Another pillow for my front Porch

My new pillow. I love it. The more I work with this drop cloth, the more I want to buy.

I cut two  18" pieces of drop cloth. Did my embroidery, then sewed the piping onto one side. Then I laid the other side on right sides together, and with the side I could see the piping stitches placed up. Then when I stitched the back on I made sure to stitch just inside what I already stitched. Turned right sides out. Pushed out the corners, stuffed, and sewed it shut.

Fast and Easy Seat Cushion

      Ok, here it goes ....a fast and easy to sew seat cushion for the porch. There are lots of ways to do this. You could add piping etc, but it would be helpful to have some sewing experience for that. I think a beginner could sew this.
      First measure the size of your old cushion from seam to seam.. Does it have sides? or is it like a stuffed pillow? If it has side pieces then you will also need to add the 3.5" to Length and width. If you dont have an old one to cover then buy your stuffing and stuff it. If your going to make your own and stuff it, then measure length and width needed to fit seat. Add 3.5" to compensate for drop caused by boxing the corners and seam allowances..
      Cut two pieces. Now you could just use the exact measurements, 1" seam allowance and just sew it up without boxing corners, leaving about 8" to stuff it, turn right side out, and sew the opening closed. I like the look of the boxed corners.So here are the instructions:
1. Place right sides together and pin.
2. starting on long side of back of cushion about a foot from the corner, sewing it around. If your stuffing,  
    leave about 8" opening. If your stuffing your old cushion inside then leave about 15" opening.
3. Now to box the corners:

Flatten corners so that side seams lay on top of each other. The beige fabric is my underside, drop cloth fabric. the blue is the top. Pin.

Now measure down from corner 2.5" on each side and mark.

Now do the same thing to other side.

Now lay your ruler across from mark to mark and draw a line.

Sew across this line. Trim off excess corner leaving 1/2" seam allowance.

Turn right side out and poke out corners.Once you get your old cushion in or get it stuffed, sew the opening shut.

This is a great beginner project. especially if you used all drop cloth since it is so cheap.

New Found Love of Drop Cloth

     Recently I decided i was going to give my front much a much needed make-over. It has always been kinda drab. No new furniture, no pillows to add pops of color except a couple of old cushions I had bought years ago. Even those have seen better days. Our porch faces South West and gets bright, HOT sun all day from noon on. Even tho it has a roof, it almost always is too hot to sit out there and enjoy it.
     So I decided to buckle down and get to work. I started researching ways I could block the sun from cooking us when we were on the porch. I seen picture after picture of curtains hung on a porch, and fell in love.Look HERE and HERE. They looked so lovely and romantic billowing in the wind. I also read many people were already enjoying the virtues of  Drop Cloth. Most of the pics I seen of outdoor curtains were done with drop cloths. I always thought drop cloth was probably just a cheap sheeting of some kind to use while painting a throw away. I have never seen them in person. After enjoying these lovely photo's, I went to Home Depot to buy my own. I bought the Everbilt brand that had two cloths 6x9 feet for around $10. I had every intention of making drapes to hand near my columns  on my porch. I washed and dried one package  and hung them up for inspection and trial run over a clothes line. Now I knew it wouldnt look that great draped over a string near my porch ceiling, but i was just testing it. My husband came out and looked at it, and immediately let out a "Hell No!" he absolutely did not want drapes on the front porch for all to see,lol. Well I decided to try to come up with a compromise since I still wanted to be able to use the porch . so back to the computer I went. After researching, I decided to make Roman shades for the porch. If mounted high up next the the ceiling on the inside, the foot high support beam would easily cover most of it while pulled up and then could easily be let down when needed. Plus the added benefit of being protected more from the sun and weather. Although I did read that someone said their curtains were going on 5 yrs old and still looked good. They just gave them a washing at the start of the season. Others also mentioned they sprayed theirs with a water protectant. Someone else even made a beautiful white slipcover for their couch from drop cloth by bleaching them. Look HERE. Drop cloth has a beautiful beige linen look, before bleaching. A nice weight similar to outdoor fabric.
    Well I have my four packages of drop cloth with 2 to a pack, I still have to buy some small metal rings and some 1" flat metal bars to weight the bottom of the blinds, and I am ready to go.
     Outdoor pillows right now at Joanns are $12 something for about a 16" pillow at 50% off. Outdoor fabric runs about $10 a yard with their current 50% off sale. with one yard of fabric at $10, I can make SIX 18" throw pillows if I back them with the drop cloth and make them reversible. Check out this sneak peek of my first pillows:

Check back often and follow my Front Porch Make-Over as I add tutorials for making  Roman shades, seat cushions and pillows for my porch. All using drop cloth and combos of beautifully printed outdoor fabric for pops of color. However, you can also paint your drop cloth to add stripes, stencils (which I plan on doing too) , or even dye it. I love this sturdy versatile and CHEAP fabric.