Make a French Mattress Cushion (a DIY Catalog Knockoff)

by Jami @ An Oregon Cottage

I've always wanted a cushion with hand-rolled edges like vintage French mattresses, the cushions regularly featured in catalogs like Ballard and flash sale sites like Decor Steals. But the prices- yikes!
I've made regular cushions before and decided to just go for it and make it myself, sizing it to fit our French styled bench perfectly. You can't get custom like that in a catalog and I love how it turned out. So I wrote a tutorial for all the steps so you can make one, too, if you love this look like I do!

make a french mattress cushion a diy catalog knockoff, crafts, reupholster

You'll need fabric (I used painter's dropcloth), foam, batting, and quilter's thread to make the cushion, plus a sewing machine & basic sewing skills.

We made the bench from 2 broken vintage chairs (modeling it on another Ballard catalog item) and the rolled-edge, tufted cushion fits perfectly and looks just like I imagined.

To cut out the dropcloth, I made a simple pattern out of newspapers from the measurements of the bench seat. It helped me visualize and cut the exact size, but you could just use a yardstick and cut to your measurements, too.

After covering the foam with a couple of layers of batting (to have something to grab for the 'rolled edge'), I sewed the cushion cover, making it slightly bigger, again to have something to grab.

When the foam and batting is covered, simply pull the edges together and sew a running stitch along the edges to create the rolled edge.

After that you can choose to tuft it like I did, or leave it smooth - both look fine, I think (and the tufting was the hardest part - like I worked up a sweat!).

The bench + cushion is one of my favorite DIY's we've ever done and I hope this tutorial helps you get this look, too!

(tip:follow the link below to get the complete tutorial- plus a link to how we made the bench!)

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1 question

Jill Carpenter on Feb 12, 2016
Please, where did you find the material for the pillows?

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2 comments

Lori on Jan 27, 2016
I don't know much about that kind of mattress and even though it's great, the bench is amazing. What a great idea.

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Hannah V on Jan 28, 2016
These are great!

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