A cushion for our chair

When we redid our kitchen in the spring of 2010, we also redid the mudroom which is down the stairs from our eating area. We put in wainscotting, a new tile floor, cubbies for jackets and shoes, and new treads for the stairs. To make it all work the way we wanted, we had to give up a small built-in bench. I wasn't really sad about that as the bench really was used more for throwing random stuff on and no one ever sat on it. But I also knew that it would be nice to have a place to sit and put on shoes so I started searching craigslist for a schoolhouse or windsor chair. I hit the jackpot towards the end of our project and scooped this one up for $15. A few coats of spray paint later, I had a cheery, red chair.

One of the household projects on my to-do list for 2012 was sewing a cushion for this chair. Sure, it was cute and bright, but it wasn't the most comfortable chair. I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted the cushion to look like. One of the major concerns was that we have an outdoor rug in this space that doesn't have any red in it. While searching the sewing room for something else entirely, I came across this fabric that I bought a few years ago with the family room or kitchen in mind. When I realized it had green, brown, blue and red, I knew this was the fabric for my chair!

I had everything else I needed on hand. I covered plain cording with the navy polka dot fabric (tutorial here) and used 2" high density foam covered with a layer of low-loft polyester batting. The cushion has a lapped zipper in back (tutorial here) and ties to the chair.

Now that this is finished, only one of my five household sewing projects for 2012 remains. Dang. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised by this. It may appear as if I have given up my procrastinating ways, but I don't think that is the case. For me, just saying that I was going to do these things gave me a clear path as to what to tackle project-wise. I've pretty much just put my head down and made them happen. Bonus: I saved the easiest one for last.