Sewing Archives - Pretty Handy Girl

decor, garden bench, Seat Cushion, Sewing, Tutorial, Upholster Chair

How to Sew a DIY Bench Cushion with Piping

You can sew your own custom DIY bench cushion with piping. It’s an easy DIY and I can’t wait to show you how to create your own bench cushion covers using my step-by-step tutorial.

How to Sew a DIY Bench Cushion with Piping

I thought sewing a DIY bench cushion was going to be a difficult project to sew. And, I thought sewing a bench cushion with piping would be next to impossible. However, once I figured out an easy way to create the box, it was actually very easy! Let’s get started and I’ll show you how to make custom DIY Bench Cushions with an added detail of piping.

My Fabric Source:

Before we get started I wanted to let you in on a little secret. 🤫 The bench cushion and side table fabrics you see below are actually Target shower curtains! That’s right, I didn’t use upholstery fabric, instead I used fabric shower curtains which are just a durable.

You read that right. Fabric shower curtains are not only inexpensive, but they are durable and can stand up to moisture. This makes them perfect for outdoor use. I bought both of these at fabric shower curtains at Target for under $20 each! You could score cute fabric shower curtains on sale and save even more.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

3″ foam cushion
Electric carving knife (essential for cutting foam)
Batting to cover foam
Thread to match cushion
Fabric to cover all six sides of your cushion (or inexpensive shower curtain)
Sew-in velcro strips
Sharpie marker
Pins
Piping trim (tutorial for making your own less expensive piping)
Sewing machine
Zipper Foot
Iron
Fabric Scissors
Batting (if you are cutting your own foam)

Once you have all your materials, let’s get sewing.

Preparing the Foam Cushion

Measure or lay your foam on top of the bench. Mark line(s) where you need to trim.

Use an electric carving knife to cut through the foam.

Wrap batting around your foam. Then trim the edges down to size. I had enough to put two layers on top of the foam and one layer on the bottom. This will make for a cushier and less sharp-edged cushion.

Cutting out the pieces

1. Fold your fabric in half and lay it out. Place your cushion on top. Trace around the cushion about 3/4″ wider on all sides.

Cut through the two layers. This will give you a top and bottom panel for your cover.

2. Next let’s cut out four strips of fabric for the sides. First, plan on cutting your lengths 2″ longer than your cushion.

If your foam is 3″ and you use 1-2 layers of batting, you can use these measurements for your strips:

Front: 4.25″ wide by length + 2″
Sides (left and right): 4.25″ wide by length + 2″
*Back: 5.5″ wide by length + 2″
*Back Fold Over Flap: 3.5″ wide by length + 2″

*You may have noticed the back measurement is wider and has two strips. This is because we need to sew an overlapping flap and velcro to allow for the cover to be removable for washing.

Assembling the sides of the bench cushion cover

1. Wrap the 4 strips around your cushion right sides facing in. (Reserve the back fold over piece for later.) Pin the edges where they meet at your cushion corners. The back strip should line up with the sides on the one edge. But, the other edge will extend 1.25″ taller than the rest.

2. Remove the sides and stitch where the pins are. When you get to the back strip, fold over the excess so it matches the same height as the rest of the strips.

Then stitch along the back strip’s folded over fabric to secure it.

Set your sides aside for now. It is time to pin the piping to your cushion top.

Adding the Piping

(Tutorial for Making Your Own Piping Here)

1. Lay the top panel right side up on top of the cushion. Pin the piping on top of the fabric. Line up the piping with the edges of the cushion. Be sure the raw edge of your piping is facing the raw edge of the fabric.

When you reach a corner, snip into the raw edge of the piping all the way (but not through) the rope piping. Then turn your piping creating a 90 degree angle and continue pinning.

When you reach the start of your pinned piping, simply overlap the two about 2″ and cut off the excess.

Your bench cushion top should look like this:

2. Set the top panel on your sewing machine and sew the piping into place. Your needle will be very close to the piping, but it shouldn’t stitch into the rope. This is where a zipper foot really helps get close to the piping and give you professional looking results!

Carefully sew and backstitch over the place where your piping overlaps.

Connecting the top and sides

1. Lay your top panel onto the cushion. Pick up your sides and begin pinning them to the top of the cushion. (Note, the raw edge of your back panel should be lined up next to the piping and the hem on the back side should be facing up and away from the piping.) Position your pins close to the piping but not on top of it. Try to line up the corners of your sides with the 90 degree corners of your piping.

