CushionGuide
Get a quote

The Cutting Table · a question, worked through

A tufting button fell off my floor cushion. How do I fix it?

One button popped off and now there's a little bald spot in the middle of the cushion. Pull up a chair, neighbor. This is a needle-and-thread job, not a new cushion, and you are not on your own with it.

Answered by

The Porch Keeper of Savannah · · Updated

Pinned by Rosa

The quick answer

Sew it back on with the spare buttons that come with your order, stitching straight through the floor cushion so the thread catches the matching button on the other side. The workshop sends a video showing how. If you would rather not sew, it has offered to refund a local tailor's fee, and in one case gave a partial refund instead.

Get a quote for a floor cushion

Key facts

  • Spare tufting buttons are included with orders.
  • The workshop sends a video showing how to sew a button back on through the cushion.
  • The new stitch runs through the whole cushion and catches the button on the other side.
  • Tufting is done through the filling, which is why tufted cushions are sold filled only.
  • The workshop has offered to refund a local tailor's fee, and once gave a partial refund instead.
  • Tufted French floor cushions are normally 4 to 5 in (10 to 12 cm) thick, packed with siliconized polyester fiber and deliberately overfilled.
  • The largest tufted square floor cushion is about 48 x 48 in (122 x 122 cm); round ones go up to about 49 in (125 cm) across.
  • Tufted cushions cannot be made as thin as 1 in (2.5 cm).

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
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

Why every button has a twin underneath

Tufting on a floor cushion isn't sewn onto the top fabric. The thread runs through the filling to a partner button on the underside, and the pull between the two makes those soft dimples.

So the fix travels the same road: in where the old button sat, out the far side, around the partner button, and back up. Sew a button to the top fabric alone and it will sit there looking pleased with itself, but the dimple won't come back. The tufted cushion care Pattern covers buttons and spot cleaning, and floor cushions shows the shapes this happens on.

Follow-up: “I can't see the button on the other side”

It's a fair worry. A tufted floor cushion is 4 in (10 cm) thick as standard, so you're working blind through the middle. Keep the needle as straight as you can so it comes out where the partner button sits, then feel for it before you pull the thread through. The video the workshop sends shows it better than I can write it.

Follow-up: “Am I supposed to sew them on myself?”

You can, and the spare buttons are already in the package, so check the packing before you buy any. But nobody should feel cornered into a needle. When a buyer would rather hand it off, the workshop has offered to refund what a local tailor charges, and once it gave a partial refund instead.

If the button was missing the day the cushion arrived, that's a different conversation: photograph it, message the workshop, and ask the workshop to confirm in writing what it will send.

Tufting runs through the whole floor cushion, so a new stitch has to come out the far side and catch the matching button there.

Rosa
Share on X (opens a new window)

Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    A tufting button fell off my cushion. How do I fix it?

    The workshop's answer

    The workshop sends a video showing how to sew the button back on, with the thread passing through the cushion.

  2. A common question

    One of the buttons came off. What should I do?

    The workshop's answer

    Use one of the spare buttons that came with the order; the workshop sends a video on sewing it back on. It also offered to refund a local tailor's fee, and in this case gave a partial refund.

  3. A common question

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

    The workshop's answer

    Photograph the damage or the missing piece the day the box opens, message the workshop, and check the listing's return terms. In past cases the workshop replaced just the affected part, or gave a partial refund to buyers who kept the item.

Questions buyers ask next

Why do tufted floor cushions have buttons on both sides?

Tufting is done through the filling. Each button on top is tied through the cushion to a partner underneath, which is also why tufted cushions are sold filled only.

Can a floor cushion be made without tufting buttons?

Yes. Tufted floor cushions can be made without buttons for comfort, for example when someone plans to sleep on one, and the hand-sewn edges stay the same.

Is a loose button a reason to send the whole cushion back?

Usually not. The fix is a spare button and one stitch through the cushion, with a video to guide you. For an item that arrived damaged, faulty or missing, check the listing's return terms; in past cases the workshop replaced the affected part.