Cushions for child’s rocking chair

You know what I think is so unbelievably, incredibly cute? Little kids sitting in little chairs. My son usually won’t sit still for any length of time, so we’ve held off from buying one of those mini-armchairs.
This little rocker used to be mine. Heck, it may have even been my mom’s. I have another little wooden chair that was hers. I decided to make cute little “boy cushions” in this cowboy fabric. Now I can’t decide what’s cuter: the rocker with my boy or the rocker without my boy.

Supplies

(Click fabrics for direct links for purchase at Warehouse Fabrics Inc.)

Cowboy Stucco

Piping

Stuffing or batting

Bias tape (for ties)
1 yard of fabric and a couple of yards of piping. One package of coordinating bias tape (I actually used black) for the ties.

The pattern

Read on to see how to make cushions to custom fit your mini-chair.

The process

This is my wee rocking chair! My butt fit in that chair sometime in the 1970s. It definitely doesn’t fit now.
To make your pattern, place a piece of paper on the chair and trace the outline of the seat. 

Alternatively, you could measure the edges and draw it, then shape it a bit.

My outline was way messy, so I took a ruler and squared it up and marked the center lines either way.
Fold in half lengthwise and round off and shape your pattern. Cut it out while folded so it’s symmetrical.
Check to see that it fits.
I was going to repeat the process for the chair-back cushion, but it seems that if I flip the cushion up, I can use the same pattern.  

The wider part is now on top (the part that was at the front of the seat cushion). Therefore, I will be cognizant of the direction of the pattern on the fabric when cutting.

Cut two chair seat cushion pieces and two back cushion pieces.

Now let’s make the piping. I had this huge 11/16″ piping. I wanted nice, fat piping on this project, but this was huge. It easily unravels into four separate pieces, though, so I used those pieces to make this piping.
Cut the fabric on the bias and sew the piping using our piping tutorial, which includes cutting directions. 

Normally, I am a big fan of the piping presser foot, but this piping is too big to fit in the ridge, so I used my zipper foot. Also, please note that if you are using big, fat piping, you’ll need to cut bigger strips than in that tutorial. For this, I cut 2-1/2″ strips (I think), but the seam allowance was big, so I trimmed it down.

Baste the piping onto one piece of your seat-back cushion and one piece of your chair cushion. You’ll be basting it to the side you want facing outward, if you have a preference due to how the pattern on the fabric was cut. 

You’ll line up the raw edge of the piping seam allowance with the edge of the fabric. Start sewing, but leave a few inches at the beginning of the piping free for now.

When you get back around, cut your piping tail so that the end overlaps the beginning by a few inches.
Remove the stitches on the piping on the beginning piece.
Trim the piping (just the piping, not the fabric!) on the beginning side so that it meets up exactly with the piping on the end side when they are lined up.
Turn under the raw edge of the beginning piece (it doesn’t really look like I did this in the photo, but I did) and lay the end piece on top of the beginning piece, piping lined up. Then wrap that piece of fabric over both and continue sewing to the end.
Essentially, you’ve encased the end of your piping inside the beginning.
Ties: I used bias tape and simply cut the lengths I needed (I cut long pieces, then folded them in half for each tie), then folded raw ends under and sewed along the open side of the tape. I made 8, but the ones on the TOP of the chair-back are longer because that piece of wood they tie around is thicker. 

Place your piece (whichever it may be — shown is my chair-back piece) on the chair and mark where you want the ties to go. Then baste them in place. Fold them in half and baste on the fold with the ties facing toward the center, as shown.

Place the corresponding piece of fabric on this one right-sides together and sew all the way around, except for a turning-and-stuffing hole on one side, wherever it will best be hidden.
Turn right-side out and stuff lightly, or use batting. Making it too puffy can make it take up too much “sitting space.”
Turn under seam allowance at hole and machine stitch closed. Tie onto chair and let kid cuteness commence.

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