The Cushion Atlas · Chairs, swings & rockers

Round seat cushions, ovals and geometric shapes, cut to your seat

A circle needs two numbers. An oval needs a drawing. A hexagon needs two numbers again, if you pick the right two. Here is which shape wants what, and where the limits are.

Atlas entry by Nate

The Pattern Engineer of Detroit · August 10, 2026 · Updated September 24, 2026

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A round seat pad with ties softens a cane bentwood chair in a Parisian salon with herringbone parquet.

The quick answer

Round seat cushions are ordered by diameter and thickness, for example 16 in (41 cm) across and 4 in (10 cm) thick for a café bar stool. Ovals, half-rounds and D-shapes need a measured drawing or a paper template, hexagons need point-to-point and flat-to-flat widths, and round floor cushions go up to about 49 in (125 cm). Strong curves are reviewed before anyone promises a fit.

Shapes to choose from

Every one is cut to your measurements. The number is how many readings the atelier has published for that shape.

Sizes & measuring

On the cutting table: rounds and shaped orders

How to measure Lay paper on the seat and trace the edge, write the widest width and the front-to-back depth on the template, then photograph it flat from directly above with a tape measure in the picture.

Round seat pad	Diameter and thickness; custom diameters welcome
Round floor cushion	Custom diameter up to about 49 in (125 cm); 59 in (150 cm) isn't possible
Quarter-round corner	Two wall sides; 48 in (122 cm) is the standard maximum
Thickness	2 in (5 cm) is the thinnest standard; 2 to 3 in (5 to 8 cm) suggested for curved benches
Zipper	On the edge facing the chair back or wall, or underneath; you choose the side
Drawing	One per shaped cushion, redrawn by the workshop for your approval
Time	Curved and complex shapes take longer than plain rounds; ask for current times
Not supplied	Stool bases, chair frames and legs

Fabrics that work

Open a family for its swatch book, care notes and neighbors.

Sixteen by sixteen is a square

Write '16 x 16 in' on an order and you will get a square. Write 'round, 16 in diameter, 4 in thick' and you get the circle you meant. That is most of what round seat cushions ask of you: name the shape in words, then give the numbers that define it.

Each shape has its own short list. A circle is one number plus thickness. An oval needs its outline. A half-round is a chord and a rise. A regular hexagon is two widths. Anything that bows unevenly is a paper template. Angles are just lengths in disguise; curves are lengths that won't sit still.

Slanted rectangles live under trapezoid cushions, quarter-rounds under corner floor cushions, and every family sits side by side in the cushion shapes chart. What shape is the seat in front of you, partner?

Seven shapes, and the numbers each one needs

Shape	Order it by	from past orders	Watch for
Round	Diameter and thickness	Café bar-stool rounds, 16 in (41 cm) across, 4 in (10 cm) thick	Two different widths mean an oval
Oval	A traced template with the widest width and the depth on it	An oval wicker loveseat cushion with rounded corners	Length and width alone can't fix the curve
Half-round or D-shape	Chord and rise, or width, depth, straight sides and the arc's diameter	A D-shaped seat about 66.9 x 47.2 in (170 x 120 cm), drawn as a rectangle plus an arc	Mark where each curve starts and ends
Quarter-round corner	The two straight sides along the walls	48 x 48 in (122 x 122 cm), arc about 75.4 in (191.5 cm)	Never the diagonal, never the curve
Hexagon	Point to point and flat to flat, on a reference drawing	About 4 x 4.6 ft (122 x 140 cm) for a play structure	Flat to flat is about 0.87 of point to point
Octagon or odd polygon	Every side, plus the depth at each break	Pentagon- and hexagon-shaped bay seats, made regularly	Octagons: send the drawing and ask the workshop
Curved bench	Inner and outer curve, end-to-end length, depth at ends and middle	Long curves made as matching segments	Kidney and banana curves may be declined

Small rounds: bistro chairs, bar stools, rope seats

The dove gray pad in the lead photo shows the rule for a bentwood chair: the circle stops just inside the wooden rim, so the cane still shows, and pale ties at the back hold it. The forest green rounds in the gallery sit inside rope-woven dining chairs, where a square pad would push its corners through the weave.

Measure across the widest point, then again at 90°. Equal numbers: a circle. Unequal: an oval, and an oval gets a template. One custom maker's guide suggests 2 to 4 in (5 to 10 cm) for bar and counter stools and 3 to 5 in (8 to 13 cm) for bistro chairs. Café owners here ordered 16 in (41 cm) rounds 4 in (10 cm) thick for heavy daily use.

