Friday, May 26, 2017

DIY Drop Cloth Patio Cushion Slipcovers

Pin It
The below post contains affiliate links.

I have had our patio set for 8 years now, and it was time to update them yet again. I have made covers for both the bench and the chairs in the past using different methods. The chairs lasted the longest. I actually used just normal duck cloth for them back in the day and the survived like 6 years! But, truth be told, I never got around to making the matching cover for the bench :) I did make a white cover for it a few years back, but it only lasted one summer. Anyway. Long story short, they needed to be recovered and matching.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 I decided to make the covers simple and out of drop cloths this time around. I kept it crazy easy and didn't worry about sewing the square edges like I did in the other tutorials. I actually liked this laid back shabby look.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 As for the drop cloth. To do two chairs and a bench, I ended up using one 9x12' and one 6x9'. I chose to use the drop cloths found at Ace. I did buy some from Home Depot, but there was a keep away from flame warning on it that scared me since these seats are super close to our fire pit. I didn't want them to ignite :) I'm not saying that Ace's won't, they just didn't have a warning. I'm going to test them this week to see if they ignite or not when an ember is put on them.

First things first, make sure you wash your cover before you start. Drop cloths have a tendency to shrink. You wouldn't want to go through all this work, and then have to remake them again after you shrink them with your first wash :)

 So, here's a picture of the way my seats were. The back and bottom were attached. I realized that the last two times I recovered these, it was a pain in the butt to get the big cushions into the cover. So, I decided to cut them this time around so it would be easier taking them on and off to launder.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 I essentially followed my 10 minute cover tutorial for these. I made these probably in like 5 minutes for each cushion. First, I laid out the cushion onto one edge of the drop cloth and rolled it over the drop cloth on all four sides. I then added an extra 12 inches to that mark. For the corners, I just folded the sides up and added 2 extra inches on each side. Once it was all cut, here's what it looked like:
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
When you fold it, you want it to over lap by about 12 inches and on the side by about 2-4 inches.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 Next, I double hemmed the short edges where the envelop fold will be. I didn't hem the side edges.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 I then laid the fabric back on the floor and put the cushion back on it, folded the fabric over the cushion to make it a comfortable fit and pinned where I needed to sew. I only pinned on one side, so I would be able to take the cushion back out. Then I pinned the other side off of memory of where it should be sewed.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 Next is sewing the ends together.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 And that's it! I love the relaxed look this gave my patio set. Not only that, but they still look great!
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 And I'll just say it...it's amazing to have matching covers again :) This bench had been that faded purple for too long! Funny thing, these were actually dark forest green when we bought them, and then they faded to purple :) Weird!
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
 The covers have been through about 3 rain storms since I made them a couple of weeks ago, and have only gotten softer. I haven't yet had a problem with water spots or anything. But, I know I can easily take the covers off to wash them if I needed to!

DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
If you want to, you can use NeverWet on them to make them waterproof. I have this in my cabinet, just haven't used it yet. 


Here's another before picture of the entire set. Everything was super drab.
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
Here it is after a new coat of paint and the covers on them. It sure made this space so much more inviting!
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.

DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
If you do have a problem with the fabric sticking out on the edges and want them to be square, you can follow this tutorial to learn how to do the extra step. I didn't care to do it on these ones since I'm just lazy haha :)
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.
I'm so excited to start enjoying this set this summer! I just need to weather to cooperate! I'm a 90+ degree type girl and this 40 to 60 degree weather is bumming me out :( I need more summer!

pin for later:
DIY Drop Cloth patio cushion slipcovers. Easy tutorial on how to make new slipcovers out of drop cloths for patio seats or cushions! Budget friendly ways to update your patio.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”