2. Stitch the sides onto the top piece. Again, your needle will be very close to the piping but not over it. This is a little trickier because you can’t see the piping, but you can feel it. Just use your fingers to guide you. (Piping shown by the red arrowed line below.)

3. Remove the cushion cover from your sewing machine. Turn your top cover right sides out and test the fit on your cushion. Hopefully at this point everything is looking good and you see it’s a fairly easy sewing project.

4. Repeat the steps above for “adding the piping” to sew piping onto your bottom cover.

Sewing the cushion back flap

1. Now you can pick up that back fold over strip that has been sitting all by its lonesome. Fold the edges over twice on three sides (2 short and 1 long) to hem your flap. Press the hem with a hot iron.

Stitch along the folded hem to secure it.

2. Center and pin the flap along the back edge of the bottom panel (right sides together) as shown. The raw edges should be facing out.

3. Stitch the back flap onto the bottom panel next to the piping. An inch or more of the panel will extend on both ends. That’s perfectly fine, you want to leave it loose so it can tuck inside the cushion.

3. Turn your top panel and sides wrong sides out and put your cushion inside it. Then lay your bottom panel on top as shown.

Pin the bottom panel to the sides just like you did for the top panel. This time leave the back side unpinned (where your two flaps overlap.)

4. Now is a good time to trim any excess from your previously stitched seams. (There will be a lot of fabric on the sewing machine, and this is just one less piece that could get caught while stitching.)

Trim off the corners at an angle.

Carefully peel the pinned cover off the cushion.

5. Stitch along the two sides and front of your cover. Leave the back length of the cover open. Remember, use your fingers to feel for the piping.

6. Turn the cover right side out and slide the cushion into the cover.

Check the fit and make sure you don’t have any stray fabric that might have gotten caught while sewing.

You should have an opening in the back like this.

Adding the velcro closure to the back of the cover

1. Take out your coordinating velcro tape.

Pin the hook and loop velcro tape onto the backside and the back fold over flap. To save money, I used 4 strips of 3″ velcro evenly spaced along the length of the opening. But, you can certainly use one long piece of velcro if you wish.

2. Stitch the velcro onto the cushion. You can use a zig-zag stitch for extra strength (if you have destructive little boys like I do!)

Check the fit of the velcro.

3. If everything looks good, you can turn the cover inside out and trim off any excess raw edges. Then turn the cover right side out and insert your cushion.

And that’s it! You are done and you have a professional-looking bench cushion with piping! Now you know how easy Sewing a DIY Bench Cushion with Piping can be!

Want to see the rest of my screen porch makeover? I spent less than $125, that’s what I call an extreme budget!

Now that you knocked out a custom bench cushion, why not sew one of these 25 easy sewing projects next!

Pin this tutorial to refer to later:

March 10, 2025/116 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Sewing

Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask

Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on improvements for the Best Fit Face Mask and am thrilled to finally share with you the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask.

Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask

I’ve heard from thousands of you who have emailed me, or commented and told me how much you love the Best Fit Face Mask. So many have remarked how easy it was to sew and how it truly is the best fitting face mask available. In an effort to provide better comfort and ease of wearing, I’ve changed the mask slightly to be the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask!

You heard me right, this is by far the most comfortable, not to mention best fitting face mask. This new design uses the same Best Fit Face Mask pattern but I’ve changed the straps slightly so they don’t go behind the ears.

The Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask is super popular with:

Children
People who wear glasses
People who wear hearing aids
People with sensitivity issues
Workers who see people on and off during the day
Medical professionals who don’t want anything on their ears
People who want to wear the mask around their neck when not needed

This mask design will be invaluable for children who are heading back to school or people going back to work. It allows the wearer to pull it on and off quickly with ease and without the risk of misplacing their mask! Then when wearing the mask is no longer necessary, they can simply pull it down and let it hang around the neck until needed again.

You’ll use the same pattern and instructions to make the mask as the Best Fit Face Mask. When you get to the final sewing step in my tutorial, you are NOT going to add the ear straps. Instead, just sew the sides and I’ll show you how to thread the straps next.

Go ahead over to the tutorial, download your choice of five size patterns and start making your mask.

Then watch this video to see how to turn that Best Fit Face Mask into the Most Comfortable Face Mask:

Most Comfortable Face Mask Materials:

I found that the ⅝” flat foldover elastic hairband material is the most comfortable strap material for over the head wearing. It is super soft, stretches easily, and doesn’t pull on your hair or face. For this strap design, cut the elastic at 36”. You may trim a little off the length later if you find it too long (especially for a child-size mask.)

