Framed Patchwork Cushion to Showcase Beautiful Fabric

It has been months since I shared a cushion ...weird!

I seem to have this thing with cushions. This thing being that I have many many cushions (12 on my single bed at last count) but never have TOO many, y'know? Well, recently I have been restrained but when I went fabric shopping this week, a cushion just popped into my head so I had to go for it!

A couple of years ago, my parents spent three weeks in America - they started in San Francisco and ended up in Las Vegas, taking in several places in between. Being awesome parents they wanted to get me a nice present and, well, they couldn't have done a better job. They arrived home armed with chocolate (of course) and fabric! Native American inspired fat quarters to be precise. Beautiful batik patterns, gorgeous colours and bold prints. I was in heaven. But they were so gorgeous that I didn't know what to do with them. It had to be perfect and I didn't want to waste them. I made a wall hanging with some of them to showcase the fabric, but the rest has been sat in my sewing box ever since. Occasionally I would get it out, marvel at how pretty it is and then put it back again as no inspiration hit me.

Well, as I was saying, this week I was fabric shopping when I found this gorgeous fat quarter. It only cost me £1 (bargain!) and it was a night sky complete with moons, stars and swirling clouds. And then it hit me. Finally, inspiration struck and I knew that this fabric was destined to become a cushion, framed by some of the American fat quarters. And here it is!

I thought I would share the tutorial for this cushion because

 a) it is simple but effective 

b) It is a great way to showcase fabrics without them getting lost in whatever patchwork pattern you have decided to construct.

c) You can adapt it to the sizes of your fabrics - increase or decrease the number of frame fabrics, change the size of the centre panel, whatever you want!

Materials

Cushion inner (mine was 17"x17")

Main Fabric

Backing Fabric

(I use sheeting for the backing)

1. Map out the sizes of your strips and centre piece. Add 1/2" seam allowance to the length and width of every strip. 

My strips measured...

Centre - 8 1/2" x 8 1/2"

1.  2" x 8 1/2"

2. 2" x 11 1/2"

3. 3 1/2" x 11 1/2"

4. 3 1/2" x 15 1/2"

To make a cushion with a centre panel and two frames, you will need 1 square and 8 strips of fabric.

2. Sew the strips on in the order denoted by the numbers on the above diagram. Simply pin the fabrics right side together and sew down the edge with a 1/4" seam. Press open the seams

Front

Back

3. Continue adding strips until you have sewn all of the strips onto your cushion, pressing the seams as you go along. 

4. Cut out your backing pieces, they should be 1/2 an inch wider than your cushion (e.g. 17 1/2") and 2/3 as long (e.g. 12-13"). Add an extra half an inch to the length and make a fold over hem along one long edge on each piece. Pin one piece on top of your cushion square, right sides together. Pin the second piece to the bottom, as shown in the pictures, to create an envelope back.

1st back piece

2nd back piece

5. Sew all the way round the square of your cushion. Turn right side out and insert your cushion inner.

And that is all there is to it! 

Do you have any fabric that you are saving for the perfect project?

Love Rebecca

Doctor Who is Back!

Finally, Doctor Who is back! Which means that I can share my TARDIS cushion that I made last year. 

I found this black, star-studded felt in hobbycraft last Summer and knew that I had to buy some although I had no idea what for. Shortly after, I realised that it was the perfect night sky, and the tie-dye pink/blue fabric on the borders of the cushion looked quite like a galaxy! So my cushion was born.

I used simple applique to add the pieces that make up the TARDIS itself and then embroidered the words.

Did you watch it tonight? Thoughts?

Love Rebecca

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Memories Cushion

Have you ever read 'The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants' by Ann Brashares? Or seen the movie? If not, here is the general idea - a group of friends find this amazing pair of jeans that happens to fit them all perfectly even though they are all different shapes/sizes (awesome right!). It is the first summer that they will spend apart and they swear to mail the jeans (or pants if you are American!) with letters to each other throughout the whole summer. The jeans end up with little things sewn on, things written on them, and essentially hold the memories of each of the girls' summers. Pretty cool idea right? It certainly got me thinking...and took me where my thinking usually takes me ...a cushion!

The great thing about this cushion is that making it from the jeans (which takes about an hour ) is just the beginning. I made three cushions (one for everyone in my house) and then we had a pyjama party and decorated them. 

