A bench is considered as one of a strong and practical piece of seating, but it is also not always the most comfortable kind of seating. In order to create a comfortable bench, you must add a bench pillow as it is the best way to enhance the look of your bench. If your bench is created for outdoor purposes, whenever there is a bad weather you can remove the pillow to a safer place. It is a simple task to make a pillowed bench if you have the right materials and tools in hand. The upholstery fabric that you choose should be able to hold up well with the bench that you make and create a pillow top, which is suitable for any wooden furniture in order to make it more comfortable to sit in.
To make a pillowed bench, you need:
- Screw driver
- Measuring tape
- Fabric
- Batting
- Scissors
- 2-inch thick padding
- Electric knife
- Spray adhesive
- Staple gun
- Cardboard
- 4 planks 2-by-8-by-20 inch lumber
- 4 planks 2-by-4-by-18 inch lumber
- 2 planks 2-by-12-by-48 inch lumber
- 150-grit sandpaper
- 16 deck screws, 2-1/2 inch
- Drill
- 12 lag bolts, 3 inch long and accompanying washers
- Wood stain or varnish or paint
- Paintbrush
- 1 foam pillow form, 4-inch thick by 24 inches wide and 48 inches long
- Sewing machine
- Long zipper
- Pins
Making a Pillowed Bench
How to Make a Pillowed Bench
- If you do not have a bench, you need to make one that consists of
- Four pieces of 2-by-8 inch lumber,
- 20 inches long that will make up for its legs,
- Four 2-by-4 pieces at 18 inches long for the leg braces,
- Two planks of 48-inch-long 2-by-12 which is the seat of the bench.
- All of the above components need to be sand before you can assemble them together.
- Four pieces of 2-by-8 inch lumber,
- Then, you have to place the two legs on your work table along with the inner edges at least 2-inches apart.
- Take a leg brace piece and place it over the top of the legs and flush along with the top and sides of its legs.
- Make two pilot holes of at least 2-1/2 inch deck screws through the brace into each leg by using a drill.
- Next, turn the legs over in order to attach another brace onto the other side following the same technique mentioned above.
- The same goes for the rest of the leg and leg brace planks where you need to follow the same steps as mentioned above.
- Once finished, you have to stand both sets of legs upright where the braces must be at top spaced of 40 inches apart.
- Take a leg brace piece and place it over the top of the legs and flush along with the top and sides of its legs.
- Next step to do is to lay the two seat pieces over the bench top legs and set one-inch gap between them.
- Make four pilot holes with the size of 3-inch lag bolts through each seat plank into each of the leg braces using a drill.
- Next, set washers over the holes before securing the seat to the legs using your lag bolts.
- Make four pilot holes with the size of 3-inch lag bolts through each seat plank into each of the leg braces using a drill.
If you decide to use stain or varnish, it is recommended that you follow the product manufacturer’s instruction starting from the way of using the product to the time of drying of the stain or varnish when you apply it onto the bench.
- After your bench is ready, you can proceed with making the bench pillow.
- Firstly, you need to make the top and bottom panel of the bench pillow by cutting two pieces of your fabric to 26-by-50 inches. As for the long sides of the pillow or welting, you need to cut two lengths of fabric to 6-by-50 inches, while the short sides of the welting needed only two lengths of 6-by-26 inches.
- Next, fold all the fabrics that you have cut into a double 1/4 inch seam to enable all of the fabrics raw edges to be encased before you start to sew the seams in a straight stitch using your sewing machine.
- Firstly, you need to make the top and bottom panel of the bench pillow by cutting two pieces of your fabric to 26-by-50 inches. As for the long sides of the pillow or welting, you need to cut two lengths of fabric to 6-by-50 inches, while the short sides of the welting needed only two lengths of 6-by-26 inches.
- As for the 6-inch edges of the welting pieces of fabric, need to be pinned together to form a rectangle with the wrong side of the fabric displayed outwards. Then, you have to sew them together in a straight stitch using the sewing machine.
- Then, you need to place your top panel with its wrong-side up and start to pin the welting all around the edges.
- After that you have to sew them together in a double flat stitch.
- The next step is for to repeat with the bottom panel but you need to pin a zipper along one long side in between the welting and its bottom panel.
- Then, you have to sew them together using your sewing machine.
- After that you have to sew them together in a double flat stitch.
- Finally, you have to open the zip and turn the pillow in the right direction before you insert your pillow form into its cover. Then, close the zipper and display the pillow in suitable position on top of the bench.
Always remember that when you want to make a pillowed bench
- You must make sure that the pillow cover that you make is weather resistant. You can choose either treated waterproof or resistant fabrics such as gabardine.
- You must make sure that the pillow cover that you make is weather resistant. You can choose either treated waterproof or resistant fabrics such as gabardine.
