Part Four – The Upholstered Chair Seat Cushion

DIY Furniture Plans

We are at the finish line with the DIY furniture plans to build an upholstered chair with Part Four: making the seat cushion. This is actually one of the easiest parts of the build even though there are a lot of steps. The attention to detail is what makes this chair look so professional! As a recap, Part One is the supply and materials list, Part Two is the plans on how to build the upholstered chair frame, and Part Three is a tutorial on upholstering the frame.

Cut List for the Upholstery Fabric:

• 2 – 24″ x 24″ square for the cushion top and bottom
• 1 – 6″ wide strip at 96″ long for the cushion gusset (the sides)

To Create the Cushion:

The cushion will be 5” thick. I purchased a piece of foam measuring 4” x 22” x 22”, then cut a piece of the 1” foam to fit. Foam can also be purchased in a 5″ thickness from eBay, Amazon, or your favorite upholstery supplier.

Cut a piece of cushion wrap (upholstery batting) and wrap it around the foam, securing it with a needle and thread. This softens the edges of the foam and makes the cushion a little more full and comfortable.

For the cover, cut two pieces of fabric measuring 24” x 24”, and a strip measuring 6” x 96”. It’s perfectly OK if the gusset has to be pieced – that’s what I had to do in order for it to be long enough!

Pin the strip to one of the squares of fabric, clipping the strip to turn the corners. As the clips are being cut, fold the gusset in half to cut the clip in the opposite end for the corresponding corner on the other side of the cover.

Stitch then ends together to close the gusset.

Sew the gusset to the square cover piece using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Repeat for the other side but leave one end open so that the cushion can be inserted, and turn the cover right side out.

Place the cushion in a large trash bag (trust me on this) and insert the cushion into the cover with the open end of the trash bag first. Pull the trash bag out and arrange the cover on the cushion for a better fit. The trash bag keeps the foam and batting from gripping the fabric – no wrestling with it! (Grey is a theme in my house so the cushion is hard to see on the rug!)

Hand sew the opening closed and place the cushion on the chair frame.

If the cushion cover needs to be removable, I created an easy step-by-step tutorial to make a cover with a velcro closure.

Have questions about the DIY furniture plans to build an upholstered chair with Part Four: creating the seat cushion? Leave a comment below!

Originally posted 2019-07-21 08:00:34.