French Mattress Style Cushion

I really like the look of french mattresses with all of the tufting and detail along the edges.. like this one from Country Living.

Here’s some from Ballard’s:

And here are some other examples of french mattresses from Pinterest:

Because they are hand made, french mattress style cushions are very pricey.  I recently made a knockoff french mattress cushion for my  window seat.

I found a great tutorial here at anoregoncottage.com.

Here’s my window seat before I made the cushion.

I found a large piece of foam at a thrift store and while it wasn’t as thick as I wanted, the piece was large enough so that I could double it.   If you have really thick, dense foam, an electric kitchen knife works great for cutting it to size.  I put a little hot glue between the two layers just to keep them from slipping around when it was time to insert it into the cover.

In the past I have purchased foam locally at the American Ribbon Factory in Stroudsburg, PA.  I’ve also purchased it online where you can find many options for thickness and density.

My cushion isn’t nearly as thick or detailed as a real french mattress but overall I am pleased with the result.  Eventually, I think I will add a few more knots to make it a little more tufted.  This was an inexpensive but  labor intensive project.  Now I understand why real french mattresses are so pricey!