She learned her stitch on summer-theater costumes and her patience on drafty Colonial window seats. She can spot a wandering welt from across a kitchen.
At the bench since 1981 (45 years)
Newport, Rhode Island
255 readings on the site
96 answers on the site
20 patterns on the site
Reads and makes
piping & welt
kitchen banquettes
L- and U-shaped seating
dining chair pads with ties
window seats in old New England homes
fire-safety know-how for US homes
Who is Maggie?
Maggie Holloway is CushionGuide's piping and banquette master, tailoring cushions in Newport, Rhode Island since 1981. She reads kitchen banquettes, L- and U-shaped seating, dining chair pads with ties, benches and window seats, and answers questions about piping pairs, curved edges, wipe-clean fabric for families and how to measure an L. Her test: the welt runs straight or it comes out.
From petticoats to window seats
My first paying sewing job was hemming petticoats for a summer theater on the Rhode Island coast in 1981. Costumes teach you one thing fast. The audience forgives a wobbly set, but somebody in the back row always notices a crooked seam.
After a few seasons I followed the work, such as it was, into window seats. Newport and the towns around it are full of Colonial and Victorian houses with deep sills, drafty glass and built-in benches nobody has measured square since Coolidge. For thirty years I re-covered them. I learned that no two ends of an old window seat are the same length, that a radiator will cook a cushion from underneath, and that the owners always, always want piping.
Piping became my signature because it is where a cushion tells the truth. A welt is a straight line sewn around a soft object. If the cutting was careless or the corners were rushed, the piping wanders, and your eye goes straight to it every time you walk past. I have ripped out more of my own welts than I care to admit. One Thanksgiving I re-sewed a banquette cushion three times because the piping dipped a quarter inch at one corner. My husband ate his pie without me. The pie was cold. The welt was straight. I would do it again.
Decide the piping before you fall in love with the body fabric.
Photograph every curve flat, beside a tape measure.
Tell the workshop where the kids sit.
That last one matters more than people think. A breakfast nook with toddlers is a different job from a window seat where somebody reads the Sunday paper. The fabric changes, the zipper placement changes, and sometimes the whole plan changes. If you can't decide how the welt should meet the body fabric, the piping guide walks through matching, contrast and none at all.
Right, then. What color is the piping on the cushion you sit on most, dear, and did anybody choose it on purpose?
Have it made
Have Maggie’s workshop make yours
Numbers first, fabric second, piping last. Jot down what you have, and the workshop will go down the list with you, item by item. — 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.
Tools on my bench
A welting foot and a zipper foot, both older than some of my clients.
A clear 24-inch quilting ruler for proving a welt runs straight.
A hundred glass-head pins on a wrist pincushion, because I lose the pincushion otherwise.
Bias strips wound on cardboard and sorted by color like a thread drawer.
A roll of brown wrapping paper for tracing curved bench ends.
A notebook of piping pairs that worked, and a much shorter one of pairs that didn't.
What I always check
01That both legs of an L are measured end to end, plus the seat depth and thickness.
02Where each curve starts and stops. A curve given only as numbers is a guess.
03Anything under or above a sill, such as an air conditioner that limits thickness.
04Whether the family needs a wipe-clean or water-repellent fabric instead of the standard one.
05That the piping color was seen on a real swatch beside the body fabric, not on a screen.
On an L-shaped bench, send the end-to-end length of each leg plus the seat depth. Splitting the corner into two cushions is the workshop's job, not the buyer's.
A parent in the US was fitting out a daughter's apartment and did it the right way round: fabric samples first, cushions second. After living with the swatches for a while, she chose K-31 for the body with K-1 piping, a light blue, and then sent a photo of the rug so the workshop could confirm the pair worked in the room.
The two window sills were different sizes, so each cushion got its own measurements. One sill sat above an air conditioning unit that capped how tall anything could be. Rather than let one cushion stand taller than the other, she kept both at 2 inches.
I love this one because every decision was made before the cutting. Samples, a rug photo, two honest sizes and one sensible thickness. The welts matched, the heights matched, and nobody had to call anybody in a panic.
