index finger, for more balanced pressure while cutting; just a suggestion! Please include rotary cutter safety instructions that state why blade is always closed or covered after each cut, when putting cutter down. You DID show best reason why you place ruler on cushion fabric & not on waste fabric...excellent tip & demo.
Thanks much!!!
Woodglut is nice for that.
Agree!
Thanks for the video!
Let me share what has worked very well for me for FREE MATERIAL!, much of which I've learned from my brother who is a professional upholster, with making a new bench or van bench seat or boosting old car seat foam:
For car seats that need boosting, most often they just need more foam added to be like new again, I find used carpet pad foam often in a neighbor's trash or dumpster behind a carpet store. Remove the car seat fabric clips and carefully peel the front and sides of the fabric to gain access under the seat foam core, which often requires the seat be unbolted from the floor.
Place a sheet of it or two under the seat foam core, right on top of the spring wire deck(carpet pad foam is tougher than the core so this also stops the spring wire deck from cutting into the seat foam core bottom).
Your second sheet can be cut smaller just covering the area the butt sits on.
Also inspect the top of the foam core and add carpet pad foam or regular foam where might be needed like by the door, worn from getting in and out over the years.
Spray adhesive can be used to bond the foam to the foam but is not necessary except for any top foam added.
Your seats will be firm and new like for many years now, it's like free magic!
The seat back usually doesn't need a any foam because it's the seat that gets the body weight on it from gravity. If you seat back should need a boost, you can add polyfill batting on top of the foam for free-see below.
These methods can also be used on sofa seat cushions.
I'll share below where to find FREE used good foam below!
To make a bench- where to get free foam: there is so much FREE foam and FREE polyfill - in many soft pillow backs and polyfill batting often wrapped around foam cushions for the taken in people's discarded sofa's and chairs found outside dumpsters at apartment complexes and the back of thrift stores.
Even though it's used, it has been well protected covered inside the upholstery.
Of course in the event it's a cat lady's furniture and the cats happened to piss all over it, you'll smell it and know to move on lol
Most apartments don't allow pets or make it expensive to have a pet so a lot of furniture is pet free.
Use a box cutter to open the old furniture to get at the free foam or poly as you need or use the zipper you'll find on some pieces.
Some foam in old sofas contain like a 1" thick panel of foam on top of other foam that is perfect thickness to add to your sofa foam to give it the new boost again.
Foam can be cut to size using a hack saw loose blade only in your hand holding the end making a sawing motion.
New foam looses some of it's firmness over a break in period, say after 5 years depending on how much it's sat on.
But then the broken in foam lasts a very very long time at that softer level firmness before it really starts to break down.
You might be able to buy complete new expensive foam cushion cores but they will sag after the break in period as well.
This is why so often we love a new firm piece of furniture but then it gets soft and saggy on us.
Now the sofa companies could to put super firm more expensive foam in their sofa's when new that might be a perfect firmness for us when broken after the 5 years break in period, but then we wouldn't buy the sofa if it's not nice to sit on from the beginning in the show room, so there's the dilemma when you fabric is still in great shape after 5 years but the foam is now sagging.
The free fix:
So just add more foam if you can firms it up to make it like new again, unzip and compress the foam as you slowly peel off your fabric from the cushion core. Then either add more foam to the top or bottom or hack blade saw through the center horizontal line of the foam core all the way from the back to almost through the front but not through, so you leave a good hinge of foam in the front.
Then place about a 1" thick of used foam in the sandwich and holding it closed peel the fabric back over the foam cushion.
You can also add more polyfill pad to the cushion core on it's outside to add more softness and support but adding more foam is the big boost.
Spray adhesive is optional to bond the foam to the foam.
People often think that when the seat sags that the springs under the cushions, have weakened but no, it's the foam, the springs are metal and strong, the foam is just foam.
For making complete new cushion tops for say a bench, besides free foam, you might even find a lightly used fabric in some part of a discarded sofa to use IN FACT the back side of sofa's is often a large sheet of fabric that has been hidden against the wall never sat on all it's life and so still brand new!
Discarded trash at a dumpster is free for the taking and your reducing what goes to our planet's landfill.
This is win win, real free hard core recycling, helping to save our environment as well!
Take care!
