Seat squabs

"Squab" is such a strange word, it always makes me think of "squaw" which is a different thing altogether! Anyway, according to the Oxford English dictionary a squab is "a thick, stuffed cushion, especially one covering the seat of a chair or sofa" which is something that has been occupying my mind a lot lately! As our original seat cushions in the dining room are starting to look decidedly tatty, I have started to look for other alternatives. It probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who has been following this blog for a while, that I am rather pernickety when it comes to household furnishings (or most things for that matter! I am on an epic hunt for the perfect handbag which may just take me enough to time to render handbags obsolete!) Anyway, back to the point in hand...

Here's an old photo from before I painted the fireplace, but you can see the cushions. I had made these from old art nouveau fabric of which I didn't have quite enough so I made my seam allowances very mean and as a result the fabric is pulling and fraying along the edges where I sewed in the zip. They are also slightly too large which make them a bit cumbersome to sit on and they often slide off when you stand up. So, I have been exploring several options, 

Fitted seat squabs, made out of foam and covered in a neutral washable fabric like these. Although for these to perfectly fit our chairs, I would probably have to make these myself. Or sheepskin seat pads like these...

Or an actual sheepskin draped over the chair (I'm actually trying one of these out just now, but it doesn't give quite as much padding as a cushion and I'm not sure how practical this is.

Maybe I could try buying or making smaller loose cushions for the chairs instead?

Or maybe just have no cushions at all (I think I like this option the least!)