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The Cutting Table · a question, worked through

How accurate are handmade cushion sizes, and what tolerance is normal?

My grandmother measured porch cushions with a yardstick and a squint. The workshop uses a tape and writes it down, but foam still breathes a little either way.

Answered by

The Porch Keeper of Savannah · · Updated

Pinned by Rosa

The quick answer

A handmade cushion is accurate to about ±1 in (±2.5 cm), the tolerance stated on the listing, and a difference of 3/8 to 3/4 in (1-2 cm) is typical and treated as acceptable. Soft stuffed cushions can also swell slightly past their nominal size. Every cushion is measured before it ships, and a bigger shortfall gets a fix or a partial refund.

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Key facts

  • The stated tolerance on a handmade cushion is about ±1 in (±2.5 cm).
  • A difference of 3/8 to 3/4 in (1-2 cm) is typical and treated as acceptable.
  • Soft stuffed cushions can measure slightly larger than ordered.
  • Every cushion is measured before it ships.
  • Vacuum-packed foam can measure short out of the bag and keeps expanding for 3-5 days.
  • A cushion that came out 1.5 in (4 cm) short, beyond the usual range, got a partial refund.

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Every good cushion I know started with a long porch chat. This is the short version: leave your number and the workshop will call. — Rosa

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
Vacuum-packed foam can measure short out of the bag and keeps expanding for 3-5 days.
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.

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“The listing says an inch either way. Is that sloppy?”

Not sloppy, neighbor. Honest. Each cushion is cut and sewn by hand, often hand-tufted too, and foam is flexible, so the listing states a tolerance of about ±1 in (±2.5 cm). Most land closer than that: 3/8 to 3/4 in (1-2 cm) is typical and treated as acceptable.

Every cushion is measured before it ships. The tape goes on it at the workshop before it ever goes on it at your house. That holds for bench cushions like the zebra-print one in the photo and for every floor cushion, too.

“Mine measures bigger than I ordered.”

A buyer in the US wrote that their stuffed cushions came out larger than the dimensions on the order. That happens. Fluffy cushions can stretch and swell a little past their nominal size, the way a biscuit rises past the cutter.

Another buyer found a cushion running a quarter inch past 24 in. A quarter inch sits well inside the ±1 in (2.5 cm) range, so that one is doing exactly what it should.

“And if it measures short?”

First ask whether it came vacuum-packed. Foam measures short straight out of the bag and keeps expanding for 3-5 days, sometimes up to a week, so measure again after that. If it's still short, send photos with the tape measure in them.

The vacuum-packed cushion Pattern covers those first days, and the size tolerance Pattern explains how a made-to-measure size is set. The glossary has a plain note on tolerance. What did your tape say?

A real project

The cushion that came up an inch and a half shy

A buyer wrote in about a cushion that measured 1 1/2 in (4 cm) short. That is past the usual range, and nobody pretended otherwise. The workshop gave a partial refund on that cushion. Pull up a chair and I'll tell you the lesson: say the number, send the photo, and the conversation goes quickly.

A handmade cushion is accurate to about ±1 in (±2.5 cm), and most land within 3/8 to 3/4 in (1-2 cm) of the ordered size.

Rosa
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Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    What size tolerance should I expect on a handmade cushion?

    The workshop's answer

    The product description states about ±1 in (±2.5 cm), because the cushions are handmade and foam is flexible. A difference of 3/8 to 3/4 in (1-2 cm) is normally treated as acceptable, and every cushion is measured before shipping.

  2. A common question

    How much can a hand-tufted cushion vary from the size I ordered?

    The workshop's answer

    About 3/4 in (2 cm) either way, because each cushion is handmade and hand-tufted. When one came out 1.5 in (4 cm) short, the workshop gave a partial refund.

  3. A common question

    My stuffed cushions measure bigger than I ordered. Can they grow?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. The cushions are fluffy, so they can stretch and swell a little beyond their nominal measurements.

  4. A common question

    Part of my order arrived damaged or missing. What happens now?

    The workshop's answer

    Send photos first. In past cases the workshop replaced damaged or missing items, often just the affected part, and made and sent the correct items when the wrong ones arrived. Buyers who preferred to keep an item were offered a partial refund instead.

Questions buyers ask next

Is the ±1 in tolerance written on the listing?

Yes. The product description states about ±1 in (±2.5 cm). Individual replies have sometimes quoted tighter figures, such as ±1/2 in or ±3/4 in (±2 cm), but the listing's ±1 in is the reference for what counts as in range.

Does anyone check the size before a cushion ships?

Yes. Every cushion is measured at the workshop before it's packed. The tolerance exists because handmade work and flexible foam vary a little, not because the measuring step is skipped.

What if the color is wrong rather than the size?

Photograph it in daylight beside your order confirmation and message the workshop, neighbor. Once the mix-up is confirmed, keep the piece until you agree on the fix. In past cases the workshop remade the item or cover in the right color and size, and has offered a discount to keep the wrong one, or a priority remake.