How ChatGPT Saved My Outdoor Seating Situation
A few weeks ago, one of our outdoor couch cushions just… disappeared after a huge windstorm. I wish I had a glamorous story for you (rogue raccoon? local cushion thief?), but honestly, it just blew away. Poof. Gone.
Like a responsible adult, I immediately Googled how much it would cost to replace it. The answer? ONE. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. For a cushion. No way.
I looked at my mom, who happened to be there when we noticed it was missing, and said, “We can make that, right?” And as always, she assured me we could. (One of her favorite sayings growing up was, "We can make that.”)
Enter: The Fancy Sewing Machine.
My mom owns a beautiful Brother CS7000X that - fun fact - she’s never actually used. It has about 70 stitch options and a control panel that looks like it could launch a rocket. We pulled it out of its box, both a little reluctant to take on the task of mastering this beast.
The first thing we noticed? There were... symbols. And so many attachments. Zigzags. Ladders. Extra feet. Some looked like hieroglyphics. Others may have been Morse code.
So, I called the professional: ChatGPT.
Enter: Generative AI.
Before diving into all my sewing questions, I gave ChatGPT a bit of context. That way, I wouldn’t have to re-explain things every time I asked a question. And because this was a task-heavy project, I kept it on GPT-4o the whole time.
Our first prompt looked like this:
“You are a friendly, highly experienced sewing instructor who specializes in helping beginners learn to use sewing machines. I’m trying to sew a new cushion cover for an outdoor couch using a woven Sunbrella material. We have already cut the material to size and can see that the material is fraying, which I’m worried about. I’m using a Brother CS7000X sewing machine. We’ve never used this machine before. Please ask me questions one by one if you need more context. The first thing I would like to know is what thread and needle I need for this project.”
This did three big things:
I gave it a role so it knew how to respond (supportive, practical, beginner-friendly).
It set up all the context so the rest of the prompts could be short and simple.
I gave it a persona so it a pulls only from expert knowledge (not some random blog, like…this one:)
From there, here’s how we kept going:
I uploaded a photo and asked:
“Which of these settings should I be using for my project, and what do I need to do to get the right stitch?”
I asked:
“What stitch and foot should I use for zippers?”And:
“Do I cut the material before or after sewing on the zipper?”
(Answer: after, for cushions!)
There was trial. There was error. I accidentally sewed the zigzag in the wrong place and my nicely sewn zipper just frayed off and had to redo the entire thing. (Not fun.)
But slowly, joyfully, and with only minor bloodshed (those pins are sharp!), we made a cushion that looked, well, kind of like the original. I may be a little scared it’ll fall apart... but if it does, I’m 99% sure that’s on me, not ChatGPT. Only time will tell.
Final cost? About $200 in fabric. (Sunbrella is not cheap!)
Time spent? A weekend.
Bonding with my mom over a shared project and lots of giggles? Absolutely worth it.
AI didn’t sew the cushion for us but it gave us the courage and guidance to do it ourselves. It turned a “no way” into a “why not?” and made a technical, intimidating task feel totally doable.
If you’re staring down a new challenge, call on your professional co-pilot. Even on projects involving rogue cushions and very fancy sewing machines.