My Source for Flat Foldover Elastic: Amazon or Etsy

Don’t have foldover elastic? Not a big deal, you can also use any cording you like for this mask, but it may not fit through the adjustment bead. You can simply tie the tails instead. Not using elastic straps means it might not be as comfortable or as easy to slip on and off, but it’s still desirable if you want to move away from ear straps.

How to Feed the Straps Through the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask:

Pin a safety pin to the end of your elastic. Starting from the chin side of your mask, feed the elastic up through one side, then down through the other side leaving the ends on the chin side.

Adding an adjustment bead helps make this mask easy to adjust. To feed the straps through the bead, fold some fishing line in half. Feed the loop end through the bead. Slip both strap ends through the fishing line and pull back through the bead.

Pull the strap ends through the bead completely. Tie the ends of the ribbon elastic and singe the ends to keep them from fraying.

Ways to Wear the Most Comfortable Best Fit Face Mask:

1. Straight Forward:

To put the mask on, make sure the nose clip is facing up. Put the bottom strap (or the tail end side) over your head first and rest it around your neck. Then pull the top strap over your head and let it rest on or slightly below the crown of your head. Pinch the nose clip against your nose. Then pull on the tails to tighten the strap to your comfort level. To loosen the straps, move the bead away from your neck.

2. The Good Hair Day:

One thing I love about the straps on this design, is the versatility. If you are having a good hair day, congratulations. You can simply put the top strap over your ears and behind the base of your skull. Now tug on the tails of the strap until it’s comfortable. Adjust your hair over the straps. Now you go rock that great hair today!

3. Both on Top:

If you don’t want the straps on your neck, or want a very secure fit under the chin, pull both straps to the crown of your head.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments if you find other ways to wear the mask. I know you’ll love how comfortable it is and how lightweight it is when hanging around your neck. I also know that kids are going to love this design change!

Please share this tutorial with friends and family. I see so many disposable and poor-fitting masks out in public. This is a much better solution, but I need your help to spread the word. In the meantime, thank you all for doing your part to stay safe and stay kind.

Pin this image to share:

Don’t forget to see my Time Saver tips when sewing the Best Fit Face Mask:

Finally, if you are looking for the original Best Fit Face Mask tutorial, here it is:

July 13, 2020/27 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Sewing

Best Fit Face Mask – Time Savers and Sizes to Fit Everyone

Two months have passed since I designed the Best Fit Face Mask. By popular demand, I’m putting out three new sizes (child, small, and x-large) to fit everyone! I’ve also developed some time-saving tips to help you sew masks faster.

Best Fit Face Mask – Time Savers and Sizes to Fit Everyone

Before I get started with today’s post, I have to thank you all. I received thousands of comments from people saying how much they loved the Best Fit Face Mask design. If you haven’t seen that video, you can see the video here.

For those of you that have watched that, I have to say you blew me away, because there were over 4 million people who watch the video. I hope that has translated into each and everyone of them making at least one mask if not multiples to protect everyone around the world from the coronavirus! Thank you to those that sent me pictures of your masks. This makes me happy to see so many different people and different masks!

Video on Best Fit Face Mask Time Savers + Updates and New Sizes:

I’ve covered the majority of today’s post in this video. I know it goes fast, so feel free to watch and/or read the rest of this post.

New Sizes – Child, Small, and X-Large Mask Patterns:

Today I’m back because so many people had asked for different sizes and I can appreciate that there are many different size faces. I appreciate your patience with me as I finally developed a child size, a small size, and an extra-large size (in addition to the previous medium and large sizes.) Patterns for all five sizes can be downloaded here (look under Face Mask Template subheading).

Although I had to stop resizing at some point, I decided to show you an easy way to resize your pattern!

How to Resize Your Face Mask Pattern:

Just a quick note before you rush to resize your pattern. Make sure to pre-shrink your fabric. You’ll also want to wash the mask after sewing because oftentimes the mask will shrink a little more.

To resize your pattern, simply print out the size closest to what you need. To reduce, use a ruler to mark points inside the template at each corner. I suggest reducing by ¼” increments. Then use the ruler as a straight edge to connect the dots. To enlarge, repeat, but add your points outside the template. Simple, right?!

More Alternate Ear Strap Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Over the past two months I’ve learned a lot by testing several different strap materials. In the first mask, I used elastic paracord. Although this worked great, it was hard to find and hard to thread the bead through. Here are some alternatives to the elastic paracord.