I supplied felt, fabric scraps, sharpies, beads, lace, badges and my hot glue gun and we went to town! 

Seriously...we were at it for two straight hours, capturing the memories of our time living together on this cushion - Many of the pictures/words etc. won't make sense to anyone but us but that is definitely part of the charm! This is a great sleepover activity - supply every guest with a blank cushion and let them decorate it - decorate each others - get all your friends to sign it....there are so many things you could do here! And at the end you will have a truly unique cushion that will hopefully make you smile fondly at all the memories it holds!

I have included a tutorial for how to make a cushion out of your jeans but the rest is up to you!

Materials

Pair of jeans

Quick-unpick

1. Using your quick-unpick unpick the two seams shown in the picture - they are essentially one seam when you look so unpick the whole thing making sure you go at least 3/4s of the way down the leg

 When you have unpicked it it will look like this... if you cannot unpick the tiny bit in the middle joining them together, cut it with your scissors

2. Pin the seams together like shown in the picture below. Basically, you are creating a front panel and a back panel, rather than separate legs. Sew down each to create a tube from your jeans.

3. You may have to sew down like shown in the picture to make sure you get a straight edge - trim any excess.

4. Turn the jeans right side out and it should look like the picture below. Trim the bottom of the legs off. Using your scissors, cut down the side seams to separate the front from the back, you should now have two separate panels

5. Measure the top of the front of your jeans (it won't be completely straight but that is just jeans for you - go with it in the knowledge that this is not an exact science!). Trim the front jean panel so it is square-ish - i.e. you should trim the bottom so it is the same height as the width at the top!

6. Place the front panel over the back panel and trim any excess off the sides. Cut the back into two pieces, each about 3" shorter than the front panel. Hem the edges as shown.

7. Lay the front piece right side up on your work surface. Lay the back panel with pockets on top, right side down. Finally, lay the second back panel on top. Sew all the way round your cushion (complete square) to create an envelope back. Make sure to use a sturdy needle for this bit - your will be sewing a lot of denim - particularly at the top!

8. Turn right side out. 

9. DECORATE!

Suggested Materials for Decoration

Badges

Felt

Fabric Scraps

Lace

Ric-rac/ribbon

Sharpies

Hot Glue Gun

Make sure to put newspaper inside the cushion whilst you are decorating to ensure it doesn't go through

If you have a go at this I would love to see! We had so much fun...three twenty-somethings laughing, reminiscing and gluing until 11.30pm!

Have a great Friday!

Love Rebecca

Canada Embroidery Cushion

I am being super organised and writing this post at the weekend even though you are now reading it midweek. Why you ask? Well This Tuesday and Thursday evening (yes evening, of all the times?!) I have exams. Third year university psychology exams. So that explains my quietness during the last week or so...revision is taking my time and when not revising I have been chilling or spending time with my family.

The good news is my exams will be over on Thursday night. The bad news is I then have a 4000 word assignment due in a week and a half....but then again, I have already written it, it just needs some editing.
 So the upshot is I am having Friday off. And I am going to sew and craft and relax as much as possible!

A while ago I shared with you several tutorials for designing and sewing your own embroidery cushions. For my Mum's Christmas present this year, I decided to use them myself! I chose Canada as it is a very special place for our family - we love visiting and I am so jealous happy for my Mum that her and my Dad are returning there for a week in February.

I know that there are some Canadians who follow this blog so might read this post, see the cushion and be fairly confused about the things I decided to embroider. That is the beauty of the cushion...it is so completely personal. So although Parliament Hill makes sense, the 'Les Suites' logo refers to the hotel we always stay in, and the bear refers to one that my mum and I met in Edmonton Mall! We usually visit Ottawa but in the summer of 2003, we spent 5 weeks travelling across Canada stopping in Quebec, Edmonton, Jasper, Vancouver - it was an amazing holiday and I have so many great memories of that trip.

I was 11 and my brother 14, and on the trip I ate a snail (or swallowed it with my eyes closed! - in a restaurant by the way...not just a random snail!), stayed in the hotel alone with my brother one evening while my parents went to watch some fireworks (we watched Legally Blonde and felt like such rebels when we went down the corridor to get ice!), and decided I was desperate to go canoeing only to get out into the middle of the lake and decide that I was absolutely petrified of the water and we had to go back! It was the first time I ever saw 'Friends' on TV, saw a whale or two in the ocean (or at least their tails) and had a girls night with my Mum (the boys went to see a Canadian Football game - we ate pizza and saw Freaky Friday)

As you can tell I have so many memories of that trip and our other visits to Canada and this is where the design for this cushion came from!

