Make 5 Easy Handmade Cushions in Less Than 1 Hour hero

Make 5 Easy Handmade Throw Cushions in Less Than 1 Hour

The cushion in 20 mins project is a fast way to add fresh new colours, texture and comfort to your home decor. Our tutorial is a step-by-step method to make 3 -5 cushions in an hour.

Why Would You Want To Make One?

The fastest AND easiest way to liven up a drab sofa, is to add groupings of scatter cushions. They are also the perfect way to subtly add accent colours to a room.

grey sofa and walls, teal accent scatter cushions

Rather than paint your room in your favourite colour, you could instead use a neutral colour on the walls, ceilings and your large upholstery, then add blocks of your favourite colour with scatter cushions, throws and other soft furnishings.

The scatter cushion that we're about to share with you, took 20 mins to pin-together and hand-stitch. You don't have to sew it in 20 minutes, obviously you can sew at your lesisure and take as long as you like.

If you needed to make some soft furnishings in a hurry, you could make 5 of these in an hour or 10 in 2 hours. That makes 20 minute cushions a really quick solution, for adding colour and or coziness to your space.

Purple (and most colours between red and blue) is my absolute favourite colour. The fabric we used for this quick project is purple polycotton (dress fabric).

PolyCotton fabric is okay for demonstration purposes, and for making things like cushion pads or bed decor cushions, but it is a little too thin to be used for high-traffic living room cushions.

The size, shape and the number of cushions to make , are your decision. For example, do you need to cover up a tear or stain on the sofa?

Will one cushion be big enough, or will two cushions look better? Maybe you want to make a nook feel cosier? Larger cushions will work well to add colour, support and comfort in pokey spaces.

Supplies

Fabric

We've used purple polycotton to demonstrate with, but you should use good quality decor fabric for high traffic soft furnishings.

Scissors or Rotary Cutter

We used just one good quality pair of scissors for fabric shaping and de-fraying, and zip and thread cutting.

Iron and Cloth Protector

Depending on your fabric, you will need a teflon cloth to protect it, while you remove creases with the hot iron.

Pins / Clips / Stapler

Our fabric is too thin for clips or staples, it was easier to use dress fabric pins.

Zip

Cheap plastic zips have a tendancy to warp and require more work. We prefer to use metal zips for cushions.

Ruler and Fabric Pen

You can also use sticky tape to measure out the size of your cushion fabric, but that depends on the fabric

Needle and Thread

Depending on your fabric, you will need a sharp needle and thread that closely matches your fabric.

Padding

You can choose to use any of the usual cushion fillings, including, feather, down, cotton or fibre-fill.

The Steps

Follow These Steps To Create Your Own Scatter Cushions in 20 mins

Are You Ready?

Step 1

Use your scissors or rotary cutter to cut out your fabric.

You'll need to cut 2 equal pieces - perferably square or rectangle (we'll get into circles at another time).

Step 2

Iron your two pieces of fabric to remove all the creases.

If necessary, use a heat protective cloth. Some fabrics, like thick faux suede, faux fur etc, will not need to be ironed.

Step 3

Place the edge of one zip arm over the edge of one of the pieces of fabric.

The right side of the fabric and the top side of the zip are facing each other. Pin along the edge and then sew them together.

zip placed over edge of one panel of fabric

zip arm pinned onto edge of cushion panel

Step 4

Place the other piece of fabric over the other zip arm.

The right side of the fabric and the top side of the zip are facing each other. Pin along the edge and then sew them together.

place second cushion panel right side over zip arm right side

Step 5

The thread we used was the only shade of purple we could find. Unfortunately it was pretty old and therefore prone to snapping at every opportunity.

The solution was to double the strands of thread - so four strands instead of two. The result wasn't tidy, but the join is very strong.

zip sewn onto cushion panels open zip right side

Step 6

Be sure to open the zip halfway otherwise you won't be able to open it once the cushion has been sewn up.

Place the right sides of the cushion panels so that they are touching. Pin together the three open edges of the cushion.

Step 7

Sew the three edges of the cushion from corner to corner.

You may need to sew over each edge of the zip, to ensure a tight seal.

Step 8

Open the zip fully and turn the cushion the right way around.

We've used thin polycotton dress fabric which creases without persuasion - iron your cushion cover if necessary.

finished cushion inside out zip fully open

Step 9

Pad your cushion cover with stuffing of your choice.

Most filling will work including cotton, feathers, down, wool etc. All Done.

Give It A Go

It's always more cost effective, more creative and more fun to make your own soft furnishings in your own personal style.