DIY Sunday: Covering Patio Cushions

Hello!

About five years ago, my mother-in-law and I decided we needed a patio set. It was late enough in the summer we picked up an entire conversation set for about $100.00. That patio set has been trucked across state lines and had some heavy use (including a few winters I should have brought the cushions in but didn't). I am honestly surprised the cushions lasted this long, and the metal doesn't have any rust spots.

With a little help from our new puppies, the cushions had a rough spring and needed to be covered up. I looked at buying new ones, but at around $20.00 a cushion, I could buy a new set for less money.

This is how I managed to cover all my patio set cushions for only $36.00.

DIY Patio Cushion Cover

Supplies

Fabric. I chose to go with fabric shower curtains for cost savings. The most expensive option is outdoor fabric. You could also try using some drop cloths. I was worried about mildew with the drop cloths. 
Sewing Machine
Kraft Paper or Leftover Wrapping Paper & Sharpie
Zipper or Buttons
Optional: Scotchguard Spray Waterproofing

Directions

1.  Make a Pattern

Using your cushion as a guide, draw an outline of your cushion. My cushion had three pieces. A front and back piece and then long piece for the edging. Your pattern will depend on the cushion. I folded over the shower curtain so I only had to cut the pattern once. Each shower cushion had enough fabric to make two cushion covers. When you cut your pattern out, you may want to leave a seam allowance. I decided not to so I would have a tight fit, but admittedly it was tighter than I wanted on some cushions. I found some fabric shower curtains on clearance, but they didn't have all the same color. I decided to get two different colors and keep my chairs blue and my love seat grey.

Before. My cushions needed some serious TLC.

2. Sew Zipper or Buttons

You first want to take the edge piece that will be the bottom of the cushion and add either a zipper or buttons. I did both. I had some zippers left over from a bin of sewing stuff I picked up. I didn't do a fancy zipper job. I just put the zipper on and sewed up so there are raw edges. I decided I didn't care. When I ran out of zippers, I made a flap with button holes. You need a way to get the cushion into the cover once it's made.

3. Sew

I did my cushions in the following order: zipper/buttons on the bottom, attach edging on front piece and attach edging on back piece. I had these fancy clips on my current cushions to keep the cushion on the frame. I clipped them off the current cushions and added them to the new cover. I just had to make sure that I remembered to slip the strap into the cushion before I started sewing the edge on the front piece.

4. Spray with Waterproofing

I'm going to spray all the cushions with the Scotchguard spray water proofing to make sure that they keep in top shape for another 5 years. :)

Before

After