Do you have any memories you would like to display as an embroidered cushion?

Here are my tutorials for...

1. Designing an embroidered cushion

2. Embroidery basics so you can sew your cushion

Have a great day!

Love Rebecca

DIY Patches Cushion

So now it is January I can share some of the Christmas presents I made with you! The first one was this cushion I made for my Dad.

When my Dad was younger, he spent time youth hostelling and hiking in the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. Some of the patches he collected were in a drawer and some were sewn onto an old backpack that was thrown out this summer. I salvaged the patches and stole them away, planning to find some way of displaying them for my Dad. 

Int the end I decided to display them on a cushion, framed with a simple piped edging.

You can get patches for so many things these days; sports teams, countries, attraction - so I thought I would post a tutorial in case you have any old patches lying in a drawer clamouring to be displayed in some way or another!

Materials

Backing fabric - I used a plain neutral colour

(sizes depend on the size of your cushion - see below for measurements for a 17x17 cushion)

Bias Binding (I used about 2 metres)

Cord (I used about 2 metres)

Patches

Co-ordinating thread

Double sided tape

Cushion inner

1. Cut a plain piece of fabric the size of your cushion, add 1/2 inch to the height and width 

(e.g. 17 x 17 cushion = 17 1/2 x 17 1/2" fabric). 

Arrange your patches on the fabric - I decided on a fairly symmetrical arrangement with the more unusual shaped badges in the centre. To secure, instead of pins, I used a small piece of double sided tape to hold the badge in place.

2. Sew each badge onto the fabric in co-ordinating thread.

3. Cut out 2 more pieces of fabric 17 1/2 x 12". Hem a long side on each rectangle as shown in the picture. Set aside for later

4. Next, to make your piping, take your bias binding, open it, and sandwich the cord in the middle, pin the bias binding. With a zipper foot, sew down the length of the bias binding , close to the cord. Make sure you use a co-ordinating thread.

Finished piping should look like this

5. With the raw edges matching to the edge of your fabric, pin the bias binding all the way round. Clip the corners as in the pictures to bend it round.

When you get back to the start, trim the bias binding so that there is little excess. Pull 1cm of cord out of one end and cut. Poke the other end into the opposite piping to create a join. This will be stitched up later.

6. Pin one rectangle, right side down on top of the patched fabric

7. Pin the other right side down on top to create an envelope back

8. Using your zipper foot and feeling where the piping is, sew round the cushion, sticking as close to the piping as possible.

9. When you turn the cushion cover the right side out check you have caught all of the piping all the way round. With a needle and thread, sew the two joining bits of piping together to finish!

That's all there is to it!

Do you collect anything from your trips/travels?

Love Rebecca

Storybook Craft Project - Miffy Cushion

Hello my friends! I am very excited to be able to share this cushion with you finally, I made it about a month ago but it was a Christmas present for my friend Tori. Well, we exchanged gifts on Wednesday so now I can share it with all of you.

Although she doesn't remember, Tori suggested I make this for her last February, so I set to work!

It is a really simple design, using block primary colours, just like you find in the book. I wanted it to look realistic and be cute and cuddly at the same time. That way it will look good in a room but you can give it a snuggle as well!

I am loving fleece on cushions at the moment, something which you may have picked up on - but I thought it would be perfect for Miffy's fur!

Materials

Blue Fabric (plus extra for back)

Red Fabric

White Fleece 

Black Embroidery Thread

1. Sketch out Miffy, I copied a picture or you could photocopy and enlarge, either way, you want a Miffy template as big as your desired cushion

2. Cut out arms, face and feet from white felt

3. Cut out a square of blue fabric 1/2" bigger than your cushion

e.g. my cushion is 17" so my square was 17 1/2"

4. Cut a dress from red, about 1/4" bigger all round, fold over and press to form a neat hem. 

5. Arrange Miffy on the front of your cushion, pin in place and sew round each component to secure

6. Embroider Miffy's eyes and a cross for her mouth.

5. Cut rectangles from your blue fabric to create an envelope back for your cushion, pin right sides together and sew all the way round the cushion

It was a while ago that I made this cushion and I forgot to take thorough pictures so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

I will be taking a couple of weeks off from the Storybook Craft Project for Christmas and exams etc. but please join me again in January for more projects inspired by your favourite storybooks!

