An enormous cushion

For today's post, I am writing about a recent make from this magazine..................an enormous floor cushion.

The design and instructions came from ''Making'' magazine which is one I frequently buy. It has a wide variety of makes from fabric, cards, jewellery, preserves, furniture etc so I like the chance to try different ideas.

I loved the idea of piecing together a cushion from a variety of fabrics as I have a number of fat quarters I thought I could use. The good thing about this magazine is that they give you clear instructions and patterns to use, all I needed to do was photocopy the pattern for my fabric.

 

 I chose to use primarily pinks and reds in my cushion using several different patterns rather than just one colour or fabric alone. I thought this would be more interesting, and use more of my stash. Fristly you need to cut out all your triangles which I did one night at work, on my break, and I then tacked each triangle together to make two semi-circular pieces ready to stitch using the sewing machine. Once this was done, I stitched all the pieces together to form a full circle and then cut back the seam allowance and pressed all the seams in the same direction for a professional finish.

Instead of doing the same process for the back of the cushion, I cut our a full circle of fabric. I also decided to use a pom-pom fringing in teal instead of piping, mainly because I couldn't get hold of a piping foot. I stitched the pom-poms to the tedge and them stitched my two cushion pieces together leaving an unstitched section to allow me to stuff my cushion.

The next part was to make my covered buttons. You can buy ready to cover buttons in most sewing shops and they are either plastic buttons in a special set with a tool or in this case I bought them singly in my local sewing shop. You need 2 buttons for this project and 2 washers. To cover your buttons, choose your fabric, I chose a red dot, and cut out a circle of fabric about 2 centimetres larger in diameter than the button. Stitch a running stitch approx. half a centimetre from the edge of the fabric circle and then place your button in the centre, on the wrong side, and pull the thread to gather the fabric together. Tie or stitch the thread into the fabric and knot neetly, then push the second piece of the button over the button back and press firmly into position and there you have your perfectly covered button ready for use.

Once you have filled your cushion to your satisfaction, neatly stitch the seams together by hand and then it's time to put on your buttons, now this is fiddly and can be painful. For this you need your 2 covered buttons, 2 washers, strong linen thread (I used Guttermans) and a mattress needle. This where you need strong fingers and maybe a thimble as the mattress needles are VERY sharp. From the top of the cushion, in the centre, stitch your first washer into place with a couple of neat stitches, then push your mattress needle through all the layers of fabric and stuffing to the centre on the underside. Stitch your washer on and pul the thread very tightly, this causes the cushion to pull in at the centre to get the effect shown in the photograph. Continue to sew through all the layers and the washers until the cushion is stitched securely and you have the desired effect. Then place your buttons over the washers and stitch into place to cover them.

 

Now you have a beautiful, floor cushion all made by yourself ready to sit on and enjoy a book, cupcake or scrapbooking..................whatever tickles your fancy.