Measured
Two sills of different sizes; both cushions 2 in (5 cm) thick
What it taught
Check for obstructions such as an AC unit before choosing thickness; 2 in keeps the profile low and the pair matching.
Order swatches of the cushion fabric and the piping together. A light blue welt that looks right on a screen can look wrong beside the rug.
We have a toddler and a kitchen banquette. Do you have anything waterproof or wipe-clean?
The workshop's answer
The standard indoor fabric isn't waterproof, but it is durable and easy to clean, and the zippered covers machine wash at 86°F (30°C) or lower. For real liquid protection, B19 is the water-repellent option and a good main pick with a toddler. For messy banquettes the workshop also sends premium water-resistant, wipe-clean charts and a faux leather chart, and any cushion can be made in any of its fabrics. Close-up photos or videos of swatches are available on request.
A common question
I'm ordering for an L-shaped bench with back cushions. Which measurements do you need?
The workshop's answer
A sketch or photo with the end-to-end length of each leg, the seat depth and thickness, whether any part is angled, and whether you want backrests. Outside and inside dimensions also work: one L measured 90 x 55 in outside and 72.75 x 39 in inside, and the workshop planned and confirmed two pieces of 82 x 18 in and 29.25 x 18 in. Add a photo of the nook and a picture of the backrest style you like; the units and the L layout are confirmed before quoting.
A common question
My bench has one rounded end. How do I measure the curve so you get it right?
The workshop's answer
Draw it or trace it. For a drawing, give the total width and depth, the straight length of each edge before the curve begins, where each curve starts and ends, and the curve depth or radius. For tricky curves, lay wrapping paper on the seat, trace the edge with a marker, cut it out and photograph it flat beside a tape measure. Each cushion needs its own drawing; curves are never guessed from numbers alone.
Asking Maggie
Can a rattan armchair with a curved back get a fitted cushion?
The seat is usually the easy part: one U-shaped rattan seat measured 24 in deep and 21.25 in wide at under 3 in thick and was straightforward. A back cushion pressed against a curved frame carries the real fit risk, so the workshop asks for measurements and a straight-on photo of the curve first.
Can the piping be a different color from the cushion?
Yes. Piping is chosen by its own fabric code, so a light blue welt can trim a different body fabric, as on one pair of window-sill cushions. On a remake after a workshop error, you can even change the piping color on the replacement.
How thick is a standard bench cushion, and does it need buttons?
Standard thickness is 4 in (10 cm), and it can be customized to suit the seat. Buttons are optional: flat cushions without tufting are made, and back cushions can run along one side of an L only, such as a foam wedge on the longer run.
Heard at Maggie’s bench
Right, then.
A straight welt is a kind of honesty.
Measure the bench, not the cushion you used to have.
A welt that wanders is a cushion that was rushed.
Pick the piping first; the body fabric will forgive you.
An old window seat has two ends and not one square corner.
If the kids eat there, the fabric had better wipe.
I have never regretted a paper template. I have regretted skipping one.
Stitch straight — Maggie
The rest of the bench
Six more masters read the cushions they know best. Pick the one who works on your kind of seat.
Harlan PruittThe Elder of High PointHigh Point, North Carolina · since 1968“A cushion should outlive the chair it sits on.”
Élodie MarchandThe Colorist of New OrleansNew Orleans, Louisiana · since 1991“Color is the first comfort; the eye sits down before the body does.”
Callum ReidThe Weather Man of Casco BayPortland, Maine · since 1984“Build it for the worst day of the season, and every other day is a gift.”
Hana LindqvistThe Quiet Geometer of SeattleSeattle, Washington · since 1996“Less furniture, better sitting.”
Rosa DelgadoThe Porch Keeper of SavannahSavannah, Georgia · since 1985“The best cushion is the one everybody fights over.”
Nate KowalskiThe Pattern Engineer of DetroitDetroit, Michigan · since 1994“Every odd shape is just a list of honest measurements.”