Here is an easy shortcut kind of project, I think you’ll love. Check out this DIY Bench Seat Cushion Cover Tutorial and learn how easy it is to make cushions for a bench.
There’s a 9-foot bench seat in my office that sat bare for years.
I originally envisioned a beautiful corded cushion cover with a zipper. That sounded nice, but this is big, and quite frankly, the thought of making it overwhelmed me.
I could not move forward and put off this project for years. 😂
Elastic Cushion Covers
Finally, I came up with a shortcut to make it easier, quicker, and less expensive. If you are holding off on a bench seat cushion, I hope this helps.
Explore More: Bench Cushion Cover 2
My solution is an easy shortcut; an elastic cushion cover, like a fitted sheet.
The construction may not sound as fancy, but the end result looks pretty close to the deluxe version. More importantly, I felt comfortable tackling it.
An elastic cover can be easily removed for washing, which makes it kid and dog-friendly. It’s easier to put on and remove too!
Custom Cushions for Benches
As you can see, this works great on a window seat, but this method also works well to create a custom cushion for almost any bench you have. Most free-standing benches will work, such as a piano bench, garden bench, boat bench, RV bench, or a church pew. You get the idea!
It does work best with a firm thicker foam cushion. I would not recommend anything flimsy and less than 2 inches high.
This shortcut also works well for a chair that has a box cushion or a cushion dog bed.
Here’s my bench cushion cover with cording. DIY Bench Cushion Cover 2.
Home Decor with Fabric
Fabric is such a beautiful addition to any room! There are so many creative ways to incorporate it.
Consider customizing furniture, such as benches, chairs, bar stools, or ottomans. Check out these DIY project tutorials; bench seats, chairs, stools, ottomans, or bed skirts.
Add a set of DIY pillows to match. Try these pillow covers or these. They are both very easy!
Choose fabrics that you love to personalize your spaces and make your home a cozy place that your family will want to stay and enjoy.
Explore More Cushion Tutorials
Here are 2 more custom cushion DIYs on my site.
Chair Cushion DIY or Chair or Barstool Covers
How much Fabric is Needed for the Bench Cushion Cover
See the drawing below to help you determine the total amount of fabric you need.
Firstly, measure the width (A) and length (B) of the top surface of the cushion. In addition, measure the depth of your cushion.
Take that number and multiply it by 2.5. (Depth in Inches x 2.5 = C) Add this number (C) to the measurements on all 4 sides around the rectangle.
Now you are ready to add up the numbers that equal your fabric dimensions. Your fabric width will be C+A+C. The fabric length will be C+B+C. This will be in inches.
DIY Decorating Fabric and Batting Online Sources
Next, the fun part; you need to find some fabric you love! When you are ready to shop, make sure to consider how often your seat cushion cover will get used and how much traffic it will get.
A safe and reasonably priced option is mid-weight cotton. I found mine at Hobby Lobby.
You can also buy decorator fabrics at other shops, big and small, or online, I’ve listed some great options below.
spoonflower.com
fabric.com
hobbylobby.com
joann.com
michaels.com
Here is what you will need to make your own fitted cushion cover.
(affiliate links below in blue)
Sewing Materials Needed
Decor Fabric
Foam Cushion 1 to 5 inches high
Flat Elastic 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch wide
Matching Thread
Sewing Scissors
A Sewing Machine
Sewing Pins
Straight Edge or Ruler
How to Make Cushions for a Bench
Let’s get started! Below are step-by-step directions to make your cushion cover.
Cutting the Fabric
Once you have the fabric home, first, you’ll want to pre-wash it. Either air dry or machine-dry, depending on how you will typically care for it.
It is important to have any shrinkage happen before you start sewing because if you don’t the seat cushion cover may not fit properly after washing.
Now cut the piece of fabric based on your measurements.
1 Lay your cut fabric down on your work surface with the right side down. Center the cushion on top of the cut fabric. With a straight edge or just eyeballing it.
