pictures of dining room chair covers
this video is brought to you by sailrite.in this video we will show you how to build a french mattress style cushion. this is oneof the easiest types of cushions to sew, it does not have a zipper or velcro opening,but is simply sewn shut. the mattress style seams give it a great look without the workof installing a piping. let’s get started as we show you every step in how to make yourown using supplies from sailrite. to get started we first need to do some patterningon our decorative fabric. cushions have a top and bottom plate and boxing on the sides.two guidelines for patterning will be shown in this video. the first is for a cushionfilled with fiberfill. a little later on we will give guidelines for patterning for acushion filled with a sheet of foam. first
let’s discuss the requirements for a frenchmattress style cushion filled with fiber. determine the size of the cushion you wantand the thickness. the cut top and bottom plate needs to be 1 â¾â€ larger than thedesired finished size of your cushion. see our example in yellow here.angela is marking the fabric to size here with a soapstone pencil and a straight edgeruler. we are using a sunbrella upholstery or furniture fabric which is the world’sbest outdoor fabric. why? that will be discussed a little later on in the video.when marking the along the width of this fabric the location of the stripes must be takeninto consideration for the second plate panel. here is where the first plate started andthat’s also the location where we want the
second plate to start. here along the sameline, so the repeat is the same between top plate and bottom plate.if you have done it correctly the end point of this second plate should fall on the samestrip as the end point of the first plate we made.next we need to mark for the boxing in both width and length. to calculate the width ofthe boxing we need to add 1 â¾ inch to the desired finished width of boxing that youwant. this extra amount will account for the mattress style seams.for our cushion we want it to finish at about 5 1/2 inches in thickness. so we will add1 â¾ inch to that figure making our cut width 7 â¼ inches. we also want the stripes to lineup so we will position the boxing right above
the two plates we just traced out on the fabric.the length of the boxing should match the plate’s length on each side. our cushionis a square so all 4 sides are the same length. obviously the boxing on the side of the cushionwill not line up with the top and bottom plate stripes.we are cutting our sunbrella fabric out with the sailrite edge hot knife. this seals theedge of the synthetic fabric preventing the unraveling of the fabric. we are cutting ontop of a metal ruler to prevent damage to the table top below the hot knife.our two plates and 4 boxing strips are now cut to size and ready for sewing.we have now covered patterning for a cushion filled with fiberfill let’s move on andtouch on how to pattern for a french mattress
style cushion filled with a sheet of foam.to cut plates for this simply add â¾ inch on all sides. to cut the boxing to width usethe foam thickness and add 1 inch then add between â¼â€ to â¾â€ for seam allowance.this will result in a cover that compresses the foam slightly making it look great! thelength of the boxing should equal the sides of the plates. if you’re making a cushion using a sheetof foam skip this chapter. since this cushion will be filled with a polyesterfiberfill we want to make a pillow insert which will house the fiberfill. to make thiswe will use spun bonded pillow protector fabric. this fabric is inexpensive, breathable, waterrepellent and soft.
fold the spun bonded fabric in half then foldit over one more time to a width slightly larger than the width of the boxing. thentrace around a plate and a boxing strip. as you can see we will get two plates and 4 boxingstrips all at once when we cut it out. these plates and boxing strips for the pillow insertto do not need to be extremely accurate in size, since they just used to house the fiberfill.no reason to use a hot knife on this spun bonded fabric as it does not unravel.we now have all the plates and boxing strips cut for our cushion in both the decorativefabric and the spun bonded pillow protector fabric. it is always a good idea to lay thefabric panels out in an organized fashion before sewing. this reduces the chance ofmistakes experientially.
