August 8, 2012by Kristin Jackson21 CommentsDecor, DIY, Upholstery

DIY Drop In Seat Cushion
I introduced you all to my little blogging corner yesterday & wanted to share my latest little vintage beauty.  I came across this rattan chair (with 90% of the rattan still in tact) a month or so ago at my favorite Antique Market, Dupre’s on Marietta Square.  It had some fun lines but it definitely needed some lovin’.
I took her home for $50 & within 30 minutes I got the jigsaw out & shortened the arms… wasn’t planning on that part, but it needed to be able to slide under the desk a little better.  I also gave it a few coats of Rustoleum’s Heirloom White.  I was not going to brush on paint over that rattan weave!
The cushion that came with it was, well, really flat & the wrong shape & since I would be sitting in it for long amounts of time I really needed some more support.  No one likes an uncomfortable blogger.  I decided to create a Drop In Upholstered Seat that I would place over the rattan seat.  But this method could be used to repair any chair with a drop in seat as well.
Materials:
Plywood
3″ Foam
Batting
Fabric
Staple Gun & Staples
I created a template for the seat using some leftover wrapping paper.  I then traced that onto a piece of plywood.  Once the plywood was cut, I placed that on top of the foam & used an electric knife (the kind you use for Thanksgiving dinner) to cut out the foam.
Cutting a larger piece of batting, I stapled the batting taught into the plywood.  This is where the littles came over & said “This is Awesome Mama.  It’s soooo fluffy.”  
Next came the fabric.  Needing to make the few colors I have in my Black & White kitchen work together I found this lovely Waverly pattern. { Santa Maria in Desert Flower }
It brought in my acid yellow Wine Crate Drawer Front Cart , Chalkboard wall & our red pots & pans… Plus a little pink for me πŸ™‚  & thanks to my secret source that shall remain nameless I got it for free!  Shhhhhh!
I centered my pattern on my seat & started stapling, making sure to pull as tightly as I could each time.  Admittedly, I did pull a little too much & messed up my centered pattern.  To remedy this I simply took out my staples & started over… paying a bit more attention the second time around.
The most difficult area was the back curve.  I took the back portion & pleated it as symmetrically as I could.
If you start looking at professionally upholstered pieces this happens quite frequently.  Luckily, this is the area that is mostly covered by the back of the chair anyways.
Once it was all done I simply placed it in as I would any other cushion.  The nice thing about it having the wood base is it not only provides more support, but it doesn’t shift at all either.
Now I’m blogging in style!  Well, at least more so than before.  Now all I need to finish this corner are my trellis drapery panels!  I keep willing my sewing machine to get fixed… guess I need to actually take it somewhere.