A couple of weeks ago, I found two shower curtains at a garage sale for 50 cents each. Remember? I showed them to you hand painted rug that I made for my patio. I knew when I bought them that they were going to be the new covers for my patio cushions. I brought them home and started to lay out patterns for the things that I needed to cover:
- One 24x60 inch Settee cushion
- One 24x24 inch Chair cushion
- Five 16x16 inch Pillows
- Two 22x14 inch Pillows
- One 18x18 inch pillow
- Two 24x48 inch Chair Cushions
A HUGE piece of white, cotton, quilted, fabric; eight yards long, and it was only $1.99! I knew that if I combined the two, I'd have plenty and it would have the look and feel that I adore, "vintage eclectic". A look and feel that comes from putting things together over time.
Recovering the pillows was relatively easy. I don't like putting in zippers and, since I refuse to spray chemical sealant on fabric that comes in contact with bare skin, I need to be able to remove the covers to launder them. I made simple envelope closures. To do this, I cut two pieces of fabric with one about six inches longer than the other. I finished one edge on the shorter piece and sewed the other thee sides to the longer piece. Then, simply slipped the pillow into the case and tucked in the flap. I've decided that I'm going to add some decorative ties, but I'll need some crinkle ribbon from my friend Polly before I can do that.
The chair covers were made the same way but I added an "extra piece" at the top to keep them on the chair. I don't really like ties on cushions. This is because I generally forget to bring the cushions inside until it starts to rain and, at that point, it takes so long to untie them that both the cushions and me are soaked by the time I finish.
When I started to lay out the cover for the cushion for the settee, I felt like things were getting a little "match-y" for my taste so, I grabbed a couple of old quilts from my linen closet and simply used one to wrap the cushion.
Of course, I saved the most challenging cushion for last. I used the same design theory: two pieces, one longer than the other. This time, however, I had to curve the corners and taper the back where the cushion gets smaller to fit the curve of the chair. To do this, I placed the cushion on top of the fabric, held a pen against the edge of the cushion, and drew a line to mark where I needed to sew.
There you have it, my $3 patio cushion makeover! You can see just a bit of the rug that I painted in some of these photos. I promise that I'll share the entire patio soon. Right now I'm on to cooking and baking for our FOOD REVOLUTION DAY gathering!
xo,
S
Linking to:
Featured at:
