DIY Floor Cushion from Area Rug

This versatile DIY floor pillow is your perfect seating solution

By: Emma Jeffery from fiskars.com

By: Emma Jeffery from fiskars.com

Turn an area rug into DIY floor pillows for your home! This sewing project provides floor cushion poufs for any room in the house. DIY floor cushions are a great way to add additional seating and flashes of color to an otherwise boring room. These cushions are versatile and can be used as everything from throw pillows to floor poufs! Upcycle an old area rug to create these unique pillows that will match your personality and decorative style! Try this sewing project today and create pillows for every room in your home!

Estimated Cost$11-$20

Time to CompleteIn an evening

Primary TechniqueSewing

Intermediate

Project TypeMake a Project

Materials List

Rug, suitable for repurposing
Heavy weight fabric (such as cotton or denim)
Pillow insert
Thread
Sewing machine with a needle suitable for sewing heavy fabrics
Pins
Duck tape
Amplify® RazorEdge™ Fabric Shears (10")

Instructions:

Measure the size of your pillow insert on the rug using duck tape stuck onto the rug as a guide. The duck tape will keep frayed ends to a minimum, help avoid stretching out the rug and will provide you with an accurate cutting line.
Cut along the center of the duck tape and through the rug with your Amplify® Shears. Adding extra duck tape to the back of the cut ends will help to keep the rug from further fraying.
Once you have your rug cut to size, put to one side. I cut two cushions fronts from one rug.
Now cut two pieces of canvas or denim the same width and 1.5 times longer than the pillow insert. For example, if your pillow inserts are 20” x 20”, cut two pieces of cloth 20” x 15”. Hem one long end on each piece of fabric by folding twice to the wrong side and stitching.
Pin the canvas to the rug with right sides together and with the hemmed ends towards the center back, and sew through all layers. If the rug is too thick to pin, consider using binder clips to keep the layers together as you sew.
Clip the corners for a neater finish and turn your cushion cover right side out through the opening at the back. Depending on how much the rug you are using frays, you may want to leave the duck tape on.
Push out the corners with a blunt tool and insert your pillow into the cover through the opening.