How to Fix Faded Outdoor Cushions on your Porch
Porches are made for enjoying time outdoors. I am a huge fan of relaxing in the shade on a beautiful day. My mom has the cutest porch and it is decorated in such a unique Old Florida style. Her porch is so inviting and has a zillion places to sit and chill out.
Recently she noticed that her cute chair cushions were all faded on one side from being exposed to sunlight. My Mom was so upset because she loves the sunflower pillows and wanted to try to save them if she could. She also noticed that the pillows had become flat and lumpy so new pillow inserts were a must!
How do you revive faded patio cushions?
Replacing the pillows with brand new ones could run upwards of $30 a pillow and she couldn’t find another sunflower pattern that she liked. So, we started thinking about repairing the cushions to save money and to keep the same print. The original plan was to buy new pillow inserts at the craft store and to replace the fabric on one side of each cushion.
After checking prices at multiple stores, it turns out that new 18-inch square inserts were going to cost about $15 a piece. So even though that was half the price of new cushions, it still was a lot more money than she wanted to spend.
I suggested that she check out some thrift stores for some pillows that were the right size, and it didn’t matter what they looked like because we could just use the insert. Pillows at thrift stores are typically very cheap, and a lot of times you can find ones that have barely been used or never used at all.
How can I make my outdoor cushions look new again?
After searching a few stores, my mother found exactly the size she needed and a price that she could not pass up! A set of 2 not so cute pillows for a total of $4.99. It didn’t matter that they were ugly, because no one was ever going to see them again in that pattern.
As she was taking the pillows apart to get the insert, she had a brilliant idea! Instead of buying new fabric and zippers to repair the old pillows, she could just use the backs of these pillows. Most pillows these days are made with the zipper built into the back panel instead of along the edge.
The cost of a 16-18 inch zipper runs about $3.49 each and she would need 2 for this project. Plus the cost of at least 1 yard of new fabric to make the new backs of the pillows. This project could have cost a lot more if she had to purchase zippers and fabric to refresh the outdoor seat cushions.
Tools Needed to Repair the Cushions
- seam ripper
- sewing machine or a needle & thread for hand stitching
Steps to Repair Faded Outdoor Cushions
- First, take the pillow inserts out of the thrift store pillows, and turn the pillow cushions inside out so you can see the seams easily. Using a seam ripper, slowly remove the threading on all 4 sides until the cushion is 2 sheets of fabric. One side with the ugly pattern, and one side with the built-in zipper. You will do the same thing with the pillow covers that you want to refresh, and just keep the sides of the pillows that are not faded.
- Once the old pillows and the new thrift store pillows were taken apart, all she had to do was take the good side of the pillows that she wanted to keep and match it up to the back of the thrift store pillows with the zipper in the panel.
3. Now if you stack the layers so the good side of the pillow is facing up, and then the zipper panel facing is facing down (right sides together), then you can pin the pieces together to keep them straight. Makw sure to unzip the zipper before sewing the sides together. If you don’t unzip, you won’t be able to turn the pillow right side out!
4. Using a sewing machine or sewing by hand, you want to sew all 4 sides all the way across in straight lines. These actually show you where to sew because you can see the creases from where we ripped the seams out.
5. After you have sewn, all 4 sides just open the zipper and turn the pillowcases right side out and stuff the thrifted inserts back in. We now have refreshed outdoor pillow cushions!
How to make cheap outdoor pillows?
Outdoor home decor can get very pricey if you are shopping during peak seasons and if you live in a warm climate like Florida or Southern California. If you do want to buy outside pillows or furniture, try shopping at the end of the summer season for clearance deals to really get the most bang for your buck.
If we had purchased all new pillows for this project, we would have easily spent $60.
If we had bought new inserts, zippers, and backing fabric, we would have spent about $40. Which is still a savings, so that is a great option.
By purchasing ugly pillows that were in brand new condition at a thrift store, and repurposing that back panel and the pillow insert, this project only cost $5.
Before replacing things that have seen better days, I love to try to see if I can fix them or give them a makeover. If you can extend the life of what you already have instead of spending a lot of money to replace, this also buys you time. Time to really look around and compare pricing can save a lot of money when it comes to home decor for inside or outside.
For other fun pillow projects, check out “Memory Pillow from a Toddler Jacket“!
