Outdoor Cushion covers | Envelope Pillow Covers

I have an easy sewing project to share with you today. It’s all about making outdoor cushion covers and pillows for my backyard camper retreat . These easy envelope pillow covers are something you can whip up in just an hour or so.

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Pretty outdoor fabric

I purchased this pretty outdoor fabric on Amazon. When I posted this picture on my Facebook page there were so many comments that I tried to reply to, that Facebook blocked me from sharing and commenting for several days. I was asking what color to paint the pallet love seat bench. Even though I had several yards, it would not be enough to make cushion covers and enough pillows.

Snip and Rip Drop Cloth Material

That’s okay, I have plenty of drop cloth material in my stash. Using the hemmed side of the drop cloth, making a small cut then ripping the drop cloth material is the easiest way to complete this envelope pillow cover.

Pin the right sides together

Basically you have to cut the floral fabric to the size of the pillow you’re covering. Then you cut the drop cloth material half the size plus a couple of inches in order to allow the pillow to slip in and out of the envelope cover. Mostly I want to make sure you have an option of making several pillow covers when you don’t have enough fabric.

Using the hemmed portion of the drop cloth material allows you to skip a step!!! Pretty brilliant, eh?

Sew the pillow cover around all edges, overlapping the hemmed drop cloth edges.

Pillow covers before and after

I had three of the buffalo check outdoor pillows that I bought last fall at Walmart. I used those pillow inserts for the new outdoor pillows.

How to Outdoor Cushion Covers

I’ve had these outdoor cushions for years. Instead of purchasing new ones, I used the pretty floral fabric to make new covers. I didn’t take pictures, but it’s really easy. Simply put, I cut the fabric, sewed it on three sides, leaving the bottom open. I used a roll of velcro I bought on Amazon to close the bottom of the covers.

The cushion was inserted and closed at the bottom with the velcro. I marked the cushions where the ties needed to be added. The great thing about having the covers—when the cushions got wet, I removed the covers and put the cushions in the dryer.

Cover patio cushions and chairs with clear bags

PPin this great hack!

Because there are chickens and feral cats in the neighborhood, I choose to cover the patio chairs with clear garbage bags. By doing this, I don’t have to store the cushions in a deck box. It’s really simple to pull off the garbage bag quickly when I want to chill on the patio. I use a clothespin to secure the bag under the front of the chair.

Most of the time I uncover two chairs, one for me and one for Lulu Mae. She was a little chilly, so I covered her with my flannel shirt I was wearing over my t-shirt.

I was able to make a lot of pillows using the drop cloth material for the back—essentially making the floral fabric go twice as far.

Outdoor Pillow Options

The pillows look great on all of the seating options in the backyard.

Of course I’m not a seamstress, I’d rather be sawing than sewing. 😉 But this is a great option to save some money on an already over budget outdoor project! I hope you got some great ideas from these easy sewing projects.

gail