How to Make a Marshall Spring Cushion

Submitted by Stephen Winters on Mon, 09/17/2012 - 04:00

 


Skills Or Knowledge Needed: 

Should know how to make a pattern for chair cushion. Should know how to measure, cut, and sew a standard box cushion. This tutorial will not teach you how to make a cushion. It assumes that you already know who to measure, cut, and sew a regular box cushion.


Tools Needed: 

Sewing Machine Shop vac (to use for stuffing the cushion)


Supplies Needed: 

Upholstery sewing thread for your sewing machine. heavy needle for your sewing machine Marshall spring unit cotton burlap scraps of foam spray foam glue hog rings very thin plastic, such as a roll of .31Mil Painter's Plastic Sheeting" paper or stiff cloth for pattern


How To Steps: 

Making a Pattern for the Cover

Use a paper or a stiff paper pattern to fit the cushion to the chair size. As you make the pattern, add the normal 1/2" seam allowance all around. Add an additional 1/4" crown allowance to the sides and the front, but leave all the corners their actual size plus the seam allowance. (Don't add the 1/4" crown allowance to the corners.)

Building The Spring Unit

Since each spring in the spring unit is approximately 3 inches in diameter, you probably won't be able to get an exact size unit to fit the chair. It is common to fill in padding around the edges of the springs to fill up the area that the springs don't fill. Many time cotton is used to till the area around the springs. In this particular spring unit we used foam scraps to fill in the area around the springs. Because this cushion was extra deep we use a thicker piece of foam on the front and the back. You'll need to add however much foam or padding is needed to fill up the distance around the springs.

Starting with a Marshall spring unit that is the right size for  your chair:

  1. Make a burlap cover that fits snuggly over the spring unit.
  2. Slip the spring unit into the cover.
  3. Close the open end with hog rings or by hand sewing shut.
  4. Sew through the burlap cover to sew the springs to the cover.

Specifications of Finished Cushion

Descriptions Specifications
Cushion boxing Cut 5 inches wide, 4 inches finished
Marshall spring unit 4" tall, 6 springs X 6 springs (18" X 18")
foam at side of springs 1" thick X 3 3/4" tall  X23" long
Foam at front and back of springs 2" thick X 3 3/4" tall X 18 1/2" wide
Cotton 2 layers wrapped entirely around
Thickness of finished cushion at center About 8 inches