My Pop-Up Sewing Project: How To Take Apart Camper Cushions to Make a Pattern
Remember the pop-up camper that I bought way back in April? And I swore that I was going to do a sewing makeover to it? Well, it’s July and I finally got started. With the deconstruction at least, lol.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve been camping in it in the meanwhile. But I know it’s going to be lots more fun when I have all the new cushions, curtains, and matching quilts that I’m imagining.
I decided to start with the cushions.
Can you see my toes?
The cushions were pretty ugly. There are six. Three are rectangular seat cushions and three have a slight arch like this one.
The seat bottom cushions are supposed to have little feet on them to keep them from sliding. Half of mine were missing. I got to play with the drill to remove these. Places online sell rubber speaker feet that I think will be a good replacement if I can’t find anything at my local hardware shop.
And even though those ugly covers had zippers they were on so tight I had to cut them off.
I guess I’m committed to this project now!
Check out what was underneath: plywood, foam, and batting. Even though the foam is a bit stained, it smells and feels fine so I’m going to keep it.
To make a pattern for the curved cushions, I laid a piece of scrap fabric over the two that are different and traced the edges.
Then I cut out my ‘pattern piece’ adding 1/2” seam allowance all the way around.
The sides are all either 3 1/2” or 4” deep and will be sewn from a continuous strip.
I didn’t make pattern pieces for the rectangular pieces but simply took measurements. Then I wrote lots of notes and made myself a layout diagram to make sure I waste as little fabric as possible.
This is so fun! And so far it is way easier than I expected.
Update: I finished! See how to sew camper cushion covers here.
xoxo,
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OHHHH, I will be watching this, we have a camper that I’d love to, do a little makeover. I did find some quilts for $1 for the camper until I can do something homemade.
I hope you love what I make… thanks for following along! xoxo
Can’t wait to see the new cushion covers! Those from the 80’s had to go!
Absolutely. Thanks for reading!!!
This is so exciting to me! We have the exact camper- with the slide out eating area- and my cushions ( and I’m expecting, curtains) are the same print. You are inspiring me for a change!
How funny! I love our camper – it is such a fun ‘home’ away from home. I hope you decide to sew along with me and share how it goes. xoxo
I have a motorhome currently and have been thinking about recovering my dinette cushions so will be following along to see if I feel up to tackling the project.. I’ve also thought of just doing slip covers to go over the existing cushions since they’re not in bad shape just kind of colorless.
I think you’d like completely new covers better than slipcovers – I love mine and will show them soon. xoxo
We have an antique (40 yr old) GMC motor home. The dinette cushions were an adventure in pattern making. The cushions had the original frayed fabric. Your sense of adventure is a great inspiration!
When you get to the curtains, you may want to line them with ironing board fabric. It reflects heat out and if you use the really heavy IB fabric, you essentially get blackout curtains.
That’s a great idea. We live in Florida where keeping the heat outside is a very big deal!
Thanks for reading!!!
xo,
Caroline
I have redone camper cushions for other people.Have fun.
My camper’s cushions were not top grade. Therefore they were not comfortable. We bought better grade foam from an upholsterer. With other upgrades, I only had to shorten one cushion and make one new one. I used the old cushion fabric as my pattern. They turned out well and much more comfortable! It was relatively easy.