In this article I’m going to share how I made easy DIY cushion covers for my DIY outdoor furniture! This easy sewing tutorial could work for indoor or outdoor cushion covers but I’ll share what I’m doing to “weatherproof” my cushions (without the expense of purchasing outdoor fabric). I’m also going to share week 3 One Room Challenge patio project progress!
The main project of my patio makeover involves building my own patio furniture!
By the way, if you missed the original Patio Makeover Plans (and Before Photos) just click right here to get caught up!
If you follow on Instagram, you probably saw that I created cushion covers last week. They came out so good and I’m so excited to share this super easy, budget friendly sewing tutorial!
Creating easy DIY cushion covers the budget-friendly way!
Not only is outdoor furniture insanely expensive but so are the cushions! I’m pulling out all the budget-friendly hacks with this patio makeover project and the cushions were no exception!
I’m actually using old couch cushions for this project. I have a couch in my basement that we brought over from our previous home which was a rental.
The couch is actually broken and waiting to be brought to the dump so figured I might as well recycle some of it!
Obviously, the cushions are not weather proof so here’s what I’m doing:
- I’m wrapping the cushions in plastic drop cloth and sealing with gorilla tape so that no water is able to get to the foam
- The cushions covers are made with painters canvas drop cloth fabric
- The covers are sprayed with Rustoleum Weatherproofing spray to waterproof and protect from the sun
It goes without saying that I don’t plan to leave the cushions out in the rain on purpose but still wanted to weather-proof the best I can just incase!
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Easy sewing tutorial for cushion covers
While I am somewhat familiar with a sewing machine, this project is super beginner friendly and can be done by anyone at any level!
Step one: start by measuring the fabric
This doesn’t have to be perfect, I simply laid out the canvas drop cloth and put the cushion on top of it. I marked about 3-4 inches from the side of the cushion and cut the fabric
After each piece was cut, I ironed the fabric to get the creases out.
Step two: pin the sides
Once I had my fabric ready to go, I laid it out on the table and put the cushion on top.
I folded each side over so that they overlapped a bit towards the top. I didn’t want the opening in the middle like a pillow cover because I thought it might be difficult with the size and thickness of the cushions.
I pulled the sides together and used pins to make where they needed to be sewn together. I didn’t put too many pins in yet because I wanted to be able to get the cushions out
After I took the cushion out, I put a few more pins all the way down so that everything would stay put.
Note: if the fabric you’re using doesn’t have hemmed ends, you’ll want to do that first. I got to skip this step because of using the painter drop cloth which had hemmed ends. I also made sure they were “inside out” for this step.
Step three: sew along the sides of the cushion cover
It couldn’t be easier! You’ll simply want to sew a straight line down both sides of the cushion. Go right over where the fabric overlaps!
You can see there’s a lot of flexibility with this project! I obviously didn’t cut a very straight line but did try to keep my line straight when it came to sewing. I wanted to make sure it would fit the cushion snuggly but not too tight where it would be a pain to take on and off.
Once the sides have been sewn, you can turn the cover right side out and insert the cushion!
Check out my reel on Instagram to see this process! ⬇️
Week 3 One Room Challenge Patio Makeover Update
Truthfully, I haven’t made a massive amount of progress on the patio due to other obligations and deadlines but hopefully come next week, a lot is going to change!
By the way, if you want to see all the amazing projects of those that HAVE gotten things done, click right here!
Last week I spent a lot of time pressure washing the patio space! I can’t believe the difference! Check out this post to see the “before” photos.
I have spent two full days pressure washing this space, it’s quite large and I still have probably one more day of pressure washing left to do!
There was a lot of leaves, and there continues to be more leaves every time I look outside!
We did make a fun discovery though! To be fair, when we moved into out home a few years ago, the leaves and brush were already pretty crazy and we just haven’t done anything with the outside yet.
When I was moving leaves back so that there was room for the water to drain, I found several pavers that had been hidden. We had no idea they were there!
Of course my husband immediately requested I build him a pizza over for his birthday next year so I can already sense a “patio makeover phase 2” project in the future!
It looks so much bigger already!
I did make the decision not to stencil this area. I want to use a patterned rug and I think it’ll be too much. I also decided to use concrete stain instead of paint.
We live in upstate NY and deal with a lot of weather. We also have to keep this area clear of snow so between shovels and snow blowers, I feel like paint is going to get beat up pretty quickly. Stain seems like a more durable option.
So, here’s what’s coming up:
- Finish pressure washing
- Stain the concrete
- Build furniture
- Build planters for under the windows (I’m thinking I want these to double as cushion storage)
- Spray paint our old outdoor chairs for more seating
- DIY outdoor pillows
- Hang outdoor lights
- Style with rug and propane firepit
My goodness, that feels like a lot in just a few weeks! Be sure to follow along on Instagram stories to see the project in real time and check out the ORC Fall 2021 highlight!