More small seats are in the bistro chair and bar stool sketches, and the chair cushion builder draws a round pad in 3D.

Big rounds, quarter-rounds and the 49-inch ceiling

Round floor cushions are cut to your diameter up to about 49 in (125 cm); a 59 in (150 cm) request got a plain no. Order the nearest listed size and write the exact diameter in the note: a 33 in (84 cm) round went through the 32 x 32 in option. See custom round diameters and the largest round and corner sizes.

A quarter-round is a quarter circle, so its arc is π × r ÷ 2. At 48 in (122 cm) a side, that is 75.4 in (191.5 cm) of curved front edge. Check it against the room: one buyer with a 58 in (147 cm) corner priced the larger size, then kept 48 x 48 in because it suited a small room better.

Past the ceiling, think in pairs. Two corner cushions side by side against a flat wall read as a half circle, and the workshop makes them into that shape. The quarter-circle sizing Pattern has the arithmetic.

Hexagons, octagons and a pattern that isn't a shape

A regular hexagon needs two numbers: point to point across the corners, flat to flat across the sides. A buyer in the US wanted one about 4 x 4.6 ft (122 x 140 cm) for a play structure roughly 55 x 55 in (140 x 140 cm), and the workshop sent a reference drawing with those two places to mark. Check: 48 ÷ 55.2 = 0.87, what a regular hexagon gives. Nothing else was needed.

The cream zigzag floor cushion in the gallery is the six-sided idea at living-room scale: no corner to catch a shin. The burgundy bouclé seat under the stone arch is a half-hexagon cut to its paneled base. Big custom makers' shape menus list five- and six-sided polygons and semicircles; here each one starts as a drawing. The hexagon and octagon Pattern covers octagons, and chord, rise and radius covers half-rounds.

One warning. The oatmeal and taupe window seats in the gallery wear a honeycomb jacquard: a hexagon pattern on a plain rectangle. Rectangular seat, rectangular order.

A real project

An oval loveseat cushion that became a whole patio

A buyer in the US started with one piece: a cushion for an oval wicker loveseat, rounded at the corners. Then came a chair cushion. Then a full outdoor couch.

The final order was one green-and-white stripe with piping throughout: a 17 x 20 in (43 x 51 cm) chair seat, a 37 x 19 in (94 x 48 cm) loveseat cushion, three 17 in (43 cm) pillows, and six couch pieces, three at 20 x 20 in (51 x 51 cm) and three at 22 x 20 in (56 x 51 cm). Quoted as one set, it arrived before her party. She wrote that she cried, because they looked so beautiful.

In a set like that the straight pieces go by numbers alone. The oval is the one to trace, because its rounded corners decide the fit.

Measured: Chair 17 x 20 in; loveseat 37 x 19 in; pillows 3 x 17 x 17 in; couch 3 x 20 x 20 in and 3 x 22 x 20 in
What it taught: Quote a whole outdoor room as one set, trace the curved piece, and put the event date on the order.

Photographs from the workbench

Open any photograph large; each one has its own link and a Save button.

Forest green round box seat cushions on four taupe rope-woven outdoor dining chairs around a round teak table with agaves — Deep green round cushions pick up the agave leaves and sit neatly inside four rope-woven chair frames.

Hexagonal floor cushion in cream jacquard with teal, pink and navy zigzag diamonds on a cream rug near a walnut bench — A six-sided floor cushion in a cream zigzag jacquard gives a living room flexible extra seating. The pattern wraps the sides too.

Brick red curved outdoor bench cushion with self piping on a natural resin wicker bench, deck with ferns and lantern behind — One piece of brick-red outdoor fabric, cut to an arc, turns a curved wicker bench into proper seating.

Burgundy bouclé half-hexagon cushion on a cream paneled corner seat beneath a Gothic stone arch with candle and books — A burgundy bouclé cushion cut to a half-hexagon sits beneath a stone arch lit by a single candle.

Long rectangular window ledge cushion in an oatmeal honeycomb jacquard with self piping, beside a built-in book niche — A hexagon pattern, not a hexagon shape: honeycomb jacquard on a plain rectangular ledge cushion.

Rectangular taupe window seat cushion in a honeycomb jacquard with two matching piped pillows in a white window recess — Honeycomb jacquard on a rectangle: order the shape of the seat, then choose the pattern.