no matter if you are making a cushion filledwith fiberfill, as we are, or a sheet of foam the construction is the same for both. stratwith the boxing and lay the corresponding boxing strip onto of the opposite leg so outsidesurfaces are facing each other. then sew the two strips together along theshort end with a straight stitch about 3/8 inch inside the raw edges of the fabric. besure to do some reverse stitching at the beginning and end of your stitch to lock the stitchin place. take the assembly over to the where the panelsare laid out and grab the corresponding boxing strip and repeat the process.always go back to the panels as they lay on the table and check to be sure strips arerunning the correct direction and also that
they will line up to the plates, along thetwo sides that is, as it is impossible for them to line up along the other two sides.once all 4 boxing strips are sewn together, it is time to join them together to form acomplete chain. be sure the outside surfaces are facing each other and sew along the endthat completes the chain. we will not show sewing that.now take the boxing assembly over and line it up with one of the plates so the stripsare all even. flip the boxing over so outside surfaces are facing each other and the edgesare even. we will start sewing near the center positionon this side. we will use a straight stitch set at about 6mm in length and sew about 3/8â€from the edge of the fabric. be sure to line
up the strips and the edge carefully as yousew. notice that when angela gets to a corner shewill bury her needle to the thickest part of the shaft and the lift the presser footrotate the fabric on the corner and then lower the foot and continue to sew down the nextleg. because this side does not have stripes thatmatch the plate we can’t use them line up the boxing to the plate. so, she will ensurethat the opposite corner will line up with the plate’s corner. this is not extremelycritical for small cushions, but for larger cushions this is a very important step inkeeping the boxing and plate’s edge length the same while sewing.continue sewing around all sides until you
reach your starting stitch and do some reversingthere. we will not be showing that. now that the boxing is joined to one platewe simply need to sew that assembly to the last plate. to do this line up the plate sothe strips will match on the two sides they matched for the other plate. be sure outsidesurfaces are facing each other. it is easier to sew this assembly with theboxing on top and the plate on the bottom. we will not actually start sewing near thecenter of this boxing, but instead will move about 2 to 3 inches away from the corner.why? because we want to leave one side open for the later insertion of the cushion insertor foam. now just sew around securing the boxing tothe last plate, just as you did earlier. as
we discussed, here on this side the stirpescannot be matched up so check to be sure the corner will match up before sewing this side,on larger cushions this is very important, on small ones like this it is not.we have skipped ahead here and are coming to the last side again. we want to just goaround this corner and then stop sewing about 3 inches from the corner or away from thecorner. this leaves an opening for the insertion of the foam or insert in a later step. itis important to do some revering here to lock the stitch in place and also keeps the stitchfrom coming apart when the insert or foam is pushed inside the cover.turn the cover right side out. next we will sew the “mattress†stylestitch along all sides and even at the corners
of the cushion cover. to do this fold thefabric out flat along each seam and try to position the seam at the extreme center edgeof the folded assembly, as shown in the video. then position the assembly so the stitch startsabout a half inch away from the side’s corner and about 3/8 inch away from the folded edge.to keep the first seam centered correctly, sew a few inches then bury the needle makeadjustments to the assembly and repeat. when you reach the next corner, stop abouta half inch away and do some reversing. to move onto the next edge we will not evencut the trailing threads. we will simply remove the needle from the fabric, lift the foot,reposition the assembly just as we did earlier and sew onto the next corner.as you watch to see how angela does this lets
discuss the merits of using a sunbrella upholsteryor furniture fabric for outdoor or indoor cushions. sunbrella is the world’s bestupholstery fabric because it is 100% solution dyed acrylic, the colors stay bright and vibranteven if the fabric is left outdoors in the sun continually. it is also very water andstain resistant. other brands of decorative fabrics are also available at sailrite someare specifically made for indoor only climates others are considered an occasional outdoorfabric. if you have questions about the type of fabrics that we offer give us a call atsailrite. this plate and boxing is now finished withthe mattress style seam. now we will move onto the opposite plate and boxing side. whensewing this do not finish or sew the side
