---
title: "Custom striped cushion fabric colors: why stripes are fixed"
url: "https://cushionguide.com/answers/custom-stripe-colors-cushion-fabric/"
section: "The Cutting Table"
author: "Élodie Marchand, The Colorist of New Orleans"
author_url: "https://cushionguide.com/masters/elodie/"
published: "2026-01-19"
updated: "2026-01-19"
keywords: "custom striped cushion fabric colors, striped cushion fabric, custom stripe cushion, contrast piping striped cushion, woven stripe cushion colors"
---

# Can you make a stripe in my own colors, or put a plain color into a stripe?

*Ivory and camel, thin as pencil lines. Forest green against mustard. I understand the wish completely, my friends, because I have carried the same picture in my head. Here is where the loom decides.*

Also asked as: Two colors for the stripes?; Can you do this color in stripes?

> **The quick answer:** No: stripes are woven into the fabric by the manufacturer, so their colors are fixed, and a plain color can't be turned into a stripe. What you can choose is the cushion's size, thickness and piping, including a piping color that differs from the stripe. The workshop will point you to the closest existing stripe or try to source a similar print from your reference.

![Rust bouclé window seat cushion on a white plinth under a casement window with cypress view, cream pillow and kilim rug](https://cushionguide.com/media/window-seat-cushions/rust-boucle-window-seat-cushion-spanish-villa-1600.webp "A rust window seat sits between terracotta tiles and a cypress view, with a brass arc lamp for the evenings.")

## Key facts

- Stripes are woven into the fabric by the manufacturer; their colors are fixed.
- The workshop is not a fabric producer and cannot create new patterns or colorways.
- Plain colors and stripes sit on different fabric charts; a plain can't be made striped.
- Size, thickness and piping are customizable.
- A piping color different from the stripe is no problem.
- With a reference, the workshop can try to source a matching printed fabric.
- The striped fabrics are 100% cotton, one of them 98% cotton and 2% polyester.

## A stripe is born on the loom

A woven stripe is not painted on or sewn on. The colored threads run through the cloth as it is made at the mill, long before it reaches a cutting table. That is why a stripe's colors arrive fixed: the workshop cuts and sews cloth, it does not weave it.

It is also why a plain color can't become a stripe; plains and stripes sit on different fabric charts. The [striped cotton and ticking](https://cushionguide.com/fabrics/striped-cotton-and-ticking/) library shows the stripes that exist.

## Follow-up: “Then what can I change?”

More than you might think. The size, the thickness and the piping are yours, on a [bench cushion](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/bench-cushions/) or a window seat alike. A contrast piping in a third color is no trouble, and it is often where the wish for a custom stripe finds its home: one thin line of saffron or ink navy at the edge says much of what a new stripe would. The [piping Pattern](https://cushionguide.com/guides/cushion-piping-matching-contrast-none/) shows matching, contrast and none.

## Follow-up: “There's no brown stripe”

Then we look for the nearest cousin. One buyer wanted brown; the closest on the chart was a beige stripe, and piping in the chosen third color was no problem. Another, set on a custom stripe over forest green, chose two solid catalog colors instead, forest green and mustard.

If you have a reference fabric, send it, and the workshop can try to source a similar print. Daylight never lies; your screen sometimes does, so compare swatches by a window.

> **Tailor's margin:** A striped cushion fabric's colors are woven in at the mill and can't be changed, but the piping color around the cushion can.

> When the exact stripe doesn't exist, choose the nearest woven stripe and carry the missing color in a contrast piping at the edge.
>
> — Élodie

## Buyer questions

**A common question:** Can you make stripes in two colors I choose, with a third color for the piping?

**The workshop's answer:** No, the stripes are woven into the fabric, so their colors are fixed. A different piping color is no problem, and the workshop points you to the closest existing stripe, such as beige when there's no brown.

**A common question:** Could my cushion be made in a custom striped pattern on your forest green?

**The workshop's answer:** No. The workshop isn't a fabric producer; it customizes size and thickness, not patterns. It offered to source a matching print from a reference, and the buyer chose two catalog colors, forest green and mustard.

**A common question:** Can one of your plain colors be made in the broad-stripe pattern?

**The workshop's answer:** No. The two are on different fabric charts, and because fabrics come straight from the manufacturers, a new pattern or colorway can't be created. Choose from the existing stripes.

**A common question:** What are the striped fabrics made of? Is there a linen stripe?

**The workshop's answer:** The stripes are 100% cotton, one of them 98% cotton and 2% polyester: natural and washable, but slightly less hard-wearing than linen or velvet. There's no linen version.

## Questions buyers ask next

### Can the piping be a different color from the stripe?

Yes. Piping color is chosen separately, so a contrast piping, whether it echoes one color in the stripe or brings in a third, is no problem.

### Can you print my own stripe design onto cushion fabric?

No. The workshop sews cushions from fabrics the mills make; it is not a fabric producer. With a reference in hand, it can try to source a similar printed fabric.

### Where do the cushion fabrics come from?

From fabric manufacturers directly, and from a mill certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100 (03.T.3239). No organic certification is claimed.

## Related at the atelier

- [Striped cushions: which way the stripes run, and why](https://cushionguide.com/guides/striped-cushion-stripe-direction/): On a long bench cushion, stripes run front to back by default, because the fabric roll is only about 55 in (140 cm) wide and front-to-back stripes let the top be cut in one piece.
- [What colors does the corduroy come in, and can I get black, maroon or lilac?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/corduroy-color-options-black-maroon/): The corduroy comes in a fixed, limited palette, 9 colors on the teddy sofa listing, and black, maroon, fuchsia, lilac and lavender are not among them, with no plans to add them.
- [Are your cushion fabrics performance fabrics, like Crypton?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/performance-fabric-cushions-stain-resistant/): Yes, the shop describes its cushion fabrics as performance fabrics made for durable daily use: machine washable, pre-shrunk and suited to high-use rooms.
- [What is 'soft fabric' made of? Is it natural or synthetic?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/what-is-soft-fabric-poly-cotton/): Soft fabric is a poly-cotton blend: the workshop's name for its best-selling upholstery weave, codes 901 to 946, thick and durable with a soft hand.
- [Striped Bench Cushion in Red: Self, Contrast or No Piping](https://cushionguide.com/readings/red-pencil-stripe-kids-room-bench-cushion/): On a striped bench cushion, self piping cut from the same stripe is the safest choice: it outlines the box edge without adding a new color, so the pattern stays calm.
- [Custom Bench Cushion in Mushroom Stripe: What Foam Sits Inside](https://cushionguide.com/readings/mushroom-stripe-cushion-gray-storage-bench-yellow-bedroom/): A long bedroom storage bench cushion suits a firm core, such as the standard about 2.0 lb/ft³ (32 kg/m³) high-resilience foam, because the seat is sat on at the edge and stacked with blankets.
- [Matching, contrast or no piping: choosing the line around a cushion](https://cushionguide.com/guides/cushion-piping-matching-contrast-none/)

*With color and care — Élodie*

---

Written by Élodie Marchand (https://cushionguide.com/masters/elodie/) for CushionGuide (https://cushionguide.com/about/). The site explains made-to-measure cushions and the partner workshop makes them; measurements are in inches first. This Markdown mirrors the page at https://cushionguide.com/answers/custom-stripe-colors-cushion-fabric/