Round-and-curve mistakes, caught before cutting

Writing '16 x 16' for a round. It reads as a square; write 'round, 16 in diameter'.
Giving an oval one length and one width. The curve lives between those numbers; trace it.
Sending one arc length for a curve. It can't tell a shallow bow from a deep one; give chord and rise.
Measuring a quarter-round corner along the diagonal. The size is the two wall sides.
Confusing a honeycomb-pattern fabric with a hexagon-shaped seat.
Treating a back cushion against a curved rattan frame like the seat. A 24 x 21.25 in seat pad was easy; the back against the curve was flagged as risky until measurements and a straight-on photo came in.
Ordering a shaped seat on the rectangle listing. If checkout never asks for a drawing, you're on the wrong one.

A round seat cushion needs two numbers, diameter and thickness. An oval needs a drawing. If the two widths of your circle don't match, you own an oval.
Nate

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Rounds and curves

A common question
Do you make round cushions, like for bar stools?
The workshop's answer
Yes. Round cushions are specified by diameter and thickness: send a drawing or reference photo with both, and the workshop tells you how to order. Café bar-stool rounds were made 16 in (41 cm) across and 4 in (10 cm) thick for heavy commercial use, and a 41 in (104 cm) round was cut to fit inside a play tent. Several custom sizes can share one cart. Stool bases aren't made.
A common question
My chair seat curves like a horseshoe. How do I get its shape to you?
The workshop's answer
Make a paper template: lay paper on the seat, trace the edge, cut it out, write the widest width and the front-to-back depth on it, and photograph it flat from above with a tape measure in the shot; no need to mail it. Without one, send the width and depth, where the curve starts and ends on each side, how deep it runs, and a top-down photo. The craftsmen confirm the shape before you order.
A common question
How is a quarter-round corner floor cushion measured?
The workshop's answer
By the two straight sides against the walls, where they meet at the right angle. Measure along each wall from the back corner to where the cushion should end, so 48 x 48 in means 48 in along each wall. Don't measure diagonally or along the curve; on that size the curved front runs about 75.4 in. A three-sided corner needs a photo and the depth measured in the middle.
A common question
Can you make a hexagon floor cushion to fit inside a play structure?
The workshop's answer
Yes. Send the shape, the measurements and a few photos of the room taken from a distance before ordering, so everything is agreed first; the workshop says up front if a size-based customization fee applies. For a hexagon it sends a reference drawing on which you mark two key measurements. A quarter-round or curved space needs the two straight sides so the curve can be calculated.
A common question
How do I measure a curved fire-pit bench or a round sofa section?
The workshop's answer
Lay a flexible tape or a string along the inner curve at the front and the outer curve at the back, then take the straight end-to-end distance and the depth at both ends and the middle. A wedge of a round sofa also needs the curve depth, from the middle of the straight inner line to the arc. Long curves are made as matching segments, and pronounced kidney or banana curves may be declined.

Have it made

Have your round seat cushions made — ask Nate’s workshop

Every edge and both diagonals, to the nearest 1/4 in. If the numbers do not close, the workshop will say so on the call. — Nate

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.

Name

Phone Only for this request: no marketing calls or texts. Outside the US, add the country code.

Best time to call optional

What to make optional

Measurements optionalIn inches: length × depth × thickness, plus any angles or cut corners.

Notes optional

* 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

Round, oval and hexagon questions

Why doesn't a small round cushion cost much less than a rectangle?

Because the handwork doesn't shrink with the fabric. Four 18 in (46 cm) rounds planned beside a set of tufted linen floor seats were quoted at nearly what rectangles cost, and the buyer found that too steep. Ask for the quote with your diameters before you set a budget.

Can a round floor cushion be button-tufted?

Yes. Round tufted floor cushions are made in custom diameters; 38 in (97 cm) and 43.25 in (110 cm) rounds are on record. Order the nearest listed size and note the exact diameter. The price rises with the diameter, and the workshop confirms it before you order.

Where does the zipper go on a round seat cushion?

Where nobody looks. Every foam cushion gets a zippered, fully removable cover at no extra cost, hidden on the edge that faces the chair back or wall, or on the underside. You can choose the side; write it in the order note.

Can you supply the stool or chair along with the cushion?

No. The workshop makes the cushion and the foam only, not stool frames, metal bases or chair legs. Send the seat's diameter, the thickness you want and a photo of the stool, and the round is cut to sit on what you already own.

± 1/4 in — Nate

The Pattern Room