This video is awesome. I bought the underlining and double sided tape (a miraculous invention!) and I finished my 2 cushions in record time. Had to laugh at myself as I was wrestling the alligator-great analogy. The cushions are perfect! Thanks for a great video.
I would love to be able to place a photo here of my completed glider cushion covers I made with your instructions. Turned out beautifully and brings a beautiful spot to my front porch.
What a great tutorial!! I'm an experienced sewer and still loved this...you have it all laid out for me!! I can just follow and do ..instead of working out all the steps/dimensions. THANK YOU for filming this.
I drape a plastic bag from dry cleaning over the end of the foam to slide it into the cover. Then just pull the plastic out from one side
👍🏻🌷😍
Verey nice 🙂🙂 sir❤️🙏👍
👍
Ordered material from y'all and am working on a large outdoor cushion. Things are going smoothly thanks to this tutorial
Hey I'm confused. I understand why the foam is cut 1/4 inch bigger on each side. I don't understand why the underlining cushion is cut 1/4 inch smaller than the foam. That makes the cut out underlining the size of the required cushion. What about the seam allowance? Once the underlining and fabric have been stitched together it will end up smaller than the required cushion size.
The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better.
At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.
I just used this tutorial to make cushions for my cat window perches. It was so easy and they look great! I have sewing experience so I was able to follow easily along and start to finish took 5 hours for 3 covers 😍
This is exactly why I'm watching this video right now! I've no experience though, wish me luck 😅
Well tried it epic fail. Not your fault. My base was a sleeve for a frame to slide into wider than foam piece. Unfortunately I cut top piece now too small. May have to piece side panels and cut new foam. I should have read comments to see where people were messing up. Ha😅
Thank you for this tutorial. Successfully made a window seat cover and my daughter loves sitting there. Result! 😊
C'est ma première expérience sur une machine à coudre. J'ai réussi à fabriquer mes 4 coussins pour mon véhicule récréatif. Je suis très fier du résultat. Merci pour cette vidéo.
Thank you for this great video! It clarified some things for me and also gave me some ideas. I'm looking at making new covers for my motorhome and this was exactly what I needed. I do have some questions : is it possible to use the same fabric on the bottom and instead of cutting the bottom plate to keep it as a one piece and only cut and sow corners and the zipper? And also regarding the zipper is it possible to replace it with an envelope type of closure? I've never seen it done in upholstry only in pillow cases. If someone with some experience would be kind enough to answer I would highly appreciate it. Thank you!
2:20 don't have an electric kitchen knife, i'm sure my sawzall will do just fine.
NOooo. Too rough of a cut! Or use extra fine blade.
Hi, I am wanting to make this cushion. My foam is already cut to the exact size of the box I’m making a cover for. Do I still add the 1/4 inch with the fabric on the bottom, or do I take off 1/4 inch to make it tight like you suggest? Thank you!
Bear Lake Motor that was problem but I don’t see a response
I'm jumping for joy! With relatively little sewing skill, I just finished covering the first cushion for our RV per your excellent step-by-step video. The result is very professional looking. I am so pleased with the products I ordered from your website. Your cushion underlining material and the basting tape, used in the video, are awesome products. The price is fair and delivery rapid. Thank you, Sailrite!
I am so glad you liked the video and your project come out great!
This is my next project. Wish me luck!
Great! Let us know if you have any questions.
Great video.. Getting ready to do my first set of bench cushions and need to confirm that your fabric cover dimensions are smaller than the foam? In other words, once the foam is inserted, it's compressed? Just curios as other videos show the material is cut to actual dimensions, plus extra for the seam. Thx.
Alex, yes the fabric cover size is smaller than the foam as shown in the video. This helps pull the seam under along the bottom edge slightly.
Sailrite thanks I was thinking the same as Alex about the size of the fabric being smaller
Can someone explain why the cover is 1/2" too small but still works? Is it standard practice to take 1/4" off both the top and bottom like that?
The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better.
At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.
Great tutorial and exactly what I needed. I am making cushion covers for my neighbor and I wasn't sure how to do it with boxed corners. This is perfect and so simple to do. Thank you!!!
I'm glad this tutorial was helpful! I'm glad you were able to make a cushion cover for your neighbor.
Used your video to reupholstered my cushions for my 1981 eriba caravan and they look great!!!! Instructions were sooo clear and easy to follow. For my first time making seat covers they look amazing!!! Thank youuuuuu 😃
You are welcome! Good job Sue.
