I love my (replicated) designer chairs. No doubt. But in winter the comfortable plastic gets so cold that I don’t enjoy sitting on them. I am all about keeping warm in winter! For ages I meant to make some seat cushions to keep us warm during breakfast and dinner in winter. Finally I found my desired material on my holiday in Germany: grey felt, thick enough for seat cushions.
I love GREY currently, but too much of it is depressing, so I combined the grey of the seat cushions with bright colours, such as yellow, orange and pink. The cross stencil is easy to make and a perfect beginner’s stencil printing project.
It works! It’s not so uncomfortable cold anymore sitting on my beautiful chairs. Hooray for the seat cushions!
To make the seat cushions you need:
- felt, 4 mm thick (40 cm x 40 cm per cushion)
- fabric shears
- paper circle template ∅ 40 cm
- pins
- fabric paint: white and two different colours (I used magenta and yellow and mixed both)
- small paint roller
- old plate or paint tray
- cross stencil¹
- repositionable spray adhesive
1) To make the cross stencil you need:
- DIN A3 (11.7″ x 16.5″) transparency film*
- cross template (you can download it here and print on DIN A3)
- fine permanent marker
- cutting mat and craft knife OR small scissors
*You can use a transparent polypropylene file folder, you know these kinds of simple folders you use in a office to keep documents organised (cut it on the shorter side and fold it open) or two DIN A4 (8.3″ x 11.7″) overhead transparency films that you tape together.
How to make the cross stencil:
1 – Print out template on DIN A 3 paper (11.7″ x 16.5″)
2 – Put transparency film on the template and trace the cross with the marker.
3 – Cut within the cross.
How to make the seat cushions:
1 – Pin the paper circle template onto the felt and cut out the circular felt cushions by cutting around the template. Remove template and repeat until you have your desired number of cushions.
2 – Spray adhesive lightly on the back side of the cross stencil and position it, sticky side down, in the middle of one cushion. Press the edges of the stencil onto the felt to make sure the paint will not bleed under the stencil edges.
3 – I first painted the whole cross white to create a lighter background for the colour: Pour white fabric paint on your paint tray and spread it evenly on the paint roller. Start printing the cushion by rolling over the felt, be careful at the edges of the stencil. Wash out the paint roller and squeeze out the remaining water.
Do not lift the stencil, once it has been moved, it is almost impossible to replace it exactly in the same way. Repeat the painting process with the lightest colour, e.g. yellow, you have, make sure the white is completely covered with colour.
Carefully remove the stencil. You can remove any paint stains with a wet cloth.
Repeat this step with every cushion, using a different colour every time, from light to dark. For example I started with yellow, then mixed orange and at last printed red.
4 – Let the fabric paint dry completely for at least 24 hours. Fix prints by ironing them on low heat (check manufacturer’s instructions). Be careful as felt is often synthetic and can melt easily in high heat.
If you’re living in the part of the world that is moving towards summer right now, these seat cushions might be a perfect project for your patio chairs. What do you think?
