---
title: "Chair Cushion With Ties for a Curved Bentwood Seat: Trace It"
url: "https://cushionguide.com/readings/indigo-woven-cushion-rustic-bentwood-cross-back-chair/"
section: "Readings"
author: "Margaret Holloway, The Piping Queen of Newport"
author_url: "https://cushionguide.com/masters/maggie/"
published: "2026-06-29"
updated: "2026-09-24"
keywords: "chair cushion with ties, dining chair cushion, chair cushion, chair pads, custom size cushion"
---

# An indigo chair cushion with ties on a bentwood cross-back, and how to measure a seat like it

*A curved front, an ivory welt and two navy bows you can barely see. Measuring this seat is easy once you stop trusting the tape measure alone.*

> **The quick answer:** To measure a bentwood cross-back chair for a chair cushion with ties, photograph the seat from directly above, note the width and depth, and trace the curved front on paper, since a tracing reproduces a curve most accurately. Mark the rear posts and the cross-back so the ties land where they can wrap. Measure the chair, never the old pad.

![Indigo woven seat cushion with ivory piping and navy ties on a bentwood cross-back chair on a sisal rug by a rustic table](https://cushionguide.com/media/dining-chair-cushions/indigo-woven-cushion-rustic-bentwood-cross-back-chair-1600.webp "Indigo with an ivory welt is a relaxed, denim-like pairing that suits weathered oak.")

## A curved seat in cool daylight

A bentwood cross-back is a bistro chair that has lived a little, and this one sits by a weathered oak table on a sisal rug, with rattan-seated chairs behind it. The [chair cushion with ties](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/dining-chair-cushions/) on it is a heathered indigo weave from the [linen-look](https://cushionguide.com/fabrics/linen-look-fabrics/) charts, and it suits the room better than a glossy velvet would. Denim tones get along with oak, rattan and old paint alike, which is handy when no two chairs around a table match.

Now the part I care about most. Ivory piping runs along the rounded front of the seat and turns with it evenly. A straight welt is a kind of honesty; on a curve, the honesty is in the easing, and you only get a clean curve if the pad was cut from the real shape of the seat.

The ties are navy, not ivory, and that is deliberate. One wraps the rear post so the curved pad can't creep forward. A second bow sits where the X of the cross-back meets the seat, hidden from the front. Nobody sees the hardware; everyone sees a pad that stays put.

The props keep it relaxed: a pair of kicked-off leather loafers on the sisal, a white panel radiator, the edge of an oak dresser. Cool daylight, nothing staged too hard. How many different chairs sit around your table?

## Pinned by Maggie

Five pins, from the tie on the rear post to the loafers on the rug.

1. **Navy tie on rear post**: The tie wraps the back leg so the curved seat pad cannot slide.
2. **Tie through cross-back**: A second bow sits where the X meets the seat, hidden from the front.
3. **Curved piped front**: Ivory piping traces the rounded front of the bentwood seat.
4. **Leather loafers**: Kicked-off shoes keep the room relaxed and real.
5. **Rattan-seated chair**: Denim blue sits easily beside rattan, paint and oak.

## Measuring a bentwood seat in five moves

1. **Photograph from directly above**: Stand over the chair and get the whole seat in the frame, with a tape measure laid across it. A side view hides the curve.
2. **Write the width and the depth**: Width across the widest point, depth from front to back. Label both; depth is not thickness, and a pad has both.
3. **Trace the seat on paper**: Lay paper on the seat, press it into the edges and draw the outline. A tracing is the most accurate way to reproduce a curve; the [paper template pattern](https://cushionguide.com/guides/paper-template-for-custom-cushion/) shows how.
4. **Mark the tie points**: Mark both rear posts and the spot where the cross-back meets the seat, so the ties land where they can wrap. More on [where ties go on chairs](https://cushionguide.com/guides/cushion-tie-placement-chairs-swings/).
5. **Check the new seat height**: A pad lifts you toward the tabletop. Run your numbers through the [seat height calculator](https://cushionguide.com/studio/seat-height-calculator/) before you pick a thickness.

## Covers cut to the foam already in hand

A buyer in the US already had good foam for a hanging porch swing and wanted covers only, with extra-strong zippers: a seat of 55.25 x 27.75 x 4 in (140.3 x 70.5 x 10 cm) and a back pad of 50 x 13 x 4 in (127 x 33 x 10 cm), in cinnamon.

The first thing the workshop asked for was the foam sizes. Not the old covers, not a catalog size: the foam. The covers were quoted without inserts and cut to those numbers. A different seat, the same rule as the bentwood chair: measure the thing itself.

## Buyer questions: copies, curves and second thoughts

**A common question:** Can I cancel my custom order if I don't need it right now?

**The workshop's answer:** Yes, as long as production hasn't started: the order is cancelled and refunded to the original payment method. The workshop can also hold the order until you're ready, or change details without cancelling at all.