that is left open for the insertion of thefoam or pillow insert. it will be sewn shut in a later step.let’s move on and show sewing one of the corner edges of the boxing. same procedure.after all sides, except the opening, are finished we are ready to insert the foam or pillowinsert. we are going to use fiberfill for our cushion. that’s coming up next!if your cushion uses a sheet of foam skip this chapter. if it uses fiberfill, keep watching.if your cushion is using fiberfill, instead of a sheet of foam, we recommend you builda pillow insert from the spun bonded fabric we cut earlier. the construction of this pillowinsert is done exactly the same why you built the cover. except you will not be sewing the“mattress†style seam in this. ok, some
of you caught the fact that the pillow insertwill be larger than the sunbrella fabric cover, good job! that is intentional we want thepillow insert to fill the cover tightly for the best look.when sewing don’t forget to keep a side open, just as we did with the sunbrella fabriccover. we will need to fill this cover with the polyester fiberfill. turn this cover rightside out. sailrite sells a very large 10lb bag of polyesterfiberfill. sailrite’s fiber fill is slick and very soft which helps keep bunching ofthe fill to a minimum. this 10lb bag will stuff about 5 of this sized cushions or ifyou’re making a standard size throw pillow, it will typically fill about 12 to 15 of them.here we are filling the pillow insert we just
made. we will fill it so it is rather plump.for this size of cushion we believe about 2lbs of stuffing is perfect for a cushionthat is about 20†x 20†x 5â€. the amount of fiberfill used is completely up to theend user. when stuffed to our satisfaction we will closeup the opening. no hems will be made here, instead since no one will see this insertwe will simply sew the two flaps of fabric with a single stitch. be sure as always torevers at the beginning and end of sewing. is it possible to get that pillow insert insidea small hole like this, yes, but it is rather difficult. so… to make our job easier weare going to use silk film from sailrite and compress the insert with a vacuum.angela will lay the silk film onto the table,
it is center folded, so be sure to splay openthe two halves. then she will cover the pillow on all sides overlapping the silk film by12 inches or more. next insert a shopvac hose end on top of the pillow insert (so it isclear of the silk film) and turn the vacuum on. as soon as she closes up the bottom noticehow the pillow insert compresses almost to half the size. this will make it easy forus to insert it inside the pillow cover. once it is inside the cover, she will turnthe vacuum off and watch how it expands. ok, you can do one of two things here, you canleave the silk film in the cushion which does provide a level of water resistance to helpkeep the foam or fiberfill dry if used outdoors or you can remove the silk film from insidethe cover. silk film is excellent for easy
cushion stuffing and for water resistant protection,but for a medium or soft foam it can take a while for the cushion to expand quicklywhen a person gets up off the cushion. so, the choice is yours. we are using a sunbrellafabric which is already water resistant and spun bonded pillow protector which is alsowater resistant, so we will remove the silk film.to sew the opening closed on the cover we find it easier to remove the sewing machinefrom the collapsible sewing table so the cushion’s weight will rest on the table as we are sewingit shut. here we need to create a folded hem to simulatethe rest of the sides of the cushion. so angela will fold the fabric in along the two edgesof the fabric and start sewing about a â½
inch from the corner and 3/8 inch from thefolded edge. with the fiberfill stuffing closing or sewingup the opening is not too difficult, but if a sheet of foam were used instead you willfind this much more difficult, but possible. a suggesting for the closing the opening whenusing a sheet of foam is used is to pin the folds in place prior to sewing.our french mattress style cushion is now complete. if you want to build one using a sheet offoam the patterning sizes are slightly different as shown in the patterning chapter, but theconstruction techniques are exactly the same. coming up next is the materials list and toolsthat may be required to do it yourself. we used a sunbrella upholstery or furniture fabricbut you will find hundreds of other great
decorative at sailrite.for more free videos like this be sure to check out the sailrite website or subscribeto the sailrite youtube channel. it’s your loyal patronage to sailrite that makes thesefree videos available, thanks for your loyal support! i’m eric grant and from all ofus here at sailrite, thanks for watching!