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Sue Lyon v
Thank you for this video. I have made box cushions for our outdoor chairs which are a non-standard size. They turned out great.
the most helpful video!! Made 6 cushions in 2 days!
I'm so glad you found the video helpful! Those cushions sound amazing-great job getting them done in just two days!
This was a really helpful video with the exception of one thing. You say cut the foam 1/4" larger than the required finished cushion and then cut the base fabric 1/4" smaller than the dimension of the cut foam, but you don't explain WHY. I've watched the video three times now and got my husband to watch it too in case I was missing something quite obvious, but no, you just don't explain WHY! I've read the answer you gave to Barbara Wardlaw 2 years ago, but this is even more confusing than the lack of explanation in the video - it just doesn't make sense at all. Is the reason you cut the foam 1/4" larger and the base plate 1/4" smaller, to ensure the foam fits the cover snugly? I simply can't figure out how there ultimately being a 1/2" difference between the size of the foam and the base plate makes sense - that would be a very snug fit, surely? Maybe I'm thick, but please explain in words of one syllable to a novice cushion maker. Thanks.
The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better.
At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.
Basically this allows for a tight fitting cushion cover.
Best video so far, it took a while to find the perfect one without plywood on the bottom.
What type of zipper are you using (#5 or #10)? This may be obvious to sewers, but I am not a sewer.
This was awesome! Do you make customized cushions? If so I would like to order.
Glad you liked it! Sorry, we do not make custom cushions, we only sell the fabric, tools and supplies you need for DIY.
Thanks for the prompt tesponse
Thank you so much for sharing this step by step process - I'm so happy with the outcome of my cushion project!
I was skeptical about the quarter-inch here and quarter-inch there but I just finished my cushion and it's perfect! Thanks for the great instructions!
You said it clearly but I just wanna double triple check. Did you really trim off 1/4 inch like they said in the video and the cover fits just right??? My first time making it and I don’t wanna screw up. The fabric is pricey. TIA.
@@MrDarcy-yk8yj That’s correct. I just returned to these instructions and made another box cushion. It turned out perfectly. This is a great video!
Brian, very impressive. Like the way you wrestled the foam, Crocodile Dundee would be proud. 🤣
great tutorial, thanks! Could you do an envelope style opening on the bottom plate instead of a zipper? Trying to avoid the zipper damaging the paint in the bench underneath.
Yes, that would work great.
I have the same issue--don't want to damage the paint on my bench. I'm concerned that an "envelope style opening" would not give the nice snug look I'm after. Wouldn't it gape some?
Thanks! Very easy to follow! I’m going to use your instructions to make a window seat cushion cover.
Glad you liked it. Hope your window seat cushion project goes very well.
Great tutorial! I sew clothing, but needed to make cushion covers for an antique Bishop’s Bench, and this was exactly what I needed! Thanks!
Great video, good and clear instructions. I just scaled this up a little bit and made a queen size boat mattress where one long side is a couple of inches shorter than the other. It becomes a little tricky if you have to sew two pieces of fabric together to make for the 60-inch width. But if you stick to the instructions it becomes clear how to manage that.
really easy directions. I used big snaps instead of zippers.
Great video but is that guy saying "Say R ite" or Sailrite?
I’ve watched this video for what seems like the 100th time! I’m recovering interior cabin boat cushions using the existing bottom plate with the zipper already in place. So, with my iPad next to the sewing machine, this video on pause at each step and a quick prayer....it turned out perfectly! One down, three more to go! Your videos are so helpful for a rookie seamstress and I send my heartfelt thanks!
Wow, thanks for the great comment. Good job!!!
How long did it take to do one? I also have a boat and am thinking of doing the same.
I can't thank you enough for this tutorial. I would love to send you photos of our finished product - a renovated 1988 camper van!
That is very good news! Good job. Share your latest DIY masterpiece on Facebook or Instagram using #Sailrite and you could be featured!
I would love to see a photo of the finished product. I'm renovating an RV too.
Helpful video, but annoying ads. Fast forward? Ad. Jump back? Ad. Reload video within a couple minutes? Hey, another ad! Isn't this video, in and of itself, already an ad for Sailrite? Doesn't make me want to shop there.
