Better Homes and Gardens
Gather your supplies
1.5m x 115cm cotton print fabric; 1m x 115cm contrasting cotton fabric for piping; 4.5m piping cord, 5mm dia.; 53cm zipper; 53 x 53 x 15cm square foam cushion insert
You’ll also need
Sewing machine with zipper foot and general sewing supplies; matching sewing threads
Here’s how
STEP 1 From main fabric, cut: 2 top and bottom pieces 56 x 56cm; 3 side pieces 56 x 17cm; 2 zip pieces 56 x 10cm; then set aside.
STEP 2 With right sides facing, fold cut edge of piping fabric over to selvedge edge to create a triangle shape. Cut along fold, then cut 5cm-wide strips from each side of this cut, along bias. Square off ends of each strip. You’ll need combined length of all strips to total 4.5m.
STEP 3 Place 2 strips, right sides facing, at a 90° angle. Sew across the ‘square’ they make, along diagonal. (Make sure, before you sew, long edges line up and bias of fabric is in same direction.) Trim seam allowance back to 5mm and press seam open. Repeat to sew together half of bias strips to make 1 long strip, then repeat with other half to make 2 long strips in total.
STEP 4 Cut a strip of piping cord to same length as a bias strip. Fold strip around piping cord with wrong sides facing and sew along length using zipper foot. Repeat with second bias strip.
STEP 5 Pin 1 piece of piping around all 4 sides of top cushion piece, right sides facing and aligning raw edges. Cut into seam allowance at corners to help it curve around, then sew (still using zipper foot), leaving ends of piping cord unsewn.
STEP 6 Overlap 2 ends of piping cord and cut so they butt up against each other with no overlap. Trim bias strip so ends overlap by approximately 8cm, then fold over end of 1 piece to wrong sides by 2cm. Position this over top of raw edge, then pin in place and sew.
STEP 7 Repeat Steps 5 and 6 with remaining strip of piping and bottom cushion piece.
STEP 8 To make handles, cut two 35 x 10cm pieces from main fabric. Fold each piece in half along length, wrong sides facing, and press. Open out, fold over all 4 edges on each piece to the wrong sides by 1cm, press, then fold in half again. Topstitch around all 4 sides, 5mm in from edge.
STEP 9 With right sides up, place a handle centrally onto 1 side piece. Pin, leaving some slack in handle so it’s easy to pick up, then secure in place by sewing a rectangle, about 4 x 3cm, at each end. Reinforce by stitching diagonally from corner to corner in each direction within the rectangle. Repeat the step with your remaining handle and a second side piece.
STEP 10 Pin 1 side piece with a handle and 1 without, right sides facing. Sew along 1 short edge. Sew other side piece with a handle onto remaining short edge of piece without handle, in same way, to make 3 sides of cushion.
STEP 11 With right sides facing, pin edge of zip along length of a zip piece. Sew using zipper foot. Open zip, then repeat to sew other half of zip to remaining zip piece.
STEP 12 Close zip, then pin and sew short ends of zip piece to short ends of cushion side, right sides facing, to form a loop. Open zip again.
STEP 13 Pin side piece to cushion top, right sides facing, aligning raw edges and encasing piping as you go. Using zipper foot, sew around all 4 sides, keeping close to piping. Repeat with bottom cushion piece.
STEP 14 Turn cushion cover right sides out through zip opening and press. Insert foam cushion then close zip to finish.
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