How to Turn a Jumper Into a Cushion Cover

December 7, 2018 · 2 Comments

How to Turn a Jumper Into a Cushion Cover

My husband turned 40 earlier this year, and among the presents he was given was this.

Bearing in mind that his birthday is in May, and that he never wears anything like this (he’s 40, not 80!) it was a case of politely saying thank you and then wondering what to do with it.

He was never going to wear it, but giving it away or throwing it out seemed wrong. After all, the present giver had remembered that it was his birthday and had gone to the trouble of getting him a present. They probably meant well. It was probably not a joke.

So as an alternative to offloading it onto a charity shop and then feeling guilty, I decided to turn the jumper into a cushion cover.

It was very quick and easy to do, and is a solution not only for unloved birthday presents, but also for old clothes once worn by people who were very much loved.

Keeping clothes in one’s wardrobe that used to belong to people who have since died can cause space issues. Turning a favourite jumper into a cushion cover is a way of keeping memories and little bit of that person still in your life. It could work equally well with old shirts too.

There are lots of ways to turn a jumper into a cushion cover, but I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. I also wanted to keep its jumperiness. The buttons have stayed, as have the pockets. Actually, the buttons made things easier because they serve as the opening for the cushion pad, and the pockets are useful for keeping things, like ear buds or sweets for later!

Instructions

You Will Need

A jumper
A cushion pad (you could upcycle an old cushion or synthetic pillow. Instructions for doing this can be found here.)
Usual sewing supplies

How To

1. Cut the top part of the jumper off, underneath the arms.

2. If you need to, pin the button bands so that the button holes are not pulling on the buttons.

3. Turn the jumper section inside out.

4. Decide where the seams will be. I wanted the cushion cover to be squareish, so I decided to resew the side seams about 4-5 cm away from the original seams. This was as close as I could get and keep the pockets as they were. Sew the seams and trim them if necessary.

5. Sort out your cushion pad. You might have one already that you could use. Alternatively, an old pad or a synthetic pillow can be given a new lease of life if it’s washed, dried, and then pulled apart and fluffed up. There are instructions for doing this here.

6. Turn the cushion cover the right way out. Put your cushion pad inside its cover and enjoy your new cushion!

In the interests of being real, here’s a picture of my new cushion with its cushion friends and some mess. The pad of the reindeer one went weird in the wash and I haven’t sorted it out yet!

How to Upcycle an Old Pillow Into a Cushion

August 15, 2017 · 2 Comments

How to Upcycle an Old Pillow Into a Cushion

Some time ago we replaced all the tired old synthetic pillows with nice new feather ones.

I love a feather pillow, but I was left with a load of saggy old pillows that I didn’t know what to do with! The obvious answer of course was to throw them out. I wasn’t keen in this idea as I felt they could probably still be used for something, and I would always rather use something until it falls apart!

Unfortunately this was a while ago and the pillows have been cluttering up my bedroom floor for several months. I had nowhere to put them so they were on the floor.

I’ve been reading the Flylady’s book (affiliate link) and she has told me to stop using my bedroom as a graveyard for stuff that doesn’t have a home.

So I’ve decided that the pillows have to be used or they have to go.

I’ve managed to use one of them! Last week I made a cute little cushion with a pocket on the front for a book. I didn’t have a cushion pad for it, so I made one out of one of the pillows!

If you’ve got some old pillows and you need new cushion pads, this is a great way to upcycle a pillow into a cushion pad. You end up with a new cushion pad and less stuff goes to landfill 🙂

Here’s some instructions showing how to upcycle an old pillow into a cushion pad.

Instructions For Turning an Old Pillow Into a Cushion

1. Wash the pillow and dry it. As it was a wet day when I washed mine, I popped it in the tumble dryer. When it came out, it was already much fluffier. It still wouldn’t be nice to use as a pillow though!

You don’t have to use a tumble dryer, you could just dry it on the line.

2. Cut the end off the pillow cover and pull the contents out. Inside will be a load of stuff that looks like polyester filling.

3. Grab a chunk of the filling and start pulling it apart. Keep doing this until it’s all fluffy. Some of it will be fluffy already. Other bits of it will take more doing.

4. You can upcycle the pillow cover as well! Measure the cushion you are making the pad for, then mark those measurements onto the pillow cover. Remember to add a seam allowance!

