DIY seat cushion and back

Our nursery is coming together.  I've taken a two week sabbatical from this blog to get things in order.  I spent quite a bit of time visiting family for baby showers then this week was busy washing and hanging up baby clothes.  We sure do have a lot of pink!

One of the most special elements in baby's room is a rocking chair from Brandon's grandparents.  Brandon's grandpa has a special talent for canning.  He has canned thousands of rocking chair seats and backs.  I love this rocking chair because of its sentimental reasons.  However, I know I'll be spending a lot of time in this chair and its a bit hard.  So I decided we need to make a seat cushion and while we were at it... a back.

I am a huge fan of Eric Carle and Leo Lionni sketches.  And when I found this fabric at IKEA I thought "BINGO!"  So I bought 2 meters at $6.99/meter.

Basically, to begin you will need to make a pattern.  I used drafting paper because that is what I had on hand.  You can use parchment paper, tracing paper or anything else translucent.  Just draw out your the shape of the seat and cut out.  It was easiest for me to draw one side.  Fold the paper in half and cut out the pattern.  This way the sides were completely equal.

Next lay out the pattern over the fabric.  Pin the pattern to the fabric.  Before cutting, you'll need to leave 5/6" extra around the outside.  This will be enough space so you can get that nice "poof" to your seat.  You'll need to cut out a bottom and a top for the seat.  Next, place the right sides of the fabric together and sew the outer edge.  (I recommend a sewing machine for this)  Leave enough of an opening so you can get your hand in and stuff.  Next, bring the fabric right side out.  You can now stuff and sew up the hole by hand.

If you want to add ties you'll need to cut out a large strip and sew up the one side.  You'll also need to pin this to the wrong side of the fabric before you sew the top and bottom together.  If you forget, you can always just sew the ties to the bottom of the seat.

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