I absolutely hate the music and voice over.... I made sure I skipped all the rotten commercials.... And no I am not gonna buy a $1000 sewing machine Or anything else from rip off sale right
I love this video. My only criticism is that the narrator does not say his company name properly. Please enunciate SaiL Right. No Sareright. Thanks! Good job guys!
Great tutorial. I plan to use this to make a cushion for a bench I use at my sewing table. A couple of tips - be very careful with the rotary cutter. The cutter should be pushed away from you will cutting (I noticed you cut toward yourself). And the blade should be closed any time the cutter is not actively cutting. Keeping the blade open while repositioning the ruler and/or fabric increases the risk of hitting either open skin or other materials.
Glad you liked it and thanks for the helpful recommendations.
Hello. Is it possible to sew the zipper on the side instead of the bottom? My fabric is very 'frill-y', and the foam that I have only has medium firmness and is only 2-in thick. Please help. Anyone.
thank you for this video. However, should it be possible to add the european values in cm to your explanation? it is quite confusing for me, i'm not used to this system.
Yes, this calculator may be helpful. It is our Folded Over Foam Cushions Calculator. It uses "inches" or "mm" to help you calculate the size of your fabric. Here is the link: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html
1. it's never going to come out as the size of the cushion because you haven't added seam allowances - so you're losing the seam allowance around the whole cushion
2. Step 6 - the two pieces are never going to line up because you've shortened the top piece by 4xseam allowance all the way around??
Hi. Love this video!! Thank you. Can someone explain why we add a quarter inch to the size of the foam beyond our actual dimension measurements or have I got that wrong?
Can someone please explain to me why the cushion you cut is bigger that the desired seat size and why the cushion cover is cut smaller than the foam size? I can’t seem to get my head around why this would be needed and I want to before I start cutting/wasting fabric?
Thanks for the excellent instructions I have ventured to upholster boat seats by following the previous covers and a few other projects just by guessing what to do - but started a new project and used your instructions without a hiccup great stuff
I have a triangular cushion I'm trying to make and boy I would have loved to have had that knife couple weeks ago and I cut the phone I didn't okay job but the edges just aren't that nice and flat you know I'm watching this to see if I can figure out how to make a cover for it
YOURE SOPOSED TO POLYESTER_WRAP TE LATEX FIRST just like ur videos say to !!!
I was looking for a video like this! Every window in my home has a wide bench seat ...yes every window!! So I'll be busy. Thanks for the video, I saved it for later to watch. 😊
Wonderful Brian, you did so well and so clear. I put the cushion cover wrong side out and over the top and peel the fabric over and under. Found it much easier than jamming it in
Thanks!!! Good idea about stuffing foam in cover.
Great demo, but after following instructions… I cannot fit top to bottom, big discrepancy in the workings 😢
Brilliant video, thanks heaps, so easy and so well explained. Now to put it into practice!
Glad it was helpful!
At 7:45 he sews right across the zipper. Can a non-industrial home machine do that without breaking a needle??
I've used this to make several cushions and it's great! But now I need to do an inside corner on one of my cushions? How would I prepare the top plate for that?
Nice instructions but I would have covered the foam with batting to make it more comfortable and a fuller cushion.
I have never commented on youtube before but I am beyond angry. Just wasted expensive material by following this video. I was short on fabric from all those stupid quarter inches! How does it even make sense to cut the fabric smaller than your pillow and also allow for a seam allowance and expect it to fit??
Sorry to hear this! We want the cover to fit tightly over the foam, so the cover being smaller than the foam should compress the foam for a good tight looking fit, as it did in the video. Did you use the Sailrite Fabric Calculator to come up with the measurements? Here is the link: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html If you don't mind give me your measurements and I will check your work to see what may have happened. Send me photos of the cushion to ericg@sailrite.com I will be glad to help evaluate what may have gone wrong with your cushion. Thanks, Eric Grant, Sailrite
I do love Sailrite videos, but I had the same problem. My foam was only 2” thick. I think that taking down 1/2 inch on the length and width is TOO MUCH. My small cushion ended up to small as well.
Perhaps you should have had your cushions professionally made or did a practice sample using cheaper fabric first. I used this video and the result was perfect. This is a diy video made for our convenience for free. If you don’t mind me saying, you’re sounding a bit ungrateful and disrespectful to the makers of this video.
