Adult Life, Mess, and Soft Furnishings

A year ago I bought a velvet sofa and a long-held dream was finally achieved.

However, I was terrified to sit on it-- so true. This was justified as I'd already spilled on the homemade quilt I was using to protect it. Luckily, that was easily laundered, whereas it would not have been easy to clean the velvet upholstery. 

A chance pin on Pinterest revealed a solution: a sofa pad in a homey cottage style. This is what I needed -- pretty protection.

Etsy

W Concept

I tried to find a similar fabric to the inspiration but nothing was close. I had it in my mind that I wanted a small black-and-white check or a black-striped cotton ticking.

I also loved the idea of gingham but needed a fabric that could stand up to the extreme lounging happening on this piece of furniture. When those fabrics didn't materialize at Joann, I turned to finding a complementary heavier canvas fabric that would work in the space. Using my handy West Elm Tarragon velvet swatch I located a green canvas that almost matched and complemented the upholstery. I have a lot of luck with this particular shade of green.

Richloom Fiera Apple cotton canvas

How it came together:

Using the dimensions of my 76" Harris sofa bench cushion I knew I needed a cushion at least 66" x 22".  Pre-made ones were normally at least 72" which is more than the length of the cushion I need. Luckily, if using a 44/45" wide fabric that meant I could buy for the length (nearly 2 yards) and simply fold it in half lengthwise and stitch three sides. Easy-peasy!

 

Also lucky for me, when I moved I purchased 1/8" thick furniture pads from U-Haul and had six of them to store or give away. What if I cut one up to use as batting? 

When playing around with it I realized when folded over and over again into four layers one pad fit the needed dimensions almost perfectly. I only needed to cut an inch off the length to account for the seam allowances on the cushion cover.

 

To make the padding stable when inside the cover, I basted through the layers on at least two sides to eliminate it migrating once enclosed. 

On the canvas I stitched from the short side around to the other end and sewed an inch into that side. I made sure to reinforce all the corners and the ending point. I pressed my seams open, clipped the corners, and while holding a corner of the moving pad between my fingers with the open corner of the cover I turned the cushion inside out while inserting the cushion inside. Using quilting safety pins I secured the pad at one end and manipulated the rest to fill out the cushion evenly. Once turned, I pinned the other end to keep the pad in place for the next part.

  

The last step was stitching the open end closed. I had originally thought I would tuft the cushion like the inspirations above but decided against it. This will allow removal for laundering. Knowing me, I will need to do that for sure. It will also work as a protective "mattress topper" for when guests sleep over. Without the back cushions on the sofa makes a comfortable bed.

Thanks to this project I feel secure in knowing that my sofa will survive living with me and look great while doing it!

Update: Months later, searching for examples of sofa toppers, I discovered that West Elm had the exact product (they call it a sofa overlay) I was looking to make! Funny. Though of course their version only fit their larger sofas at 84" x23" and cost $130. But its the same idea and it's for one of their sofas.

West Elm Reversible Sofa Overlay