Seat Cushion Tutorial: From Bare to Bravo!

Want to learn how to make a simple seat cushion?

I’m in the middle of a major overhaul of a 3-drawer dresser for next week’s makeover reveal, so I thought I’d provide a helpful tutorial in the meantime.

I recently made this seat cushion for my brother’s rocking chair. It’s removable and intended to provide padding for the wooden seat. Here’s how you can do the same for a rocker, desk chair, or any other hard seat that needs more comfort.

Step 1: Cutting

Use a paper bag or newspaper to make a pattern of the shape you want for your cushion. In this case, I’m doing an oval, but this method works for pretty much any shape. Add 5/8 of an inch to the edges to accommodate your seam allowance. With the right sides of your fabric together, cut two of this shape.

Next, cut a strip of fabric to form the side of your cushion. The width of this strip depends on the thickness of foam you’ve selected as filler. Take the height of the foam and add 5/8 of an inch to each side (1-1/4 inch total) for the top and bottom seam allowances. (I’m using 1-inch thick foam, so I cut a strip 2-1/4 inches wide.) As for length, make the strip long enough to go around your desired shape with an extra inch for hooking the ends together.

Step 2: Sewing

First, sew the two ends of the side strip together with a 1/2-inch seam, right sides of fabric facing each other.

Next, pin and sew one edge of the side strip to the edge of one of your seat shapes, right sides of fabric together.

Then, sew the raw edge of the side strip to the other fabric shape as before but, in this case, leave the seam open about 4 inches (more if you’re using thick foam). This is where you’ll insert your foam.

Make sure your top and bottom fabric pieces match up when sewing on the second piece. You don’t want the cushion to come out wonky if you’re working with oval or oblong shapes.

Step 3: The Stuffing

Turn the “pocket” you’ve made right side out to prepare to insert the foam. Take the paper pattern you created for your cushion and cut off that 5/8-inch seam allowance you originally added. The remaining shape is the size pattern you’ll now use to cut your foam. The best tool to cut foam is an electric carving knife but, lacking that, scissors or a bread knife will do.

Tuck your foam into your pocket. It might help to roll or fold the foam to ease it through the seam opening. Adjust it to fill the cushion all the way to the edges. Then sew the seam opening shut.

I like to sew this opening shut by hand so the closure is indistinguishable from the rest of the seam. However, you can sew it by machine with a tiny seam allowance. If using the machine, the foam will make the fabric bulky to maneuver under the foot, and you will get a ridge in the seam. But you can always make this the underside of your cushion and keep the “pretty” edge on top.