Custom Bench Cushion

Hi crafters,

This past week has been rather warm!  We had a bad storm roll through last Friday and we didn't have power until Thursday evening.  I must admit I am spoiled and had a generator running the fridge and ceiling fan as well as a gas hot water heater so it was more like camping.  I'm so grateful for all the extra help our power company had from all over North America to help get power back as quickly as we did.

I found this tutorial from the CSI Project and the directions where so clear that I decided that I could make one for our bay window.

The bench is counter height seating for the table.  It is about 10 feet long and 21 inches wide.

My supplies all came from Joann's

3 inch foam 2x10 feet (came from joanns.com) $45.00 shipped

Indoor/outdoor canvas $35.00 (3.5 yards)

Piping 7.5 yards $20.00

Upholstery thread $5.00

Topstitch needles $5.00

Velcro 18 inches (I can't remember the price)

At one point when I was gathering my supplies I decided to research if it was actually going to be cheaper to make this rather than having someone make it for me.  I found an online company that does custom cushions and after playing around with that I determined it would cost around $300.00 to get the cushion I wanted.  I did end up saving some money.

My husband used an electric carving knife to cut the foam down for me.  He tried a razor blade first but the foam was too dense.

The project took me about 2 days to complete.  When we didn't have power I cut out all the fabric and started pinning to get things ready for the sewing machine.  I suppose part of this is my novice sewing skills but it always surprises me how long it takes to cut things out!  It could be that cutting has NEVER been my favorite (I think it's because of my left-handedness).  I suspected it would take some time to get all these pieces cut and I was right.  It was probably good that I didn't have access to a sewing machine so that I didn't try to rush through the cutting process.

I did of course make some modifications to suit my needs.  I did not use any batting around the cushion (which I think probably saved my tail I just barely had enough fabric). I also did not do piping around the bottom which saved me $20.00.  When it came time to attach the pieces together I pinned it all then I traced where the foam was with a marker so I had a good idea where the seam needed to be since I did not have the piping to guide me.

So here are my final thoughts and comments,

It was a relatively easy project.  The zipper foot was a critical piece when working with the piping.

I ended up using the upholstery thread on the top and a regular weight cotton/poly blend in the bobbin.  My machine did not do well with the heavier thread in the bobbin. The velcro did not do well with the upholstery thread at all! I switched to regular thread for those pieces.  My cushion was also much longer than the tutorial so I used pins to put the fabric onto the cushion that helped keep everything in place when I was pinning to make sure everything fit correctly.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Crafting,