Love Rebecca

Storybook Crafts Project - Father Christmas Cushion

There are less than two weeks now until Christmas - how exciting! And my week is going really well, my to-do list is almost complete and I have got a first draft of my assignment that is due after the Christmas hols!

A couple of weeks ago, the Storybook Craft Project was The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. This week, it is Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs. I love the illustrations in these books and, as I am feeling mighty festive, was very keen to make a Father Christmas inspired cushion. 

This is a simple enough cushion, it was only complicated for me by my sewing machine's dislike of leatherette meaning that I had to hand sew my belt in place, but oh well! I found a Top Gear special and got on with it!

Materials

1/2m Red Fleece

Brown Leatherette

Yellow Fabric

Coordinating Thread

1. Cut out a 14"x14" square and two 14"x9" rectangles from your red fleece

2. Cut a strip of brown leatherette 3" by 15"

3. Line up the leatherette in the centre of your fleece square and sew across the top and bottom to make the belt (hand sew or machine - which ever you prefer)

4. Cut a strip of yellow, 3 1/2" x 24" (or two strips of shorter length)

5. Fold strip in half, right sides together and sew down the long edge. Turn right way out and press down the middle as shown. 

6. Cut the strips so your have two 6 1/2" long and two 3 1/2" long. Fold in the ends to get a neat hem and press (you should now have two 6" and two 3" strips)

7. Position the strips as in the picture to form Father Christmas's buckle. Pin in place and sew all the way round the inside and outside of the buckle. Sew down any other loose seams. Make sure you use a yellow thread to blend in!

8. Take your fleece rectangles, hem one long edge on each. Line up the rectangles and square front, right sides together to form an envelope back.

9. Sew all the way round the cushion cover, turn right side out.

Join me next week for the last Storybook Crafts Project before Christmas!

Love Rebecca

Scottie Dog Cushion Tutorial

Have you started your Christmas presents? That is precisely what I am spending my afternoon doing. I have Christmas buns in the oven, Christmas music on my ipod and cheesy Christmas films ready to watch on my Skygo. A perfect afternoon to get on with some sewing and Christmas shopping online!

Last week I made this cushion for my housemate's mum. It was so easy and I was so pleased with the result that I thought I would share! It is adaptable to any animal/shape you wish to make a truly personal present this Christmas.

Materials
Floral fabric
Tartan fabric
Blue embroidery thread
Bondaweb

1. Find a silhouette/outline of the shape you want on you cushion and trace it on to your bondaweb
2. Cut a square of floral fabric the same size as your cushion (mine was 14 x 14")
3. Following the instructions on the bondaweb, attach it to the back of the tartan fabric, peel off and affix to the centre of you floral square
4. Using blanket stitch, sew all the way round your shape
5. Cut 2 rectangles 14 x 9" out of the floral fabric. Hem one long edge on each.
6. Line each rectangle up with an opposite edge of the square piece, right sides together  pin and sew all the way round to create an envelope back
7. Turn right side out and stuff with your cushion

And that is it! It is really that easy to create this effective, personalised cushion.

I hope your Sunday afternoon is as pleasant as mine!

Love Rebecca

Storybook Craft Project - The Snowman Cushion

Don't you just love Christmas time? I am really starting to get excited about the festive season - with only three weeks left in York before term ends, I am starting to get Christmas events in my diary - a Love Actually film night, a carol concert at York Minster and a performance of a Christmas Carol on the streets of York to name just a few!

And the ultimate Christmas storybook (apart from maybe Twas the Night - although that is technically a poem!) has got to be The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. The song from the TV version - Walking in the Air - is a part of Christmas now - on the sight of this cushion, one of my housemates started singing that very song!

I really enjoyed making the cushion - it is fairly quick as well! Because the snowman and snow-topped hills are all made out of white fleece, there is very little hemming involved! The only fiddly bit was the hat and scarf!

So if you are feeling festive like me, why not give this a go!

