Since comfort is my goal, I planned to just pick up a few pillows at Target or Lowes, etc., with outdoor material to make the space more functional. However, I was disappointed with the fabric options out there and even more disappointed with the price. I took a little trip to my local Joann Fabric store and, lo and behold, not only was the indoor/outdoor fabric 50% off, so were the pillow inserts! Score. I was able to pick up all that I needed, including zippers and cord for the piping for around $35 for one 20"x20" pillow and one 18"x18" pillow. Target was selling ONE large outdoor pillow for $39.99.
I started by measuring my pillow to make sure of the dimensions. For the 20" pillow, I cut two squares of my fabric at 21"x21" to allow for a 1/2" seam.
I measured out slightly more cord than I needed for the piping (4 sides x 20" for a total of 80" plus about 4-6" to spare.) I then used my piping foot on my sewing machine to make navy blue covered piping to go with the fabric I chose.
I followed the directions on this YouTube video to apply the welting/piping to the pillow front.
I wanted to add a hidden zipper so the covers could be taken off and washed or changed at any time in the future. I won't go into detail about how to sew in the zipper, the woman in this YouTube video does a great job of walking you through how to do it. She also shows you how to finish off the pillow once the zipper is in.
I found her video to be incredibly helpful and detailed.
Here are the finished products:
I loved the bright floral print with the blue zig-zag. Since the two fabric didn't necessarily "go together," I added the same navy piping to the floral pillow to pull it all together.
I'm very happy with the outcome. Hopefully you can be inspired too, and save a few bucks in the process!
