Assorted Cushions: Recycled, Repurposed, and Natural Fibers

Back when we moved last year, one of my visions for our new home was a new set of sofa cushions made by me. At the time, I was learning more about using natural materials, and instead of going to the craft or decor store and buying a bunch of new polyester-stuffed cushions, I wanted to source natural-fibre alternatives.

The final outcome differs a little from my original vision, because not all of our cushions are stuffed with natural fibres, but a few are; and the others, although polyester-stuffed, are made from secondhand sources. In the end I like the variety, as examples of different ways you can obtain decorative cushions without buying new ones.

First, the covers. In our living room we have eight cushions with covers I made. The fabric is new, a combination of cottons and linens; there’s nothing particularly ethical (or cheap!) about them, but they are natural fibres. I made them all with zippers so they can be removed and machine-washed. It felt expensive to buy all the materials at once, but I know I couldn’t have had such good quality covers for the same price if I hadn’t made them.

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In the nursery/guest room, we have two big cushions. The covers for these are made from a thrifted curtain.

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Now onto the cushions (or pillow forms) themselves. I had two old cushions from my single gal apartment days. Apparently gold brocade represented my style then? I almost tore them apart to reuse the stuffing, and then got lazy and stuffed them whole into my new covers. This is a very easy approach, and every charity shop and thrift store I’ve been to always has a variety of old cushions that could be repurposed this way.

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Several other cushions are made from repurposed polyfill from other old cushions. At least one was used as packing material in a bunch of glassware my mom brought from my grandparents’ house – but I couldn’t tell you where the rest came from! I have a vague memory of tearing cushions apart to disembowl them…but I was pregnant and it seems like an eon ago. I simply made square cushions from an old (thrifted) sheet, stuffed them with the reclaimed stuffing, and sewed them up.

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I have one lovely down feather cushion, made from the down from an old pillow, again packing material for the glassware. For this, I washed the pillow (down can be machine washed and tumble dried at low temperatures), then ripped it open and transferred the down into a new cover made from the old sheet. I rubbed the old sheet with beeswax to create better feather-containment. Do I recommend this? Hard to say. It worked, but was a huge mess, and the resulting pillow moults. However, down pillows are (in my opinion) the best, and they’re expensive, so in the end I’m happy.

I also have a cushion stuffed with raw wool. This was my initial vision – wool being the most like polyfill in texture, and theoretically the cheapest natural option. I think it would be cheap if you had access to a good farm where you could buy the raw wool in bulk. I had to order it on Etsy, so it was a little pricey. But it did work perfectly well as stuffing, again in a cushion made from an old sheet.

One cushion is stuffed with an old plush blanket folded up. Saved me from buying a cushion, saved me from discarding the blanket. I forgot about this until I took the cover off to wash it!

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Finally, the two big cushions are filled with our two down guest (bed) pillows. This is the lovely thing about down – it fluffs and compacts as needed. The pillows are rectangular, but fitted nicely into these big square covers. Take the covers off, and pouf! Bed pillows again. The bonus is that I no longer have to store these pillows as extra bedding.

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None of these cushions are perfect, and the variety of stuffings leads (as you might expect) to differing levels of fluff and flatness. But they serve their purpose, and I enjoy what they represent. I hope they serve as inspiration for the possibilities of repurposing!

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