Rice Sack Apron

Outdoor Seat Cushions

I've been looking for replacements cushions for years. I could never find any at the stores that were the right size. I checked with cushion stores online, and saw that mine were non-standard size, and that I would need to get the cushions custom-made. An average estimate for six cushions that are 3 1/2 inches deep, with piping, made with Sunbrella fabric, was approximately $500-$800. No thanks.

I'm not much of a sewer: mainly Halloween costumes done on a Hello Kitty sewing machine, but I was determined to save money and do it myself. I found a great tutorial online, which helped immensely in explaining in great detail all of the steps in constructing a cushion. Sunbrella fabric at the local fabric store was $35 a yard: I found an online source for $17 a yard. I borrowed a sewing machine that had the all-important zipper foot attachment. Coupling the fabric with various notions (piping, heavy duty thread, zippers), re-using the innards of the old cushions, and the covers I made wound up costing me about $200.

The cushions took me one week to sew. Some days I worked on them for several hours straight. The fabric wasn't easy to sew: it frayed quickly, and the several layers of thicknesses I had to sew through were often too much for the basic sewing machine I had borrowed. Again, I'm not much of a sewer, but with a lot of patience, a good seam ripper, and time, these cushions are definitely do-able.

The next thing to do will be to stain and seal the bamboo frame.

Dorothy