2 Cut the corner square out/off of your fabric.
3 Next, cut the remaining 3 corners too.
Starting to Sew
Time to sew! Let’s do one corner at a time.
Making the Corner Pockets
4 After cutting the “squares” out of each corner, fold each corner into itself by bringing the right sides of the fabric (newly cut edges) together. Now, pin and sew each of the 4 corners closed to create “pockets”. Trim each seam allowance down to 1/8″.
5 Time for a little bit of ironing. Make sure to set your iron to the correct heat for your fabric type. On each of the 4 corners, press the seam allowance to one side, from the right and wrong side of the fabric, to ensure the seam is laying nice and flat.
6 When you are done sewing and pressing each corner, insert each into your sewing machine, one at a time. From the outside/right side, sew closely to the gutter on top of the seam allowance to finish. Doesn’t that look nice? So professional.
7 Insert your foam cushion into the cushion cover and lay it on your work surface upside down.
We want to assure that all of the fabric tails on the bottom of the cushion are fairly equal. Sometimes they are already perfect, but if you are like me, they are always slightly off! Does this only happen to me?
8 Trim any sides that are uneven or unnecessarily long but don’t overdo it. We need some length to hold on to the cushion!
Note A couple of readers found it helpful to add bands across the center on the bottom to help hold the cushion on more securely.
Sewing in the Elastic
9 Press a 1/4 inch fold under, all the way around the cover.
Time for elastic. You’ll need to use a zigzag stitch because that will stretch with your elastic, not break as a straight stitch would. Set your machine to zigzag, and set the stitch length to 2.5mm.
On the underside of the fabric, place the elastic over the raw edge of the fabric that you had folded and pressed earlier. The elastic will cover up and protect the raw edge so it does not fray as much over time.
Pick a starting point. Stitch forward and back a short distance, to reinforce the stitch. As you sew on top of the elastic, pull the incoming elastic straight, as much as you can.
Sew all the way around to your starting point. After that, sew back and forth over the spot you started to secure it again.
10 Nice work! Your cushion cover is ready!
Finding the Right Foam Insert
Next up, is the foam cushion. This is where most of your cost will come in. They are kinda pricey, but the good news is you can recover and reuse them for years!
There are many cushion options, but for this type of elastic cover, most importantly you will need something with a little more heft and weight to “hold” on to the cover without curling up and caving in.
I am using a 4-inch depth piece of foam for my bench seat cushion cover, but I think 2- 3-inch depth would work also if the fabric is not too heavy.
Covering the Foam Cushion with Batting
Batting is optional, but it will soften the square edges of the cushion. Most importantly, it gives the finished cushion soft and smooth finished edges and improves the overall look.
You’ll need to cut the batting to fit and wrap around the foam, just on the top, front and back. In other words, you do not need to cover the bottom of the foam.
I used my sewing scissors for this too and it worked great. After you have cut the batting to fit, smooth it and stretch it to fit over the cushion. It stretches and forms very easily.
Secure it with a spray adhesive like Scotch Super 77 (affiliate link). This adhesive holds the batting in place. As a result, it’s much easier to put the cover on and everything is more secure when the cushion is in use.
Finishing Up
You may want to do a final pressing of the cushion cover before you put it on the newly wrapped foam. It should be as easy as making a bed. You are finished. Congrats!
I hope you enjoyed learning how to make cushions for a bench. Please let me know if you make one.☺️
Thanks for stopping by!
xo,
Cindy
Seat Cushion Covers
Find more cushion inspiration and tutorials via the links below.
Chair Covers
Bar Stool and Chair Cushions
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L0ve your tutorial! Very easy to understand! I am going to try this out!
Thank you, Jackie! I am so glad it is helpful. Let me know how it turns out!
Super helpful description of the corners. Thank you so much!!
Amy, you are so welcome! Good luck with your project.
