Recover a Patio Cushion in 20 minutes -A New, Easy Method

A few years ago I recovered a couple cushions from my patio set. I never used the bench, so I decided to just cover the two chairs instead. Well, now I want to use the bench and my style has changed a bit since I covered the two chairs, so I decided to recover them again plus the bench. Recovering them the first time wasn't too bad, but I was wanting an easier and much quicker way.

This is what I came up with. I decided I wanted white cushions. I know...I know...it's going to be a PAIN to keep them white, but guess what? It didn't cost much at all, in fact, this bench only cost $6. And it only took me 20 minutes. So, I'm fine to redo these every year if need be.

As for the white fabric, I couldn't find any outdoor fabric that was just white, so I opted for drapery lining. This hasn't been out in the sun too much, so we'll see how it does :) But, drapery lining is only $5 a yard, and if you have a coupon, you can get it closer to $2 or $3 so it's pretty much a no brainer for me to go this route.

Here's what they looked like before. They were green. Forest green. And yeah, obviously not anymore....the sun bleached them purple. So, it definitely needed some help :)

Here's how you do it:
First off, layout the fabric on a even surface and then lay your cushion on top of it.

This next part is up to you, you can do it one of two ways. First fold the fabric over it, you can either have it overlap, or just have each end piece go to the fold. Either way, just leave an extra 2 inches seam allowances on the ends. Now cut the fabric to the length you decided.

If your fabric is wider than you would like, this is the point where you would cut the width also. Pinch the fabric to the sides, making sure you have 2 inch seam allowances, then mark where you need to cut. The width of my fabric was pretty close to where I needed, so I skipped this part.

Now, take your sewing machine and fold over one of the shorter end lengths by your seam allowance of 2 inches and sew in place. Do this to the other end piece. Make sure you are folding over the outside so it shows on the inside.

Place the fabric back down on the floor, and put the cushion on it again, and then fold the fabric over. Mark where the end length is suppose to hit on other piece of fabric. Or, if you decided not to have it overlap, you can skip this step.

While the fabric is folded over the cushion,  take the fabric on the thickest part and pinch it in with your fingers as close to the cushion as possible without pinching the cushion itself. Mark here. This is where you will do your seam. Do this to the other side also.

Now take the cushion out, fold the fabric back over on itself. Find the first mark you made and line up the folds. Then pin the edges down in place.

Now, find the mark you made when you pinched the cushion, this will be the mark that your sew line should be on. Sew each edge following this line/mark.

Unpin and place the cushion in the cover inside out so that the seams are on the outside. Now on the thick part of the cushion, find the vertical edge, and fold so it creates something resembling a triangle. Mark a line here. Do this on the other side also. This line will be where you sew.

Now go up to the top, and you'll notice you have a little wiggle room if your cushion is thinner on this end. Draw a line here close to the cushion where your new sew line will be to tighten this part up. Do this on both sides, left and right. You can also do the same thing here that you did just above with the bending of the vertical edges creating the triangle and marking a line.

Now take off the cushion, and find all the lines you just made and sew along those lines.

Take the cover, turn it outside out, and put your cushion in it!

This took me 20 minutes to do...may take a little longer if you are trying to figure out how to do it by reading what I just wrote lol. I tried to make it not so confusing, but I'm sure it still will be :)

Because I was using the same fabric for the back and the front and they were meeting in the middle along the cushion edge, I thought it would be best to use a solid fabric since you would really be able to see the seam if it were a pattern. But who knows, a pattern might look good too :) 

I'm so excited to get this patio looking good for spring and summer! And I love the look of white cushions against brown wood...call me crazy :)