Continuing with my theme of updating our front patio, this month I decided to put my attention towards revamping our front chairs.

Now if you live in BWV or anywhere similar…you may spend a lot of time on your front porch. Whether it’s gathering with the neighbours or sitting out with a glass of wine while it’s raining, this front seating area is a must!

I spent a lot of time searching for just the right chairs. I knew I wanted them to comfortable, have a more substantial arm and fall within the more grey/brown tones. I drove around to all the lovely outdoor patio stores and ended up finding these gems at Lowes! They have just the right profile that I was looking for and cushion colour was a neutral beige. Not ideal, but it could work. We left them as-is for a few years, but keeping them outdoors all year, a couple kids and I’m sure a good number of raccoons later; they weren’t looking their best. The one down side that I didn’t realize when I purchased them was that the cushions didn’t have a zipper! So as much as I tried to wipe them down, I wasn’t able to remove the covers and give them a PROPER clean. So…cue me talking over my plan with my folks which led to this little project. 

The Plan

I was discussing picking up some new fabric to sew new covers, when my dad chimes in with this idea….like many other fathers I’m sure, he likes to keep things that have potential use down the road, and luckily he did! He continues to tell me about this GIANT umbrella fabric that he kept from a broken umbrella. This thing was MASSIVE! So the thought was, I can just reuse this fabric, cut it to size and create cushion covers.

Next step was convincing mom to help! 

Now as you all know, usually my dad is roped into assisting with my little projects, but lucky for my mom, this one involved a sewing machine…so it was her chance to take part too (I’m sure she was trilled LOL). Now the sewing machine I had, along with all the necessary tools, thread and basic idea; but I definitely needed some guidance in threading the machine through to getting that idea into a real design. 

We took some measurements of the cushions and followed the basic pattern of the current cushion. We cut a large piece (rectangle) that would get folded over and span the top and bottom of the cushion and three bands that would get sewn along the sides one piece at a time. With the machine I sewed along each edge completing a square, that was inside-out with the back end open for the zipper. I left the original cushion covers on so the pillows wouldn’t fall apart, and this new one went directly onto of it. The last back section was cut in half, the zipper sewn in-between these two pieces. That piece was attached to the rest leaving the zipper open. This allowed me to then turn the entire piece outside-in, stuff the cushions in and zip them up!

They may be a little loose, but I can always get some batting to wrap around which will make them a bit thicker and provide some extra padding (not a bad idea after a few years of use), or flip them back inside out, and do another stitch along all the edges making the finished piece smaller (and then cutting off the excess). Either way, they’ve been given new life and a new look!

Now before you mention it…black fabric?? On a porch that faces west?? (Meaning a lot of direct evening sun). Yes it’s hot, and yes at times I need to lay a blanket on it, but hey…fabric was free! I have a few extra outdoor pillows, that when I get around to going to the store, I may pick up some new fabric to recover those for a little pop of colour and design, but this is a great start!

Cost of doing this project: Pretty much free!

Fabric: free

Pattern: free

Zippers: 3 were free, I have to buy one more!

Length of time: probably 8ish hours

Bonus: I got to use the sewing machine I got from my grandmother and all the little bits and bobs that came with it. I know she’d get a kick out of me doing it myself with my mom. 

Interested in all things Real Estate, Renovation and Design, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter and FOLLOW ME on Instagram!