Thanks for your pin! Your window seat is beautiful… However I can’t figure out from your pictures and your description how to do the corners. I sew a regular seam on the inside but then I do an outside seam as well? Do you have any close-up pictures? Thank you so much!
Hi Beth! Sorry that it confused you! Technically, you do not need the “outside” seam, it is just for appearance’s sake. It is a topstitch that secures and flattens the seam allowance on the flip side, and just makes it look nice on the outside. Look closely at number 6. Let me know if that makes sense? If not I can take a better photo in daylight tomorrow!
Tried it, and it looks great, so far. Was thinking I might just add the elastic at the corner and see how that works
Stephanie, that is a really great idea! Please let me know how it works out? 🙂
I loved this tutorial! I am a pretty novice sewer. I have always had an area of my house that I wanted a bench seat and 12 years later my husband finally built it. That meant I had to actually make the cushion and cover. I was super intimidated my zippers and piping. This worked great. I ended up using a thin quilt since my seat was so large and I had a hard time finding wide enough fabric. It was perfect!
Anna, I am so happy that it worked for you! Thanks for sharing your story!
Thank you for sharing this DIY project. I have used the calculations above to determine how much fabric I will require, but I am not sure how to figure out how much elastic is needed? Thank you.
You are very welcome Tracey! I’m so sorry that I don’t have a perfect calculation. I would suggest measuring the outside of the cushion and my guess is that it would be approximately half of that length, due to the elastic contracting. I always err on the side of caution and buy a little extra though!
I just made this for a bench for the waiting area of my office. It worked great, but the sides of mine kind of gapped away from the cushion instead of having a nice clean line. I think I cut the fabric a little too narrow (I was working with a fabric piece just barely big enough for the foam), so I just added three pieces of elastic across the back of the cushion to pull the edges in taut. It’s hard to describe, but basically the fabric is on one side, the foam is in the middle, and there are elastic straps running across the back. It’s a bit trickier to put the cover on and off, but it works, and it’s an easy enough fix. Thanks for the tutorial, and I just wanted to share in case anyone else needs to fix the same issue.
Mel, thanks for sharing your experience! That sounds like the perfect solution and a great way to make the fabric smoother and more secure on the cushion. I would love to see it. I just need to figure out how people can upload their project pictures so we can all learn and enjoy.
I’m so glad you tried the tutorial and made it work for you. Thanks!☺️
This is simple and beautiful! Thank you!
Wow, thank you so much!
Thank you so much for giving us the option of adding elastic to a seat cover. I would not have thought of that! I absolutely love your “she space”! It’s beautiful and the colors are perfect!
Kim, my pleasure. I hope it helps you! Thanks SO much for your sweet note, it made my day!
Thanks for the tutorial, very instructive. I am not sure if I missed how to measure the elastic or it is not in there. Please advise me how to measure the elastic, Many thanks.
Hi Amal! The length of your elastic will depend on your cushion and how far your fabric will wrap around underneath your foam insert. To be safe, I would purchase enough to go around the perimeter of your unfinished ends. See photo number 7, for reference. You will be stretching the elastic as you sew, so you technically you will need even less. Hope this helps!
Hi
Followed your tutorial and it was easy-peasy to understand. Thanks much, I am making covers for my recliner fabric sofas and want them to fit like a glove.
Thanks so much
Suwarna
Suwarna, that is fabulous news! I am so happy that it helped you. Thanks for letting me know!
Cindy, could you please share where you purchased the foam cushion for this project, or recommend a good resource.
Thanks.
Hi Marilyn, I bought the Airtex High-Density Foam from JoAnn Fabrics. It looks like it is still available in 3, 4, and 5-inch heights. Hope that helps.☺️ Let me know if you make a cushion cover!
Cindy how do I curve my corners so it will work on my rounded edge cushion?
Hi Laura! There are 2 ways you could go here. The first & easier approach would be to follow the original instructions, but before sewing in the elastic, you could “try it on” over your insert. If the corners are too baggy you could take additional fabric “in” on the corners.
