DIY Floor Cushion– super simple, just $10, and it doubles as storage

posted in: hobbies, home, how-to | 0

how to sew a floor cushion to store bedding from a comforter

I saw a picture of a bean bag once.

And I thought to myself, “What a lovely bean bag! I could make a homemade bean bag. But think of all the fabric I would have to buy– yards and yards! And then the beans– cubic yards and cubic yards!”

So I thought of a better plan. I would repurpose some fabric from a thrift store, and I would stuff it with something besides beans. I think I read a blog where someone stuffed their homemade sitting implement with old bedding that they didn’t want anymore. That gave me the idea to stuff my seat with bedding that I still wanted. I would just have to add a zipper so that I could access the bedding at anytime I pleased.

I kept my eye out for the right piece of used fabric for months (I don’t go shopping very often.). I was specifically looking for a comforter, because I knew that it would be nice to have a nice smooth layer of stuffing around the outside if the inside stuffing was going to be a random assortment of sleeping bags, blankets, and towels.

One day at Y’s Buys, I found this comforter, and I liked it!

It is a twin size comforter, which is about square, so I decided to pull the corners to the middle to make the big fluffy bag. Then I got a 36″ zipper to go along one of those seams.

comforter floor cushion bedding storage
Do you want to know why photos from the 70s have strange coloring? Here’s my theory: it was the paneling.

So here is the comforter, all ready to be sewn. Only five seams are necessary, plus a little extra hand stitching where all the corners come together.

 

how to sew a lounge chair from a comforter to store bedding stuffing
Here’s a diagram!

Sewing through two layers of comforter was a little tricky, but not too bad, since this was just a lightweight polyester comforter with polyester batting.

As you can see, I sewed from the middle out to the corners of the cushion. If I had sewn in from the corners of the cushion towards the corners of the blanket, I would have had to worry about whether or not the corners of the blanket would meet. This way, I just allowed the corners of the cushion to form where they would, which you kind of have to let it do since a comforter is not perfectly square anyway.

The only exception to the sewing to the corner was when I sewed the second side of the zipper, because that was the only way I could figure out to have all the fabric on the left instead of bunched up in the neck of the machine. Also, you have to have the zipper unzipped to sew the second half of it, otherwise you’ll have too much fabric near your needle and you’ll accidentally sew it shut. And if you want everything to line up right, I suggest pinning the second half of the zipper. Incidentally, I sewed it so that the zipper pull would be out at the edge when the zipper is closed– I didn’t want it poking anyone who flopped down in the middle of the cushion.

When I was done sewing all five seams (plus a little sewing past either end of the zipper), I took a needle and thread and reinforced the point where all the corners come together. Then it was time to take it up to the attic playroom and stuff it! I stuffed it with five sleeping bags (unrolled first), two other comforters, three blankets, and some towels. Wowzers!

And here it is, all stuffed. It turned out better than I expected and it’s really comfortable despite its random assortment of stuffing… or maybe because of the random assortment of stuffing.

lounge cushion made from comforter
Done.

 

So, with a $7 thrift store comforter and a $3 zipper, we now have a big floor cushion that I’m sure we’ll use for years. And guess what? The comforter even came with a couple pillow cases.

comforter and pillow cases turned lounge cushion that stores bedding
Bonus! The comforter came with two pillowcases!

 

 

She likes it!

lounge chair diy homemade from comforter
Yeah, the playroom is also a storage room for now. But Alethia likes her new floor cushion!