A while back I brought 4 of 16 x 24 white inner cushions at Ikea at $4 each. Didn't know where to put them so I decided to use it to brighten up Honeybee's bed. I went back to Ikea and brought 2 metres of Lillivi fabric at $8.99/m. I like the happy mixture of the many colors printed on this fabric (great for learning/playing "what color is this?"). I also like that the fabric is cotton duck ! great for making cushion cover ! heavier than your standard cotton, hold shape well, somewhat stain resistant, and easy to fold/push through the sewing machine ! and plus, you don't have to serge if you don't want to :-) can't get better than that !
I wrote this assuming you have a little fabric knowledge and at least at the beginner skill level with the sewing machine. If you haven't sew before, don't stop reading :-) Just read on and perhaps seeing how easy this is, it might encourage you to learn to take up sewing ! It will saves you lots of $$ making cushions for your home and quite handy for hemming that pants that's a little too long.
OK, so all I did was cut 4 strips of 17.5 inches out of the 2 metres. With the front facing me, I fold and hem the left end (about 1 inch). After that's done, I lay the fabric strip back side down on the floor(printed side facing me), and start to fold. Here's a picture to show you how I folded the fabric:
Fabric strip > width: 17.5", total length: 59"
Fold the hemmed end #2 over #1, then fold #3 over #2. Sew straight across the top and the bottom (along the 24" length). Turn the pillow cover inside out and then I stuff it with my inner cushion ! Ta da ! Easy right ?
Depending on the size of cushion you want, measure the cushion and add 1" to it and that should be the width and height of your fabric. For example: if your cushion is 16 X 16", you will cut 17" height and the length will be 17" + 22" (11" for each flap) = 39" will be the length. I got the 11" flap by taking 16" cushion divided it by 2 then add 3" so it over lap each other.
Standard rule for me is for square pillows, the flap in the back should be at least 3 inches over lapping each other. For long pillows like the one I have, they are 5 inches over lapping each other.
Hope that numbers help. If you have any question please email me !
Some pictures of cushion covers I made:
Depending on the size of cushion you want, measure the cushion and add 1" to it and that should be the width and height of your fabric. For example: if your cushion is 16 X 16", you will cut 17" height and the length will be 17" + 22" (11" for each flap) = 39" will be the length. I got the 11" flap by taking 16" cushion divided it by 2 then add 3" so it over lap each other.
Standard rule for me is for square pillows, the flap in the back should be at least 3 inches over lapping each other. For long pillows like the one I have, they are 5 inches over lapping each other.
Hope that numbers help. If you have any question please email me !
Some pictures of cushion covers I made:
