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