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The Cutting Table · a common question

What do you need from me to make seat and back cushions for my chairs?

Also asked as:Cushions for both the seat and back of these chairs?Is this enough information?

Every chair on a porch has a personality, and none of it shows up in a catalog's overall dimensions. Three numbers and a photo tell the workshop who it is sewing for.

Answered by

The Porch Keeper of Savannah · · Updated

The quick answer

To make seat and back cushions for a garden or patio armchair, send the width between the armrests, the seat depth and the back-cushion height you want, plus a photo of the chair or its reference model. Overall chair width x depth x height isn't enough for a good fit. Seat and back cushions can be made in any size.

Sage green and cream leaf jacquard seat cushion with sage piping and ribbon ties on a rattan armchair in a gravel gardenSave
Sage ribbon ties and piping finish this shaped seat cushion for a bentwood rattan chair.

Get a quote for a chair cushion with ties

Key facts

  • Seat and back chair cushions are made in any size.
  • Overall chair width x depth x height is not enough for a good fit.
  • Measure the width between the armrests, the seat depth and the back height you want.
  • Send a photo of the chair or the reference model.
  • For garden armchairs: a 3-4 in (8-10 cm) seat of 32-density HR foam wrapped in polyester wadding.
  • Ties at the back corners keep the cushions in place.
  • Boxed cushions with piping are no problem.

Have it made

Have Rosa’s workshop cut this for you

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
For garden armchairs: a 3-4 in (8-10 cm) seat of 32-density HR foam wrapped in polyester…
Piping
Boxed cushions with piping are no problem.
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

The three numbers and one photo

  1. Width between the armrests, inside arm to inside arm, at seat level.
  2. Seat depth, from the front edge of the seat to the back.
  3. The back-cushion height you want, measured up from the seat.
  4. A photo of the chairs, or the reference model you're working from.
A real project

Armchairs that hadn't arrived yet

A buyer got in touch before the chairs were even delivered: metal garden armchairs, generously padded boxed cushions with piping wanted, and nothing to go on but the catalog's overall dimensions. The workshop was straight with them: those numbers wouldn't give a perfect fit. Once the chairs arrived, they were to measure between the armrests, the seat depth and the back height they wanted.

The recommendation came with it: a seat 3 to 4 in (8-10 cm) thick in 32-density HR foam wrapped in polyester wadding, ties at the back corners, and boxed edges with piping, no problem at all.

Why a catalog size fools you

A chair's overall width counts the arms, the frame, the curl of the metal. The cushion lives inside all that. Pull up a chair, neighbor, and measure the cushion's home instead of the chair's outline.

The chair cushion builder takes those numbers, the back cushion height Pattern settles the tall-or-short question, and the tie placement Pattern shows where the ties go. More chair shapes live under dining chair cushions. Do your chair arms curve in toward the front?

For garden armchairs the seat cushion goes 3 to 4 in (8-10 cm) thick in 32-density HR foam, wrapped in polyester wadding, with ties at the back corners.

Rosa
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Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    I only have the overall chair dimensions. Is that enough for seat and back cushions for garden armchairs?

    The workshop's answer

    Not for a perfect fit. When the chairs arrive, measure the width between the armrests, the seat depth and the back-cushion height you want. The workshop recommends a 3-4 in (8-10 cm) seat, 32-density HR foam wrapped in polyester wadding and ties at the back corners. Boxed cushions with piping are no problem.

  2. A common question

    Can you make both seat and back cushions for my chairs, and what do you need from me?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes, in any size. Send the measurements plus a photo of the chairs or the reference model so the fit comes out right.

  3. A common question

    Will you confirm the size with a drawing before you make it?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. The workshop sends a drawing of your dimensions and makes the cushion exactly to the approved layout. It builds strictly to your numbers and won't choose the final size for you.

  4. A common question

    How do I send measurements for an oddly shaped seat?

    The workshop's answer

    Photograph the space and draw it on paper with every side measured and labeled A, B, C. The workshop asks about any missing side, then sends its own drawing and waits for your OK before production.

Questions buyers ask next

How thick should a patio armchair seat cushion be?

For garden armchairs the workshop recommends 3 to 4 in (8-10 cm) of 32-density HR foam wrapped in polyester wadding. Seat and back cushions are made in any size, so say so if you want it thicker or thinner.

How do chair cushions stay put on metal chairs?

With ties at the back corners. They hold the seat and back cushions to the frame so the cushions stay in place when you sit down and get up.

Can chair cushions have a boxed edge and piping?

Yes. Boxed cushions with piping are no problem for seat and back cushions. Say in your message whether the back cushion should be boxed and piped to match the seat.