Chair Cushion Pattern Maker
A seat cushion cover that fits properly has a boxed shape: a top, a bottom and a gusset round the sides. Type the seat’s width and depth and the thickness of the foam, and the three are drawn to match.
Choose a removable zip cover or close it by hand with a gap, and add ties at the back to hold it to a chair.
Make it yours: Use contrasting fabrics on the top and bottom, alter the foam thickness, and move or lengthen the ties to fit your chair.
Make this pattern in your size →What you can change
Size
- Seat width: 20–180 cm (7⅞–70⅞″). Finished width of the foam insert.
- Seat depth: 20–80 cm (7⅞–31½″). Front to back across the seat.
- Cushion thickness: 3–15 cm (1⅛–5⅞″). Thickness of the foam insert.
Sizes are typed in centimetres, millimetres or inches. The starting size is Seat width 40 cm (15¾″), Seat depth 40 cm (15¾″), Cushion thickness 5 cm (2″).
Options
- Opening: removable zip cover or hand-sewn closing gap
- Switches: Back ties
- Measurements and counts: Zip tape width, Sew the zip on at, Each tie length, Tie width, Tie distance from corner
Starting points
These are sizes and settings to begin from, and every one stays fully editable. Type your own measurements, or start from the nearest one.
| Starting point | Finished size, cm | Same starting point in round inches |
|---|---|---|
| Dining chair | 40 × 40 cm · 5 cm thick | 16 × 16″ · 2″ thick |
| Bench cushion | 120 × 45 cm · 6 cm thick | 48 × 18″ · 2½″ thick |
Cutting list
At the starting size (Seat width 40 cm (15¾″), Seat depth 40 cm (15¾″), Cushion thickness 5 cm (2″)) the pattern has these pieces. Fabric sizes include seam allowance, interfacing is cut to the stitching line, and pieces cut on the fold are shown opened out. Each size is the width and height of the piece as cut.
| Piece | Fabric | Cut | Size to cut | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cushion top and bottom | Main fabric | 2 | 42 × 42 cm (≈16½ × ≈16½″) | Rectangle: cut by measurement or from the print |
| Front and side gusset | Main fabric | 1 | 122 × 7 cm (≈48 × 2¾″) | Rectangle: cut by measurement or from the print |
| Back zip bands | Main fabric | 2 | 42 × 3.45 cm (≈16½ × ≈1⅜″) | Rectangle: cut by measurement or from the print |
| Seat tie tails | Main fabric | 4 | 6 × 37.2 cm (≈2⅜ × ≈14⅝″) | Strip: cut by measurement |
You will also need: Foam insert; Continuous zip; Thread. The cover page and materials list give the amounts for your size.
The maker’s fabric estimate at this size: Main fabric about 1.6 m of 112 cm fabric.
How it goes together
These are the maker’s own instructions at the starting size. They change with the options you pick, and the PDF carries the full set with the cover, cutting list and materials list.
- Measure the seat and cut a foam insert 40 × 40 cm, 5 cm thick. The pattern is the foam size; test a corner with your actual fabric and foam before cutting the full cover.
- Press each tie strip in quarters along its length, turn the free end under by 1.2 cm and stitch it closed. Baste two tails at each marked point on the top face’s back edge, raw ends level with the cutting edge and tails pointing inward.
- Sew the zip between the two back bands at 0.6 cm from the raw tape edge. With 0.65 cm of zip visible on each side, the completed back panel is 5 cm tall. Use a continuous zip trimmed to the band length; open it halfway before sewing the cover shut.
- Join each short end of the back zip panel to a short end of the front-and-side gusset, right sides together at 1 cm, to make a ring. Press the allowances open.
- Pin the top face to the ring, right sides together. Put the gusset’s two corner marks at the front corners, its two end seams at the back corners, and match the centre notches. Sew at 1 cm, pivoting at each corner; clip the gusset allowance up to, but not through, the corner stitching. Keep the tie tails clear.
- Attach the bottom face the same way. Finish the raw allowances without stitching the top and bottom together.
- Turn through the open zip, ease the foam into the cover and close the zip. The cover can be removed for washing.
Fabric suggestions
Outer: Stable woven cotton, linen, canvas or upholstery-weight cloth. It gets sat on, so choose something hard-wearing that washes well.
Lining: The cover is a single layer: a top, a bottom and a gusset round the sides.
Interfacing, padding or other layers: No interfacing is needed. The foam insert goes inside the cover.
How each fabric family suits it
- Stable woven: great choice. Stable woven fabric holds a predictable cover size.
- Heavy or stiff: great choice. Use a suitable needle and grade the bulky corner seams.
- Stretchy knit: possible, with care. The cover may grow in use; stabilise the opening and test the fit.
- Slippery or fine: possible, with care. Baste the opening and use plenty of clips so the back panels stay even.
The maker’s advice adjusts to the fabric family you pick in the Fabric tab.
Printing it
At the starting size the printed pieces take 11 A4 pages, taped together using the page labels, alignment marks and page map. For a print shop, choose a sheet from A0 to a 36″ roll: the pieces are packed onto as few sheets as they will fit on, and if one is too big for the sheet the maker says so. Every piece here is a rectangle or a strip, so the cutting list above is enough and you can skip printing. How printing, tiling and the test square work.
Frequently asked questions
What size can I make?
The chair cushion pattern takes seat width from 20–180 cm (7⅞–70⅞″); seat depth from 20–80 cm (7⅞–31½″); cushion thickness from 3–15 cm (1⅛–5⅞″). It starts at Seat width 40 cm (15¾″), Seat depth 40 cm (15¾″), Cushion thickness 5 cm (2″), and you can work in centimetres, millimetres or inches. There are 2 starting points to begin from (Dining chair, Bench cushion). Every starting point stays fully editable.
Which fabric suits the chair cushion pattern?
Stable woven cotton, linen, canvas or upholstery-weight cloth. It gets sat on, so choose something hard-wearing that washes well. In the maker’s fabric advice, stable woven and heavy or stiff are a great choice; stretchy knit and slippery or fine are possible with care.