Thank you so much for the tutorial, I have managed to upcycle my late uncle's telephone table and make a box cushion to finish it off :-)
When putting the tape on the corners - if you have a right side and wrong side - do you put the tape on the right side or wrong side. Thank you
Thank you. Your instructions help out alot and was able to get my cushions done before the 4th of July.
Thanks so much for this but a little confused. If the material is cutout to fit the foam but then we see a 3/8 seam all around, won’t the cushion be two small? Eg the sides will be 3/8+3/8=3/4 inch smaller than the foam sides
Yes, you are correct this makes for a very tight fitting cover. The foam will compress slightly, that is why we make the foam a 1/2" larger on both dimensions or 1/4" larger on all sides. Use this calculator and you will see: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html
Prep to completion was way more than an hour! I only like sticky tape for zipper. Otherwise, I find its a mess. I miscalc'd one cushion but easy fix and actually came out extra night. Thx for great instructions, although I lined up my box on the edge of material and subtracted .50", instead of wasting material, and cutting an entire back box minus .25. Did same for addition. Lined to side. No waste! NownI have extra material to make matching lumbar pillows!!!
I genuinely do not understand how making the foam bigger and the fabric smaller than intended somehow ended up with a perfect pillow but the witchcraft worked so whatever
Yep, it works. We want the cover to compress the foam slightly. This gives a nicer tight looking cushion that will seldom wrinkle when sat upon.
@@SailriteDIY I made 3 pillows with this and somehow they're perfect. It's just magic haha
I absolutely love this tutorial. 😍😍😍
Your narrator was awesome. Thank you! This is super easy! I'm so excited!
Es maravilloso tu canal pero se agradecería mucho que tuviera subtítulos en español activados !!!
BENDICIONES Y GRACIAS!!!🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️
Instructions are clear from beginning to end. Thanks for the instruction on using double sided tape for boxing. great video.
I am so glad you liked it. Let us know if you have any questions about or fabric, tools or video projects.
hardshapcushoin
I was able to make a cushion successfully but it was alot harder and took alot longer than I would have expected from the video. I would recommend to others some tips to make it easier. 1) Use stiff, sturdy decorative fabric without any give or stretch. Positioning and tracing the foam is very difficult if the fabric bunches up, stretches and doesn't slide on your workspace. 2) I did not order the Seamstick basting tape and instead used another (well regarded) brand. This was a mistake. The tape I used would not adhere to the rubberized liner fabric for the lower plate nor to the zipper. After wasting an hour messing around with the tape, I wound up removing it and just pinning the zipper on and then later pinned the top and bottom plate together. This was much quicker and easier; plus I didn't have to worry about accidentally sewing over or inside the tape, I could easily reposition my pieces, and I could attach my pieces without having to lay the assembly out flat. 3) I would not recommend using this cushion making method for a very large project like mine ( my cushion is 74" x 23") unless you have a very large work table and follow tips 1) - 3) above.
Many people ask why the bottom plate is a little smaller than the cushion or why the top plate + sides deducts 1/4". The decorative fabric acts as a cap the fits over the cushion top and sides. It then attaches to the bottom plate just like an upside down bowl sitting on a plate that is smaller than the bowl -- the decorative top fabric should tuck under the sides of the cushion a little on the bottom. The fabric is cut a little smaller than the cushion to make the cover tight. I would also recommend deducting only 1/8" from each side vs. the 1/4" recommended (so 1/4" from your total length and width vs. 1/2") because if your measurements are off or uneven just a little (which can easily occur on bigger projects or with fabric that rumples) you won't have much margin for error.
But all in all I am glad I used this approach and am very happy with the results, though it was quite frustrating to make!
Great comments and suggestions. You are correct, all double sided tapes are NOT equal. Sailrite makes the best seamstick or double sided tape for canvas and upholstery. If you want it to work - you got to buy it from Sailrite. Thanks for your comments!!!!
Very helpful! The only thing I did different: my fabric frayed a lot more at the ends, so when i cut the fabric to make the zipper show, i sewed as close as i could to the zipper with a zigzag stitch, to secure the excess fabric, and then cut the rest off so it didn't get stuck in the zipper. Also for people wondering: i couldn't get a really long zipper at the store, but it's best that you do!
