Dress Up Your Chest

Awww.  Poor naked, lonely cedar chest.  I had just painted it white, but I knew it needed something else.  Let's see if we can dress her up a bit

Much better!  Plus, this just added more cushy seating to the room.  We now officially have enough seats for all the people in our life group.  Let the hosting begin!

I wanted the cushion to be the exact size of the top of the chest, so I knew I'd have to start from scratch.  Here's how I did it:

Materials

• 3 18" x 18" x 2" squares of foam (you can use 1 big piece of foam, but 3 small ones were cheaper for me)
• 1 1/4 yards of fabric (I used upholstery fabric)
• matching thread

Tools

• Electric knife
• Sewing machine
• Needle
• Sharpie
• Ruler
• Good scissors or rotary cutter and board

I started out by measuring the top of the chest

 got 3 of these

and lined them up.

You notice one is shorter than the others?  Well, that's because I cut it!

With this

hehehehe.  Knife-wielding maniac.  Since I'm a vegetarian, I rarely cook a piece of meat large enough to warrant using this thing.  I'm so glad I now have a reason for owning it!

Cutting through the foam is so much easier with this.  I've tried it with a regular serrated knife and the results weren't nearly as good

It isn't shown here, but make sure you mark your foam with a straight line to follow when you're cutting.  A Sharpie works great.

Now put all your foam pieces together and make sure they are the right size for the top of the chest

Next, take your fabric and cut it to the right size for your cushion.  My foam was 18" wide and 2" thick so I cut the fabric to 42" wide (enough to go all the way around and leave a 1" seam/mistake allowance).  I always cut a little bigger than I need, just in case.  I cut the length to 48" because my cushion is 42" long + 2" on each side and I wanted there to be enough to do the corners nicely.

Yes, I use an old wooden yardstick like your grandma had.  Yes, I know it's pathetic.  I promise I'll get a nice, clear ruler one day.

Now pin your fabric inside out around the foam.  You're basically making a long tube around the foam.  Pin the end up on one side so that the other side is open for when you want to turn it right-side out again.

Take the foam out and go sew it (inside out)!

Now turn it right-side out.  Take the foam and stuff it back in.  I like to roll the fabric back so I don't have to wrestle with it too much.

After you stuffed your foam back in, fold and pin up the corners on the open end

and then stitch them up by hand.

Don't worry if it isn't just right... no one will really see it.  I keep my hand-stitched end in the back and on the bottom of the cushion.

Now you're done!  Easy, right?

  

I might just make some pillows for the back of it.  I'll keep you updated.

What do you think?  Do you plan on trying this?  Let me know in the comments section!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings,

Jamie

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