Materials
Starry Night Fabric
White Fleece
Tartan fabric
Back and orange embroidery thread
Sheeting to back cushion
14 x 14 cushion inner

1. Cut a square 14" x 14" from the starry night fabric
2. Download template below and cut out a snowman from fleece
3. Sew together two small strips of tartan for the scarf. Wrap round the snowman's neck and sew in place
4. Cut hill shaped curves from white fleece to go on bottom of cushion. Make sure they are 14" long and about 3-6" high. I also made two single hills to sew onto of my large curve to add dimension. Pin onto cushion and sew in place.
5. Pin Snowman in place and sew round to attach to background
6. Embroider eyes, mouth and buttons in black and an oval nose in orange embroidery thread
7. Cut out a hat shape from the tartan and position on the Snowman's head. Sew in place.
8. Cut two pieces from sheeting 14" x 9 ". Hem one long edge of each. Line up with cushion and pin, right sides together to create an envelope back. Sew all the way round.

Download Snowman Template Here

What is your favourite Christmas Storybook?

Join me next week for another Storybook Craft Project!

Have a great weekend!

Love Rebecca

Storybook Craft Project - The Rainbow Fish Cushion

Happy Friday! It is nearly the weekend already! Cannot believe that another week has flashed by like that! I actually managed to fit in some creativity this week - I needed something to keep me sane after getting to the library by 7.30am most days! As a consequence of all the university work I have had going on, the pictures on this tutorial are pretty mediocre. I am sorry! It is winter and so my crafting is now done in the dark as the evenings are the only time I can spare!

Have you seen the Rainbow Fish book by Marcus Pfister ? It is a beautiful book with gorgeous illustrations and a featuring our Rainbow Fish with some very shiny scales. After spotting some fun shiny fabric at the Quilt Show in October, I knew I had to make my very own Rainbow fish.

This cushion is fairly easy if slightly labour-intensive! There are four main processes...

1. Cut out scales

2. Sew scales together

3. Piece and sew fish

4. Assemble

I have included all the templates you should need as a download at the end!

You will need...

Dark blue fabric

Light blue fabric

Pink fabric

Shiny Fabric

Tie-dyed pink/blue fabric

Tie-dyed blue fabric for the sea

Blue fabric for back

Wadding

White and Black Buttons

15" cushion inner

note on fabrics - none of my scales were made out of a plain block colour, all of the fabrics I used had some sort of texture to them - simply a dappled effect really adds some texture to the finished fish

1. Cut out your scales. My cushion took 26 scales so make yourself a cardboard template to speed things up. Use the seam allowance template for all double sided scales, use the smaller template for the sparkly fabric.

4 pink (so 8 cut out)

7 dark blue (so 14 cut out)

6 light blue (so 12 cut out)

8 sparkly (so eight cut out)

For the non-sparkly scales,  cut two scale pieces, pin them right sides together and sew the entire curved edge. Turn right-side out and press. This is one scale.

Repeat until you have all of your scales. I made a few extras as spares.

2. Next cut out your body, fins, tail and head pieces (use light blue for the body, and the pink/blue tie-dye for the other parts of the fish). For the main body I traced the shape onto freezer paper, ironed onto the wrong side of the fabric and cut out leaving a 1cm seam allowance. I then ironed this back over the freezer paper so I had a nice neat hem.

For the fins/head/tail I cut two of each shape - using the freezer paper + 1 cm. I also cut another shape from wadding.

Layer your fin pieces, wadding then the two fabric pieces right side together on top.

Sew all around, leaving the end open. Turn right side out. Repeat with head, fin, legs and tail.

3. Start laying out your scales to cover you body piece. Start with one scale on the left and build up from there. Don't worry if they go over the side, this will be sorted soon!

Take a picture of your desired layout. 

4. Remove your scales, leaving just your first one. Pin in place and sew all the way round. Next pin on your second row. Sew around each individual scale. Repeat until you have built up all the rows of scales on your fish. If you have any scales that go over the edge, fold them over so the edge lines up all round the fish. Pin in place.

5. Cut a square out of your blue tie-dye 15 1/4 x 15 1/4. Pin your fish body into the centre. Tuck the end of your tail under the body, pin in place. Repeat with fin, legs and head. pin in desired place with unsewn end tucked under the fish body

6. Sew round the fish body. Next, sew round each individual feature until the fish is completely sewn onto the backing fabric

7. Sew a white button on top of a black button to the head for eyes.

8. Cut two rectangles 15 1/4 x 9 1/2 " from blue back fabric. Fold over one long edge, press and sew to create a neat hem.

9. Sew cushion together to create an envelope back.

And that is all!

Hope you'll join me next week for the Storybook Crafts Project!

Have a great day!

Love Rebecca

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