Please can you tell me why the foam was cut 1/4” larger than it needed to be? The top plate was cut to fit the foam (which is 1/4” too large each side) and then the boxing is 1/4” too short so I don’t understand how you haven’t got a cushion which is 1/2” too wide and 1/4” less deep as it’s been compressed by the cover and that’s before seam allowances are taken into account. I’m sorry if this doesn’t make sense, I couldn’t explain it any clearer! Thank you.
LET ME EXPLAIN THE PROCESS SHOW IN THE VIDEO:
The top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better.
At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Is there a way to use this concept, in a thinner basis, to make insulated sides and bottom for an insulated shopping bag? I'm new enough to sewing that I don't know how to get this idea into a project. (I've received insulated packing for packages shipping cold be foods, and want to recycle this insulation). Do you have any suggestions?
I should have listened to my instincts that this made no sense! I followed the directions exactly and ended up needing to trim my foam down to fit it inside and now the finished cushion is smaller than I needed it. My only guess is that my foam is more firm, and my fabric less stretchy. In that case the directions should say that this won’t work with woven, non-stretchy fabrics.
I will be trying this for a 28x38x6” thick dog bed using faux leather fabric, im having trouble calculating the measurements as i will be installing zippers to connect the top and bottom. i calculated 45x35 which includes 3” overlap on both sides and 1/2” seam allowance on both sides. gotta get that electric knife for the foam it looks seamless.
If you use our fabric calculator you will have to calculate nothing yourself, it does it for you. Here is the link: www.fabric-calculator.com/FoldOverSimple/index.html
WHY DO YOU NOT HAVE AN ICON TO PRINT THE INFO? REALLY A BAD DESIGN. I HAD TO PAGE PRINT AND COPY TO A WORD DOC.
Thank you for this great tutorial. I learned so much. I especially liked the commentator adding tips and the displayed notes. Easy breezy and I'm going to attempt to make our seat cushions! Getting on your site to order materials/tools. Thanks again. Great job.
Thanks! These free videos are only made possible from loyal customers like you. Thanks for your purchase of tools and supplies!!!!
Wow I want a 30X50 to keep it on my Coffee Table -How can i order one?? -Its so Beautiful-..I want convert my Coffee table Top into an Ottoman Top
You can cut foam with a band saw, too. You just have to have a carrier underneath so it slides easily on the saw table. Maybe a table saw will work -- I didn't try it. I didn't have an electric knife and scissors gave ragged results, so -- I improvised!
Best best best cushion tutorial out here, SO glad I found it, thank you for it!!!!
Wow, thank you!
It would be easier to grasp if the fabric was solid
Can I use this instruction to make outdoor sectional cushions? It looks way simpler than your French style mattress cushion video. It is going to be 4inch thickness and two 45inch long cushions.
Also can I simply add the zippers to the back and not on the bottom plate with same method?
Yes, that can be done and yes you can add the zipper to the back portion of the top plate which will wrap around to the back side of the foam.
Thank you so much. You guys are making the world best tutorial videos!!!
I wrap the cushion in plastic and take a vacuum cleaner and suck it down. Makes it a lot easier stuffing the foam. I like the zipper in the back and the same fabric on the bottom so it’s reversible.
Im already lost. It looked like you made a back stitch across both ends of the zipper but when you cut the slit down the length of the fabric on the backside of the fabric there was no back stitch across one end of the zipper. ???
Why did you cut the fabric 2 3/4 inches wider than the cushion when the cushion is 3” thick. Is the cover intentionally smaller than the cushion in order to have a tight fit? Thanks.
he top plate incorporates the boxing as you see in the video. However, let’s break it down in smaller steps to hopefully explain it better.
At 9:56 min Brian traces around the foam which is already ¼” larger than the opening it fits into. This creates a top plate which is the exact size of the foam. Next at 10:10 min Brian measure the thickness of the foam and then takes away ¼” from that thickness. The boxing is not as wide as the foam by ¼”. True the 3/8” seam allowance is not taken into account intentionally because we want a tight fitting cover. So… the ¼” (which was taken away) and the 3/8” seam allowance that will soon happen to sew the bottom plate on, will take away about 5/8” of the overall size of the boxing making the cover fit very tight, which is what we want. This helps, pull the incorporated facing/boxing (facing included on the top plate) down, so the bottom plate fabric does not creep up and show itself along the bottom edge when the cushion is finished.