Sunbrella Poplin for Quilted Pillow?
 

Summer is coming and I'd like to make some pieced and quilted pillows for the porch settee. Regular, cotton fabrics fade so fast, so I'm thinking of using a light weight, acrylic fabric such as Sunbrella (R), or Outdura (R). Has anyone else used these fabrics for a quilting project before? Tips and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

~ Cindy

Sorry, I have not.

At the end of last summer, I purchased two bolts of Sunbrella at a garage sale. I just looked at it and I would say it would be OK if you didn't do an intricate design. Any topstitching or quilting should be done with UV resistant thread. You can find it at big box stores. Also, it ravels a bit, might want to consider a wider seam allowance, or shorter stitches.

Go to Sailrite.com and check out the tips & suggestions section for tutorials on sewing cushions, etc. with their outdoor fabrics. They also sell Sunbrella.

I made cushions for all my porch furniture a couple summers ago. A couple of pillows I even added embroidery to using polyester thread as it doesn't fade as rayon does. So far so good, none have faded. The cushions and table cloth I made using an oil cloth table cloth faded terribly so will replace them with the outdoor fabrics I picked online. Just need to find the time to get it done. As its so windy here in Iowa I added ties to all the cushions so they wouldn't fly off.

Thanks for the tips. I bought some poly thread to use on them...poly batting too. The seat cushions are going to be made out of Outdura canvas, which I've sewn on before, but I want to make the accent pillows out of Sunbrella poplin, which is much lighter and easier to work with. I imagine that my iron will have to be on a very low setting. I may get some fray check too to use on the cut edges.

~ Cindy

OK...so here's an update. I can't find any other poplin fabric that is offered by Sunbrella. I saw a listing for it on Ebay, so I assumed that Sunbrella had a whole line of light-weight, acrylic fabrics that resembled our quilting cotton, "poplin." It appears that I thought wrong. I have to guess that the person listing the fabric didn't know what poplin was, or maybe I just haven't found it yet. I'll keep searching. Perhaps I'll have to settle for a polyester fabric.

~ Cindy

I made cushions from outdoor canvas that turned out well. UNTIL the pesky squirrels decided the stuffing made excellent nesting material! Our neighborhood has a lot of oak and pecan trees that attracts them, and cute as they are, they're very destructive. We and our neighbors have just given up on having nice padded outdoor furniture.

I made outside pillows for our pergola out of Sunbrella fabric. This will be their 3rd summer and they have faded just a bit. Also made a new pergola cover at that time out of Sunbrella. Did simple flap in the back for pillows and used outdoor thread.

For the pillow (not the cushions) how about using rip-stop. I use it for outdoor yard flags an it holds up well. Maybe even a pretty monogram?