Make Your Own Cushion: 30-Minute Cushion

X-HT-300715

If you have upholstery fabric, seating foam and half an hour, you can make the 30-Minute Cushion right now. This is another simple method for making a square or rectangular cushion. With just decorative upholstery fabric and a zipper making up the cover, this cushion is low on materials and high on style. Even beginner upholsterers can knock out this easy cushion style in 30 minutes or less! Read on to learn how to DIY your own.

Video Chapters:

Cutting Fabric to Size — 1:10 min.
Cutting Corner & Center Notches — 2:52 min.
Sewing Zipper — 5:29 min.
Sewing Sides — 9:04 min.
Installing Zipper Slider — 10:36 min.
Sewing Boxed Corners — 12:12 min.
Cutting Foam — 14:37 min.
Inserting Foam — 15:36 min.
Materials & Tools List — 17:37 min.

Materials List:

Upholstery Fabric from Sailrite — we used Outdura^® Poppy Midnight 54" (#124766)
Seamstick 1/4" Basting Tape for Canvas & Upholstery (36 yds.) (#122065)
Tex 70 to 75 Thread from Sailrite
Lenzip^® #5 Black Continuous Coil Zipper Chain (#124596)
Lenzip^® #5 Black Style A Single Locking Metal Zipper Pull (Coil Chain) (#124600)
CushionRite^® Premium Foam (Soft) (#124230)

Tools List:

Sailrite^® Tempered Cutting Glass (#121915)
Sailrite^® Edge Cordless Hotknife 18V Package (#122177)
Gingher^® 8" Scissors Right Handed (#19104)
Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24" (#102400)
Scribe-All^® Black Marking Pencil for Vinyl (#121977)
Sailrite^® Ultrafeed^® LSZ Walking Foot Sewing Machine (110V) (#311602)
Sailrite^® Ultrafeed^® Industrial Sewing Table (#120934)
Suisei Magnetic Sewing Guide (#102983)
Basic Thread Snips (#123222)
Sailrite^® Blade Foam Saw V2 with Carrying Case (110V) (#121244)
T-Square, Pencil, Cardboard, Marker

Depending on the size of your cushion, a single piece of decorative upholstery is all the fabric you need to make this stylish and simple seating option. The upholstery fabric wraps around all sides of the cushion. That gives you the freedom to flip it and use both sides. This versatility is the main thing that sets the 30-Minute method apart from the other techniques in the Cushion Masterclass series. Its other notable features include:

Automatic pattern matching from top to bottom.
Seamed right and left sides.
Seamed corners and rolled edges.
No separate boxing strips or underlining panel.
Zipper on back side.
No way to add piping.

Although you only need a few materials to make this cushion, getting the right amounts of each is still important. That's where the Sailrite® Fabric Calculator comes in. This free tool will tell you exactly what materials you need to make the 30-Minute Cushion. It even provides a shopping list to make placing your order a cinch. Finally, you'll be able to reduce waste with the calculator's nesting feature, which shows you the most efficient way to use your fabric. This Sailrite cushion calculator is a must-use tool for every DIY box cushion.

30 Minute Cushion 3 — Note how well the pattern matches up on this cushion's seamed sides and corners — and even around the zipper.

Whether you're looking for a quick project to use up a large fabric remnant or you plan to make a whole collection of cushions for every room in your house, the 30-Minute Cushion is the DIY for you. Watch our step-by-step instructional video to get started on the easiest cushion you'll ever make.

How did your 30-Minute Cushion turn out? Let us know in the comments below. This DIY is part of our Cushion Masterclass video series. In this series, you’ll learn how to make a cushion seven different ways. There’s a technique for every use and style preference, so you can customize cushions for any space. How many of the styles will you make?