OR… For a better fit, you could cut 2 pieces. 1) Cut your top fabric piece to match your cushions top, curved corners & all (plus a seam allowance). 2) Next cut one long strip (or joined strips), plus a seam allowance for the total height (the sides & portion that wraps around the bottom edge of the cushion.) Then with right sides together, sew the top piece to the side piece, all the way around. Close the side piece in the back if possible so it does not show. Now just continue to sew in the elastic.
Hope that makes sense!? Good luck! Let me know how it goes!
Thank you so so much for this tutorial. It was so simple and easy to follow but the results are the polished professional look I was hoping for! It was so easy to make I am probably going to turn into the person who has many different covers based on the season. Thank you!
Emily, you just made my day! I am so glad that you could understand the instructions easily and best of all, you had success! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
Thank you for this! I too was overwhelmed at the thought of a full cushion cover but was relieved at finding this option. I finished my first one today, however, it is super loose., especially on the long edges. I’m thinking I misunderstood step number 8. There still seemed to be so much corner fabric. The only other thing I can think of is that I didn’t pull the elastic tight enough as I was doing the zigzag stitch. But, I pulled it pretty tight. So, I may add the back straps as your one commenter did.
Hi Leah! The tightness of the elastic could be a part of it. Next time, it might also help to have a deeper “lip” underneath. I might try a casing for the elastic also, instead of sewing it in. Then threading the elastic and tightening as needed. I’ll make a post when I do it!
The back straps are a great idea too, especially for the really long cushions. Thanks for the reminder, I will add that to the post. Thanks for sharing your experience, it takes a village! 😁
Hi Cindy,
I am in process of starting this project. I’ve looked at many DIY cushions for my new Ikea Kallax hack banquette and yours seems the most straightforward and well-thought out. Hey, if you don’t use batting you don’t even have to worry about the cushion sliding around because the foam itself will keep it in place!
My question: What is the seam allowance when you’re sewing the corners – I see your instructions to trim to 1/8 inch but no seam allowance instructions. Thanks. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Hi Ruth! Yay, I’m so excited that you are making a cushion cover! Most people use seam allowances between 1/4-5/8 inch. It is totally, always up to you. I usually decide based on the fabric (does it fray? will it be secure?) or the amount of fabric I have (will I run out?). For my cushions, I usually stay on the conservative side and use 5/8 inch for secure seams that I can count on.😁 Hope that helps. Good luck!
Making a window seat with a cushion, is one job I plan to do this summer. I just hope it comes out half as beautiful as yours. Thanks for sharing this fabulous post.
Awww, thanks so much, Ivory! ☺️ Let me know how it goes.
Mine is super loose also and I pulled the elastic as tight as I could.
Lisa, I’m sorry to hear that! 🤔 Without seeing your project, I’m not sure if these ideas will work, but I have a couple of thoughts. Some have found straps sewn across the center can help for long cushions. And I just had this new idea; You could buy a pack of wider elastic to run the length of the cushion on both sides. Sew these two strips from corner to corner, on top of the existing elastic, stretching the new elastic as much as possible. This could cinch it up more without tearing apart what you’ve done?
Wow, I can just give you a BIG hug. I love this idea. Never would have thought to make the cover for a window seat, like a fitted sheet. Genius! Thank you so much for sharing
Awww, thank you so much, Ivory! I am always looking for shortcuts. 😂
I followed your instructions to the ‘T’. Easy peasy and pleased. I shall do 2 more as the cushion is our 5th wheel dine booth. And since I cannot re-arrange furniture well…you got it. Thank you so much. I shall make a cover for the couch for makeover days also.
Thank you.
Ldine, I’m delighted that this worked so well for you! Thank you for letting me know. This really made my day! 😃
Are the cuts on the corners the depth of the foam?
Hi Margo, Yes! ☺️