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The Cutting Table · a question, worked through

How do I choose my piping color when I order?

By code, in writing, in the personalization box. Here are the follow-ups, in the order they tend to land on my table.

Answered by

The Piping Queen of Newport ·

Pinned by Maggie

The quick answer

To choose your piping color, pick any code from the fabric charts and write it in the personalization box as 'Body: code, Piping: code'. For piping in the same fabric as the cushion, write 'piping same color' plus the code, which is what most buyers choose. If your order form had no piping option, send the code by message; production starts once it's recorded.

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Key facts

  • Piping color is chosen by fabric code from the charts.
  • Write it in personalization as 'Body: code, Piping: code'.
  • No piping option on the order form? Send the code by message.
  • L24 is a sage green.
  • For self-piping, write 'piping same color' plus the fabric code, e.g. N02.
  • Self-piping is the most common choice.
  • The order goes into production once the piping code is recorded.
  • On a standard 4 in (10 cm) seat cushion, single piping runs along the top and bottom edges; double piping is optional.
  • Cushions as thin as 1 in (2 cm) are made without piping; from about 1¼ in (3 cm) thick, piping can be added.
  • Fabric swatches, about 4 x 4 to 6 x 6 in (10 x 10 to 15 x 15 cm), let you hold a piping code against the body fabric before you order.

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Have Maggie’s workshop cut this for you

Have the tape measure handy when they call. Old cushions shrink and sag; the seat underneath does not. — Maggie

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
Piping color is chosen by fabric code from the charts.
Foam
The core: its density and thickness set the feel.
Piping
Write it in personalization as 'Body: code, Piping: code'.
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

“There was no piping option on my order form.”

Then send it by message. Pick any code from the fabric charts and write it out, for example L24 for a sage green. The order goes into production once the piping code is recorded, and if the line is blank, the workshop checks with you before anything is cut.

There is no separate piping chart, and you don't need one. Piping can be cut from any of the 150-plus fabrics on any chart, so you choose it exactly the way you chose the body: by code.

“How do I write it so nobody has to guess?”

Two labels, two codes: Body: code, Piping: code. That line goes in the personalization box when you order.

I learned this the hard way in my theater days, dear, when "green trim" meant a different green to everyone who read the note. A color name is an opinion. A fabric code is a fact. The personalization note Pattern shows the whole note written out.

“I want the piping in the same fabric as the cushion.”

Write piping same color plus the fabric code, for example "piping same color N02", or simply "same as body". That's self-piping, and it is what most buyers choose: a crisp edge with no second color competing for attention.

A straight welt is a kind of honesty, and in the body's own fabric it keeps its opinions to itself. Contrast is the other road. The piping Pattern compares matching, contrast and none, and bench cushions shows both on real benches. Which way are you leaning?

Piping can be cut from any of the 150-plus fabric codes on the charts, so choose it by code, exactly as you chose the cushion body.

Maggie
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Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    How do I pick a piping color?

    The workshop's answer

    Any fabric code from the charts works, or the same fabric as the body for a clean, seamless look, which is what most buyers choose. Write the piping code, or 'same as body', in personalization when you order.

  2. A common question

    My order never asked for a piping color. What do I do?

    The workshop's answer

    Choose any code from the fabric charts and message it to the workshop, for example L24 for a sage green. The order goes into production once the code is recorded.

  3. A common question

    I'd like piping in the cushion's own fabric, not a contrast. How do I say that?

    The workshop's answer

    Write 'piping same color' with the fabric code in the personalization box, for example 'piping same color N02', and the piping is made from the main fabric.

  4. A common question

    Should I have piping at all?

    The workshop's answer

    It's a style choice at the same price. Piping gives crisp, tailored edges; no piping keeps them soft and clean. About half of orders go each way, and on outdoor cushions same-fabric piping is recommended because it reinforces the edges.

Questions buyers ask next

Does choosing a contrast piping code change the price?

No. Piping is a style choice at the same price as no piping, and a contrast code costs the same as self-piping. What matters is that the code is written down, so the order can go into production.

Can corduroy cushions take piping?

Corduroy daybed covers and sofa pieces are made without piping by design, because the ribs already define the shape. Corduroy box cushions have been piped on request, and velvet and other fabrics take piping as usual.

Can a tufted daybed backrest have piping?

No. Tufted daybed backrests and armrests can't take piping, so they are switched to a plain style if you want piping everywhere. Non-tufted zippered covers are piped as standard, and cover-only orders can be piped.