5 Minute Cushion Cover Tutorial.

These cushion covers are fast and above all, super easy. As long as you can "kind of sort of" sew a relatively straight line, then you can make one. Sewing by hand will take longer (maybe 15 minutes instead of 5?), but it is possible.

Please note that I added an applique Christmas tree design to mine, but this step will not be included in the tutorial. You can add your own appliques, patches, buttons, ribbons, or anything else you can think of to decorate your cushion cover. You can glue or use the double-sided interfacing, but since I am a sewing purist I prefer everything on my pillows to be stitched. I promise to look away if you pull the hot glue gun out.

5-minute Cushion Covers

You will need:

Standard throw pillows or cushions for covering
Measuring tape
Fabric (for a 15-20" square cushion, about half a yard of 45" wide is needed)
Needle and thread -or- sewing machine
Paper and pencil to "do the math" -or- a calculator

Remember! If you click on a picture in the tutorial, you will see a "blown-up" view for a closer look.

Step 1 : Measure your cushion if you don't already know its size. You want to measure from seam to seam to ensure the "face" and "sides" are included in the measurement. Be sure the measuring tape is snug against the cushion but not sinking into it. You will need to measure across the face from top to bottom and from side to side.

Step 2: Math time! You will need to cut out a rectangle of fabric. You can either draw this on wrapping or pattern paper first, or directly onto the fabric itself. If you draw onto the fabric, be sure to draw on the wrong side- you want to hide as many pencil marks as possible. Especially if you are like me and make a teeny error and have to redraw the lines. Here is how to figure out what size fabric rectangle you want:

We are using the two measurements take from step 1 above: height (h)- the distance across the cushion face from top to bottom, and width (w)- the distance across the face from side to side. If you get any part of a decimal in one of your answers below, round up to the next whole number. Ignore that pesky math rule about 4 and under goes down, blah blah blah. For this project, no matter what, just round up. Trust me.

h * 2.4 = height of the fabric rectangle
(height of the cushion, times 2.4)
w + 2 = width of the fabric rectangle
(width of the cushion, plus 2)

For my cushion, I have a 19" x 19" square.
19 * 2.4 = 43.7 Since I have a decimal, I am going to round up to 44
19 + 2 = 21
My fabric rectangle needs to be cut 44 inches by 21 inches.

Now looky there... isn't fabric normally 45" wide? If you do happen to get lucky and be this close to the width of the fabric, then go with it. Round it up to 45"- you will see why in the next step.

Step 3 : Armed with your fabric rectangle measurements you need to cut out your rectangle. To save time and hassle be sure to include the selvage edge into your measurement. It saves you from having to sew a seam. And if you got lucky and needed a 45" tall rectangle, then you can incorporate both selvage edges and save yourself from sewing two seams!

Step 4: We need to make sure both of the short sides of the rectangle are finished. If you don't have a selvage edge, you will need to sew it. Fold half an inch along the short edge, wrong sides together (note: yes, this is the opposite of what you normally do in sewing). Sew a straight seam all along the folded piece.

Step 5 : Place the rectangle on your work surface, right side facing up. Put the cushion "about-ish" in the middle. Gently fold up the top and then the bottom, like you were wrapping a present. There will be an overlap in the middle. This overlap is very important. Without it, we would have to sew pesky zippers into our cover.

oooops. I realized after I finished sewing that I took the picture for this step with the fabric the wrong way.
On your cushion, the messy seam bit will be facing up, not tucked in neatly as shown.

I put a pin in it just to hold it in place so it didn't slip while I did the next step.

oooops. I realized after I finished sewing that I took the picture for this step with the fabric the wrong way.
On your cushion, the messy seam bit will be facing up, not tucked in neatly as shown.

Step 6: You are going to focus on those two unsewn sides now. This was the long side of the rectangle, now folded into "sorta half, sorta thirds." Pin along one side with the cushion still tucked in place. This is a bit awkward and you need to be sure you don't pin the cushion- just the fabric. Once pinned, pull the cushion out (don't forget to remove that "just to hold it in place" pin first!) and with your hands gently push the cushion into a flat square shape.Pin the other side. Sew along both pinned seams.

Step 7: Turn the cover inside out, poke your finger into all four corners to make sure they are not "tucked in." Cram your pillow inside the cover. Done!

Now, drum roll please, you are now about to get a peek into the momfetti home! I bet isn't anything like you expected, unless you actually believed me when I said I had an abundance of white. Quick bit of detail: our house is on four floors. This is the second floor (Europe)/third floor (USA) which houses our living room, dining room, kitchen, and patio/deck.

Here you can see 4 of the 5 minute cushion covers, one of the reindeer banners, and part of our tree. Yes, that is a sock-man ornament my daughter and I made together when she was only 3. Like our shocking yellow and blue donkey and sheep paintings?

Moving a bit to the right, we see part of the kitchen, and more of those 5 minute cushion covers, the handmade quilt, and the stockings.

Keep moving to the right (might as well go all the way now) and you can start to understand why it takes me 4 hours to wash the windows in my house. We have a lot of them. You can also see a collection of doo-dads on the floor. This is my daughter's angel collection (one for each Christmas since she was born), with a Santa Claus tossed in on the end for fun.

Want to know where I was standing? Right next to that tree. You can see the little gifts starting to gather underneath there. That big white wall of blankness lights up in color at night. Currently we have it set to bright grass green. And yes, that is my highly disorganized TV area. I don't pretend to be perfect.

And since it has been mentioned before: we have shocking white couches. We also have a 10 year old and a cat. It's no secret how they stay clean. It's pleather, and I am not afraid to use regular dish washing soap on a wash cloth to spot clean as needed (special cleaners, ha! Who needs them?). There, now my secret is out.