**A common question:** Can you copy the seat and back cushions I already have on my dining chairs?

**The workshop's answer:** Yes. Send photos with the dimensions, and the workshop replicates both the seat and the back cushion for each chair. Ask it to state the shipping cost in the quote.

**A common question:** Can you make a cushion for a vintage barrel-back rattan chair with a rounded back?

**The workshop's answer:** Yes, semicircular back included. Send the width and depth, for example 17 x 18 in (43 x 46 cm), plus a clear photo from directly above that shows the whole seat. A simple tracing or template of the seat is even better for getting the curve right.

> For a curved chair seat, a paper tracing beats a tape measure. Send the width, the depth and a photo taken from directly above the seat.
>
> — Maggie

> **Tailor's margin:** Depth and thickness are different numbers: depth runs front to back across the seat, thickness is how tall the cushion stands. Label both.

## On the cutting table

|   |   |
|---|---|
| Cushion | Shaped chair pad with a curved front, box edge |
| Fabric | Heathered indigo linen-look weave |
| Piping | Ivory contrast, following the curved front |
| Ties | Navy, around the rear post and through the cross-back |
| What to send | Top-down photo, width and depth, and a paper tracing |
| Thickness | Your choice; check the new seat height at the table first |
| Care | Zippered cover, machine wash at 86°F (30°C) max on gentle, air dry |
| Best for | Mixed bentwood and rattan chairs around a rustic oak table |

## Questions buyers ask next

### Where should the ties go on a cross-back chair?

Around the rear posts, which stop a curved pad from sliding forward, and through the cross-back where the X meets the seat, where the bow stays hidden from the front. Ties can be sewn into the seams at the corners or the back, in any position.

### Can a chair pad have a curved front instead of square corners?

Yes. Curved and rounded seats are made from a dimensioned drawing, a photographed paper template or a top-down photo with measurements. The workshop checks the shape before cutting, and a tracing gives the most faithful curve.

### Is a linen-look weave practical on dining chairs?

Yes. The standard linen-look charts are mostly durable, hard-wearing blends, and a heathered weave forgives crumbs better than a flat solid. The zippered cover comes off and washes at 86°F (30°C) on a gentle cycle, then air-dries.

### Should the piping color match the ties?

Not necessarily. Here the piping is ivory to outline the curved front, and the ties are navy so they disappear against the dark frame. Piping can match or contrast using any chart code, and it is included in the price either way.

## Related at the atelier

- [Chair Cushion with Ties: Box Seat, Back Pad and Corner Shapes](https://cushionguide.com/readings/dusty-blue-seat-and-back-cushion-set-pine-chair/): For a dining chair cushion with ties, use a box edge on the seat and a slimmer pad on the back.
- [Dining Chair Cushion With Cream Piping on a Slat-Back Chair](https://cushionguide.com/readings/steel-blue-seat-pad-blond-slat-back-dining-chair/): Piping on a dining chair cushion should repeat something already in the room: here a cream welt on a steel-blue linen-look pad echoes the white window frames and radiators, so the outline looks…
- [Chair Cushion with Ties in Olive Linen-Look on Walnut](https://cushionguide.com/readings/olive-green-tie-cushion-walnut-midcentury-chair/): To style an olive chair cushion on dark walnut, give it a light piping such as cream so the outline doesn't sink into the wood, then repeat that cream once nearby, like a stoneware dish on the…
- [How to measure dining chairs for seat pads with ties](https://cushionguide.com/guides/dining-chair-pad-measurements/): To measure a chair seat for a cushion, take three numbers: the front width, the back width between the back posts, and the depth down the middle, then both side edges if the seat tapers.
- [How do I measure a curved chair seat, like a rocking chair, barrel back or horseshoe chair?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/measure-curved-chair-seat-cushion-template/): To measure a curved chair seat, make a paper template: lay paper on the seat, trace the edge, cut it out and write the widest width and front-to-back depth on it.
- [Farmhouse chair cushions with ties, from ladder-backs to golden oak](https://cushionguide.com/concepts/farmhouse-chair-cushions-with-ties/): Farmhouse chair cushions with ties are made to each seat's own measurements, and the ties are an add-on you must request in writing.
- [Velvet seat cushions: how the pile catches the light on a chair](https://cushionguide.com/guides/velvet-seat-cushions/)

*Stitch straight — Maggie*

---

Written by Margaret Holloway (https://cushionguide.com/masters/maggie/) for CushionGuide (https://cushionguide.com/about/). The site explains made-to-measure cushions and the partner workshop makes them; measurements are in inches first. This Markdown mirrors the page at https://cushionguide.com/readings/indigo-woven-cushion-rustic-bentwood-cross-back-chair/