Chair Cushions

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Today I got some Mommy time. I caught up on those things that needed to be done but I never get to. You know the list--schedule my mammogram, deal with healthcare receipts, etc. Now I have some down time and am going to relax and then visit all the great entries shared this past week in Sharing Saturday and at Happy Family Times. So I am going to share with you a Mommy Craft today.

Our cheap table w/ 2 of its 6 chairs

We have a cheap white patio set. I bought it when I was single just to have a table outside for one of the apartments I lived in and had access to a yard. It was cheap and is not the prettiest thing. The chairs are fairly comfortable, but not perfect. Every summer I talk to Steve about buying a new one. We look at the prices and decide not to spend the money even at the clearance sales. So I decided to jazz up ours. Awhile ago outdoor canvas went on sale at Joann's. It was the cheapest I had seen it so I bought some. (It is on sale again this week 50% off--I got it cheaper, but don't remember how much now.)  Anyway, my goal was to make some cushions for the ugly white chairs. Since we were having our friends over for the Fourth of July, I figured it was incentive to get them done. On Sunday I went to Joann's to buy some foam (also 50% off this week). I bought 1/2 inch thick foam. It won't provide much cushion but a bit. Then I started on making a pattern.

Bottom View

I took a piece of paper (well actually a couple taped together) to get the basic shape of the seat. I taped it to the chair and cut around the seat part. Then I took this paper and put it on freezer paper and added a half inch to each side. This was my top pattern. For the bottom I wanted two pieces so I could remove the foam and wash them if they get dirty. So I traced the pattern of the top on both ends and added more so I could hem it. In my first one I also added an inch strip to be the sides. I discovered this was not a necessary step and skipped it after the first one. I cut out the pieces and finished the edges that needed to be hemmed and hemmed them. Then I pinned the top to the two bottom pieces making sure they overlapped and I serged (you could zig zag your edges and sew the seams on a regular machine) all the way around. I turned it back out and used the first paper to cut the foam and inserted it. Now it is completely removable and washable. I think it jazzed the chairs up a bit and I have some more fabric so I may work on covering the backs of the chairs a bit too.

I was able to sew all six of them very quickly and it was very easy!!

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