Outdoor Pillows for About $1 Each

At the beginning of May I bought this lime green and white, all polyester shower curtain at Value Village (thrift store) for about $4.50. It was 72 X 72 inches.

We have several of these old, mildew-stained, torn, and faded outdoor pillows/cushions. I gave them a good washing in the kitchen sink, then let them thoroughly dry for a few days before recovering with the shower curtain fabric.

Meanwhile, I sewed covers for 4 of the washed pillows a week ago. I just didn't put the old pillows into the covers yet.

This afternoon I finally had time and motivation to stuff the pillows and sew them closed. I didn't bother taking the stuffing out of the old filling, but covered the old, but washed pillows with the new fabric.

Here's how the first four turned out.

I measured the remaining fabric and I have enough to make 4 additional pillow covers for a total of 8.

Cost analysis

My cost for this project was $4.50 for the shower curtain and $2.80 for a new spool of 100% white polyester thread, for a total of $7.30. (I had read that you should use all polyester thread when sewing outdoor items, as cotton breaks down over time when exposed to the elements.)  I also used some Fray Check on all of the raw edges to add integrity to the seams. This was Fray Check from my sewing basket and I didn't use all that much. If I use all of my fabric to make a total of 8 pillows/cushions, they will cost less than $1 each. If I were to buy 8 all new outdoor pillows, my best guess is I would spend about $75 or $80.

I like how they turned out. By using thrifted fabric (shower curtain), and spending about 30-40 minutes on each pillow, I spared money in our outdoor living redo budget, money which is now available for some of the big ticket items. 

Critters Eating Seedlings, Stain and Sealer Really Does Repel Water, and an Interesting Patio Furniture DIY Project

Something got into both sides of my sunflower planting area, chewing two plants off at the base. Very frustrating. 

I quickly put some new seeds into a damp paper towel inside a zip loc bag to pre-sprout. It took about 3 days for the seeds to sprout this way, then I transplanted them into soil. These new seeds have given me a couple of tiny sunflower plants now started in pots under lights. The replacement sunflowers' growth will be behind the rest of the plants by about a month, but we'll still be able to enjoy the large flowers and gather seeds.

The can of deck stain and sealer I used on the deck lounge chairs claimed that water would bead up on the surface. This was old stain that the previous owners used. We replaced the wood deck with Trex years ago, so had no need for the stain. We saved the can of stain anyway, because why not? Anyway, after a couple of weeks of dry weather, the drizzle returned on Sunday afternoon. I went to check on the lounge chairs and found that the rain water was just sitting on the surface.

We have a small table that goes with the chairs that I haven't sanded and stained/sealed yet. I compared the water on the deck chairs to the surface of the table. The table's wood completely absorbed the rainwater. Not good for the wood. Anyway, I'll be sanding and staining/sealing this table in the coming week, too. The sealer could extend the life of this set for many, many more years (at no cost to me), if I keep it up each year.

An update from Monday morning. The water on the lounge chairs was still beaded and not absorbed.

I am still looking around for some nice seating on the patio near the fire ring to replace or add to the plastic Adirondack chairs. I've come across some very interesting DIY's for outdoor sofas, chairs, and sectionals. Here's one that looks do-able: 2 X 4 Outdoor Sofa. 

Imagine my surprise when I was in World Market this morning getting some miso soup mix and right there at the front of their outdoor furniture section was this sofa that has a similar look to the DIY ones I've been seeing online. I'm on the fence about DIY-ing this myself. But the vloggers on YouTube do make it look do-able.

That's my start of the week update. What's been happening in your life these past few days?