The old t-shirts, are so comfortable and soft (and most likely FREE! Especially if you have stained shirts or ones your kids have outgrown.) Cut them into one-inch strips and pull them to make them curl. These should feed through the craft beads easily.

Regular paracord (non- elastic) works well too. This is like hiking boot laces. I found the 550 series (7 strand core) is the perfect size to still fit through the craft beads.

Elastic shoelaces are a great alternative to the flat elastic most people want for face masks. In full disclosure, Xpand sent me some elastic shoelaces to try out. I’m happy to say they work great. They are stretchy and you can feed a craft bead onto it.

Slip Knot instead of Craft Beads (or Cord Locks)

No Craft Beads, No Problem! Many people have struggled with the craft beads. Sometimes the strap material doesn’t feed through easily. For this reason, I have the solution if you are ready to ditch the bead! It’s simple, tie a slip knot!

How to Make a Slip Knot:

A slip knot is a knot that slides up and down along one strand. It’s perfect for adjusting the length of the ear straps, yet still holding it in position.

Watch my video (already forwarded to the slip knot tutorial section) to see how to make a slip knot. It’s easy and a great knot with many uses.

Cut your straps about 12 – 15 inches long. (You can trim the excess afterward.) Fold the strap in half. I’ve knotted one end to help clarify this demonstration.) Position the knotted end on the bottom. Take the knot and wrap it over the other end one time. Now reach your fingers through the loop you made and grasp the non-knotted end and pull it through the loop while holding the other two ends. Tighten the knot and now test to see if you can slide the knot up and down your strap. Easy, right?!

Nose Clip Update – Answer to the Question: Do they hold up in the wash?

First, there many people who said they like using pipe cleaners. Frankly, I’ve never been a fan of these because they just don’t have the hold or the memory to do great as a nose clip. Plus, several people have been reporting that pipe cleaners are rusting in the wash and breaking.

There were a lot of people who were concerned about the coffee tabs and how they hold up in the wash and dryer! My own original mask has been washed probably fifteen times now. There is no rust showing. The coffee tabs are coated in plastic, so I don’t think this will be an issue. Some have asked about drying the masks on a lower heat setting in the dryer. I’ve dried mine on high heat, but have switched to a medium heat just to prolong the life of the coffee tab. The beads have been fine in the high heat, but again, why not play it safe?

Time Savers when Sewing the Best Fit Face Mask:

If you’re like me, you likely make a few masks at a time. Typically I like to knock out a dozen when I have time. They usually take a few hours to make, but when you break it down, the masks take me about 15-20 minutes each. To get the full tutorial for the Best Fit Face Mask, download the instructions and templates from my Best Fit Face Mask tutorial post.

After you’ve cut out your fabric, fold the fabric so the printed sides are facing in. Mark the locations for your nose and chin folds. Now, position the liner on top of the outside mask fabric. Line up the nose and chin stitching marks.

Stitch through both pieces of fabric along the fold lines.

To save time while sewing multiple masks, chain stitch all the masks one after the other. Below you can see after sewing through the chin seam on Mask 1, I have Mask 2 lined up to sew through the nose seam.

After sewing and cutting the excess material off your masks, you simply open the masks so the outside fabric is on the outside and the liner is right sides facing out.

As you stitch the sides, you can continue to save time by chain stitching all the nose hems together. Then rotate your chain of masks and stitch the chin hems (effectively chain stitching multiple masks together. After separating and folding the side ear strap folds, you can chain stitch all the sides of the masks. Here’s a funny picture of me with six chain-stitched masks.

How to Simplify Threading the Craft Bead Through the Straps:

Time to show you how I feed my straps through the bead. This is a tip my father-in-law showed me and I’m eternally grateful for his idea! I’ve forwarded the video to show this process below:

Grab a length of fishing line and fold it in half. Stick the loop end through the bead. Feed half your strap through the fishing line loop. Then pull the fishing line and strap back through the bead.

That’s all the time-savers I have for you today. I am working on one new addition to the Best Fit Face Mask, so be sure you are subscribed to my email newsletter. You’ll also get access to my Free Mini Course: 6 Simple Steps to DIY Anything!

June 22, 2020/18 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accomplishment, arts and craft, Crafts, kids art, Sewing

Make Your Own Monster Dolls

Teaching children to sew can be a fun and rewarding lesson if you let them take the lead and design their own monster dolls.

Make Your Own Monster Dolls

Aren’t they cute?! Okay, they may have a few imperfections, but I don’t want to hear about it because my boys made them! That’s right my 4 and 7-year-old sons made their own Monster Dolls (with a little help from me). It was a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon together. And as a bonus they learned some basic sewing skills.

