DIY Papasan Chair Cushion Cover

I love finding fun treasures at the thrift store. Its one of my absolute favorite things. I’ve been finding treasures there since I was in 9th grade, wayyyy before the Goodwill was cool. I especially love finding furniture there. Why? The kind of furniture that I would like to buy from Pier 1 or Crate & Barrel would be way out of my price range. So I love to find cheap furniture at the thrift store or garage sales and then give them a little DIY love! Changing the paint color is super easy (read all about my chalkpaint obsession and recipe here), making a new cushion or covering a cushion are also really easy projects….even for someone that isn’t a DIY genius.

When we found this vintage papasan chair at the thrift store 2 minutes from my house (yes, I do go there alot, but I also get some amazing gems there!!). My daughter has the same eye for diamonds in the rough that I have and she saw this and fell in love! I loved it too…and for $35, I thought it was too good to pass up! It looked like it had been sitting outside in the sun for a while, so we figured we could make a cute cover for it and call it good.

We headed to the fabric store and got some aqua micro fiber material. We ended up getting 2.5 yards, at $5.96 a yard, I tried to cut it close….and it was a little scary close! It would have been much better to measure it cushion, then by fabric….so if you are faint of heart….do it that way!!

This project took about 1 hr and only cost me $15! I would say that is super budget friendly.

DIY Papasan Chair Cover Tutorial:

What you need:

scissors
sewing machine
matching thread ( I had some at home)
fabric to cover your cushion ($14.90)

What to do:

1. Fold your fabric in half on the floor, right sides facing each other ( the side of the fabric that you want to show when it is finished should be on the inside).

2. Lay your cushion on it to in the middle.

3. Cut around your cushion, leaving a 2-3 inches extra fabric on all sides.

For some reason, our cat just thought it this fabric was fabulous and at one point just plopped down in the middle of it! And don’t judge my messy house! 🙂 I was in the middle of an amazing DIY project! 🙂

4. I decided that I wanted to cut my cover down the back so that the cushion would fold into it like a pillow sham….that is pretty much what we were making. Because of our cats and kids, I wanted to make sure the cover was removable so I could wash it every once and a while! I have a feeling our cats are going to make it a home.

So cut all the way down the middle of one pieces of fabric. So now you should have 3 pieces of fabric, 1 circle and 2 half circles.

5. Now take 1 half moon, right sides still facing each other, and sew all around the outer, curved section, leaving the inner straight line unsewed.

6. Repeat with other side.

7. Now all you need to do is turn your cover inside out at put your cushion into it! Its pretty simple, and the underside will not be visible, which is why I just left the inner edge unfinished. My daughter was pretty excited to get it set up…and I was ok with that! Less work for me

We also picked up a few mini throw pillows ($2.49 each) and covered those with some matching chevron fabric. A pretty quick project that will be a fun chair that we can keep for a long time!

If you are feeling a little less Do It Yourself and a little more instant gratification, here are a few of my favorite papasan chairs (affiliate links have been added for your convenience).

Rattan Papasan Chair from Wayfair ( This one is 46% OFF AND has FREE SHIPPING!!) Of course I love the Aqua cushion color, but there are tons of fun colors!

2. Dark Wood Rattan Papasan Chair from Wayfair This one also has free shipping and has tons of solid color cushions to choose from.

3. Double Papasan Chair from Wayfair (this one also comes in tons of solid colors). I love this one for a sunporch or covered deck or patio! It would be so fun to cozy up on with a great book!

If you are like me and found a Papasan Chair at the Thrift Store but would like to buy a new papasan cushion for it: Here are some great options that won’t break the bank! (again, affiliate links included for your convenience)