Dinette Cushions

As soon as we bought the popup, we knew that the dinette cushions would be the FIRST thing that we re-did. They were clean. They were hardly worn. But...they were straight up 1999.

And this does not go with my "shabby chic" theme. The cushions make me nervous. I'm not a seamstress. I'm getting better now that I'm a bit older, but let's just say, pillows intimidate me. And that's the easiest thing to sew! I found the best blog ever: The Popup Princess. As I was reading her posts, I swear it was me writing them. Her thoughts, ideas for their popup were the same as mine! I had found the ultimate resource!! And guess what she had JUST finished: dinette cushions. YAHTZEE!

I followed her blog to a tee. She actually used this sofa cover tutorial from HoneyBearLane.com.
It didn't seem tooo difficult. I mean, I can follow directions. And heck, their were pictures to boot! 

I began my project on a weekend where my Handy Husband was out of town on a hunting trip, and I could stay at my parents house for the weekend (extra babysitting for the kiddos, mom's sewing machine, and a few extra hands to help with cutting, measuring, stitching!)

Step one: Measure

I went off of The Popup Princess's measurements because her cushions were the exact same size as mine. So that made my first step super easy:

 
Step 2: Choose your Fabric

This was the fun part! With bedding pieces in hand, we headed to Hobby Lobby to find fabric. We looked at outdoor fabric, we looked at cotton, curtain fabric...you name it, I held it up. And I found this color combination that I LOVED:

The colors and textures were fun. I went with Duck Canvas because it's sturdy and durable. And it stretches a little. The beige in the Dakota Cadet print matched the bedding perfectly. The blue Dakota Cadet (buy it here: Dakota Cadet brought a new color to our pallet. And the funky design on the square pattern would be fun as curtains. It was all coming together. Soft, light, calm. 

I can't remember the exact number of yards I bought of each. ??? But I used my Hobby Lobby app for 40% off coupon and paid a total of $38.00 for all of the cushion fabric!

Step three: Buy Zipper

Once the fabric was bought, I needed a zipper. Zippers pre-packaged come in a max length of 32". I needed 52". You want it wrap around your cushion, otherwise it's a b*#%& to get those cushions in the cover! After calling around, Hancock Fabrics had plenty of zipper material by the yard. And the zipper hardward.

 

That was it. That's all I needed to buy. I was ready to rock and roll with the cushions. YIKES!! I set up tables in the living room, had my cushions set up next to me, my iPad in hand with tutorials readily available, and I started to measure and cut.  

NOTE: If you have NEVER sewn before, if you do not own a sewing machine, if you do not have the "tools", I do not recommend attempting these yourself. You can have then reupholstered for about $120/cushion+.

 

 

I followed the tutorials step by step:

Cut the zipper first, sew the zipper pieces (contracting color in my case, the blue)

 

Create the zipper "pocket" by connecting the long zipper piece to the remaining boxing strips.

Cut the fabric for the seat and pin the boxing strip to the seat fabric (if you are doing the piping, attach the piping first):

  

After 3 days, a lot of swear words, becoming a professional seam ripper (when stitches did not go right!), here was my final product. It is not perfect, but it works!! And I LOVE them!! They are so pretty and add the ultimate element of "glamping!"

Note: I did not replace the original covers. I just added these OVER. Just another layer of protection, and in case these don't hold up, i have the originals to fall back on!

A HUGE thank you to my mom for helping by encouraging, working side by side with me, and not letting me get frustrated!