My 7 year old really dove in and enjoyed every aspect of making his monster. He used the sewing machine with my help. My 4 year old needed a bit more guidance and help. He was very tentative about the sewing machine, but I convinced him to push the pedal. After one time pushing it, he was LOVING puttin’ the pedal to the metal! LOL!

Materials:

Instructions:

Let your child draw their monster on a piece of paper.

Help your child draw the outline of the monster onto the backside of the fleece. Explain that you might need to fatten up any skinny appendages so you can turn the monster right side out and stuff (him or her) after sewing.

Pin two pieces of fleece together (right sides together.) Help your child cut out around the outline of the monster’s body. This will give you two identical pieces for the monster doll body.

Cut eyes, nose, and mouthparts out of colored felt. Pin the facial features to the right side of one of the body cut-outs. Let your child use the vanishing marker to mark other facial features that will be stitched.

Using the sewing machine, stitch the facial features and attach the felt pieces.

Helping Children Learn to Use a Sewing Machine:

To help my boys learn to sew, I let them depress the pedal on the sewing machine. We focus on light pressure, slowing down, and stopping. Meanwhile, I guide the fabric through the foot.

To emphasize the features we drew over the stitching with the Sharpie marker.

Use buttons or the Sharpie to create pupils for your monster doll.

Pin the right sides together (facial features inside) of the doll. Stitch around the edge, leaving a small three-inch opening for stuffing.

Trim any excess fabric away from the edges before turning the doll right sides out.

Turn the monster doll right sides out. Use a pencil’s eraser side to poke out any corners and turns. Stuff the monster with polyfill stuffing. Use the pencil to push filling into small areas.

Whipstitch the opening closed after the doll has been fully stuffed.

Your child’s monster doll is complete!

Ugly Monsters or Adorable Monsters? What do you think?

Your child will surely love his creation and will definitely feel a huge sense of pride that he (or she) designed it themselves!

I let my boys do as much as possible so they could feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment when they were done. They both were so proud of their monsters. They tote their monster dolls everywhere and tell friends and family, “I made it!”

Pin for later!

May 26, 2020/15 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, Crafts, decor, Decorating, gifts, Home Decor, kids art, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, Pillows, Sewing

How to Make Thumbprint Design Envelope Pillows

Envelope pillows are the easiest pillow covers to sew. Combine a beautiful pillow with a personalized thumbprint design and you have a great gift idea for parents or grandparents!

How to Make Thumbprint Design Envelope Pillows

Hello, it’s Cristina from Remodelando la Casa once again happy to share an easy and fun project where kids are more than welcome to give a helping “thumb” 🙂

Envelope pillows are the easiest pillow covers I’ve sewn and let me tell you, my sewing skills are not that good. A fabric rectangle is folded to create an “envelope”, four simple straight lines to sew and your cover is done! No zippers, no Velcro, the envelope holds the pillow really well.

Materials:

Fabric (I used drop cloth material), and all the necessary sewing materials.
- If you don’t have a sewing machine, this is a project you can put together using Stitch Witchery.
Fabric paint colors:
- Glacier White, Royal Blue, and Marine Blue)
Contact paper
X-acto knife
17″ x 17″ pillow forms

*Pre-wash and iron the fabric

Instructions:

For a 17″ x 17″ pillow insert, use the following dimensions.

Once the fabric is cut to size (18″x 40″), hem the left and right edges. (Fold in ½” twice, as seen in the picture below. Iron it flat and hem.) Do the same on the other side.

To create the opening on the back, fold the left side over and iron.

Do the same on the other side. These folded lines are a good visual point to help you center the design on the front face of the pillow later on.

Before sewing across the top and bottom of the cover, let’s work on the design (the fun part!) Print the starfish and seahorse silhouettes. (for these pillows print at 120%.)

Place each design on top of a big piece of contact paper, tape it in place.

Using the x-acto knife, cut through the printout and the contact paper following the outline of the silhouette.

After cutting, peel off the outer piece of contact paper and center the design on your pillow cover. Press the contact paper firmly all around the design to prevent paint from seeping through.

Now it’s time to call all those little artists and give them each a set of fabric paint.

The thumb-printing / painting can begin…

…until the shapes are filled.

Let it dry according to the paint manufacturer’s instructions. After the paint dries you can sew across the top and bottom, making sure the designs are on the inside.

If desired, wash and iron the pillow covers. Insert your pillow form.