CushionGuide
Get a quote

The Cutting Table · a checklist answer

Can I buy empty zippered covers for tufted cushions and fill them myself?

Also asked as:Could you sell just the covers?With a zipper and no filling.

You already have the filling and want only the dress. That is possible, my friends, with one condition written into the thread itself.

Answered by

The Colorist of New Orleans · · Updated

Pile of velvet cushion covers in dusty blue, rose, mustard and taupe with pink, plum, blue and green contrast pipingSave
Velvet covers in four soft colors, each outlined in a contrasting piping; the empty taupe shell sits ready for foam.

The quick answer

Yes, as plain zippered covers in your exact sizes, but they will not be tufted. Tufted cushions are sold filled only, because the tufting is sewn through the filling. If you want the buttoned look on an empty cover, you would have to add the tufting yourself after filling it, which is why the workshop usually suggests the filled cushion instead.

Get a quote for a cushion covers

Key facts

  • Tufted cushions are sold filled only; the tufting is sewn through the filling.
  • Empty zippered covers can be made in custom sizes.
  • Empty covers are plain, never tufted.
  • One buyer's covers were quoted at about 27 1/2 × 17 3/4 × 5 1/2 in (70 × 45 × 14 cm), 73 1/4 × 26 × 5 1/2 in (186 × 66 × 14 cm) and 73 1/4 × 12 1/4 × 5 1/2 in (186 × 31 × 14 cm).
  • A tufted look on an empty cover means adding the buttons yourself after filling.
  • A cover alone costs less than the same cushion with foam.

Have it made

Have Élodie’s workshop cut this for you

Describe the room at four in the afternoon: the floor, the wall, the one color you love. That is where a good fabric choice begins. — Élodie

Leave your details and the workshop will call you to confirm measurements, fabric, foam and piping. No prices, dates or payment on this page: it is a request, not an order.

Fabric · Foam · Pipingwhat the workshop will confirm with you

Fabric
The cover cloth: weave, color and care code.
Foam
The core: its density and thickness set the feel.
Piping
The corded seam edge: matching, contrast or none.
Only for this request: no marketing calls or texts. Outside the US, add the country code.
In inches: length × depth × thickness, plus any angles or cut corners.

* Required. A member of the workshop team will call you to talk it through; nothing is charged and nothing is made until you have agreed on every detail with them.

We use these details only to answer this request and make your cushion: your name and contact details, the cushion details and photos you send, the page you came from and the ad or link that brought you, if any. The workshop that makes the cushions receives them. We don't sell them or share them for advertising, and we delete requests after 24 months. Privacy notice for requests.

Nothing is made or charged until you approve the details.

Want to pick the shape and add photos? Use the full quote form

What to send for covers only

  • The finished size of each cover: length × depth × thickness, for example 73 1/4 × 26 × 5 1/2 in (186 × 66 × 14 cm).
  • The bare insert's measurements, not the old cover's, including its thickness.
  • Which edge the zipper goes on: the long back edge, or a long side so the cushion can flip.
  • Your fabric code and piping color, chosen from a swatch held in daylight.
  • A line saying you know the covers will be plain, with no tufting buttons.

What an empty cover cannot do

  • Arrive tufted. The buttons are drawn through the filling, and an empty cover has none to hold them.
  • Be tufted for you after you've filled it at home. Any buttons then are your own handwork.
  • Replace every filled product. The corduroy bean bag pouf, for one, is sold filled only.

Why the buttons need the filling

Look at a tufted cushion late in the afternoon, when the light rakes across it. Every button sits in a small shadow, a dimple that exists only because the thread runs through the filling and draws the fabric down. Take the filling away and the thread has nothing to hold.

So an empty cover is made plain: a clean zippered box in your fabric. In dusty blue or mustard velvet that is no loss; the pile carries the light without help. Read covers only for measuring your own foam, cushion covers for the shapes, and tufted or plain to weigh the two looks.

Tufted cushions are sold filled only, because the tufting thread runs through the filling; an empty cover arrives plain, with no buttons.

Élodie
Share on X (opens a new window)

Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    Can you make a zippered cover with no filling so I can stuff it myself?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. Zippered covers can be made, but they won't be tufted.

  2. A common question

    Can I order just the covers, without the filling?

    The workshop's answer

    Tufted cushions come filled only, since the tufting is done through the filling. Plain covers can be made in custom sizes; the largest of three quoted was about 73 1/4 × 26 × 5 1/2 in (186 × 66 × 14 cm).

  3. A common question

    Can I buy only the zippered covers and use my own filling?

    The workshop's answer

    These cushions are normally sold filled. Covers alone can be made, but you'd have to add the tufting buttons yourself after filling, so the workshop usually quotes filled cushions instead.

  4. A common question

    How much less is a cover than the full cushion with foam?

    The workshop's answer

    Less than the filled cushion, but there's no fixed ratio: each cover is quoted per piece by size and fabric, so send your sizes and codes for a real figure. A bulk discount has been offered on some multi-cover orders.

Questions buyers ask next

Can I choose where the zipper sits on an empty cover?

Yes. Name the edge: the long back edge, a long side so the cushion can be flipped, or around the corner on a tapered cover. The zipper is sewn where you say.

Should I measure my old cover or the foam inside it?

The foam. For new covers on an insert you already own, measure the bare insert rather than the old cover, and always include its thickness.

Can a cover be made for a tapered cushion I already have?

Yes. Send a drawing with every side measured, back width, front width, depth and thickness, and the cover alone is quoted. Then add your fabric and piping codes.