5. Cut the pillow cover down to the right size, then sew it together on 3 of the sides. You’ll probably be able to use a couple of the existing seams.

6. Return the now fluffy contents to the cover. You’ll want it to be full but not too firm. Decide how firm is comfy for you! Fold the raw edges of the open end inwards, then sew.

Now you have a new cushion pad!

If you’re making something smaller, you probably won’t need all the filling. You can store this and make something else with it. A pincushion would be a nice project and there’s a tutorial for one you can wear on your wrist here!

If you like my cushion with the pocket on the front, the tutorial for it is here.

Linking up.

How to Sew a Cushion With a Pocket

August 9, 2017 · 6 Comments

How to Sew a Cushion With a Pocket

My son Aidan is a boy after his mothers’ heart.

Like me, he prefers the colder months, and when the weather gets cold, he likes to curl up in an armchair near the fire and read.

Along with sewing and cuddling my babies, this is also one of my favourites!

Recently Aidan has taken to removing all the cushions from the chair in his room and putting them in his bed, along with a couple of blankets. This has had the unfortunate side effect of making the chair look anything but cosy, so I offered to make him some cushions just for his bed.

As Aidan is an avid reader and is rarely seen without a book, I decided to make him a cushion with a pocket. There are usually a lot of books in his bed, and this way he can keep his kindle safe (I know how easily those things can break from past experience!).

The cushion is easy to make and has an envelope back. I added some piping because I like piping on a cushion, but you could leave this out if if you wanted to.

The finished cushion with a pocket measures 34 cm x 34 cm. I used half a metre of the striped fabric and one FQ of the houses and boats.

If you wanted to make it for a full sized cushion pad, you would need more fabric. I’ve included the measurements below.

For the fabric, I wanted to use something with a seaside theme and this is perfect! It’s Marina by Makower and it came from Ebay (this is an affiliate link).

Sewing a Cushion With a Pocket

You Will Need

Half a metre of the striped fabric and 1 FQ of the pocket fabric (you will need more if you want to make a full sized cushion), bias binding (the wider the better!), piping cord, a cushion pad. A zip foot is also useful.

As I still have some old pillows knocking around that I don’t know what to do with, I upcycled one into a cushion pad. The tutorial for this will appear over the next week or 2!

Cutting Out

From the stripy fabric, cut a front piece 36 cm x 36 cm and 2 back pieces 36 cm x 27 cm. If you’re using half a metre, fold it in 3 to get the width, then measure each piece to get the length (this is what I did).

To make a full sized cushion, you will need to cut 1 piece 42 cm x 42 cm and 2 pieces 42 cm x 30 cm.

To cut the pocket, you will need 2 pieces 36 cm x 20 cm, or for a full sized cushion, 42 cm x 26 cm.

From the bias binding and the piping cord, cut 150 cm for the outside edge, plus 40 cm for the pocket. For a full sized cushion you will need 175 cm for the outside and 45 cm for the top of the pocket.

Sewing Up

1. Make your piping. Fold the bias binding in half and slip the piping cord inside. If you have a zip foot, put it on your machine, then sew the piping cord inside the bias binding. There are detailed instructions for making piping here if you need them.

2. Take the pocket pieces. Place the shorter length of piping along the top edge of one of the pieces on the right side. The piping needs to be on the inside and the edge of the bias binding needs to be aligned with the top edge of the cushion.

3. Pop the other pocket piece over the top so that the right sides and the top edges are together. Pin, then sew, taking care to catch the bias binding in the seam. Turn the pocket the right way out and press.

4. Place the pocket piece on the front of the cushion front, right way up. Check that the sides and bottom edges are together. Pin it in the centre to hold it.

5. Pin the piping to the cushion front and the pocket, on the right side. You will need to snip the bias binding to get it go round the corners. When you get back to where you started, trim the piping so that the ends meet, then overlap the bias binding with the piping inside.

6. Sew the piping to the cushion front.

7. Hem both the back pieces.

8. With the right sides together, pin the top back piece to the cushion front. Check that the sides and the top edges are aligned and that the hemmed edge is somewhere in the middle. Then take the bottom back piece and pin it to the cushion front, overlapping the top back piece and with the sides and bottom edge aligned.

9. Sew all the way round the cushion. Check the seams to make sure that the piping and the pocket pieces are caught in the seams. Trim the seams and cut across the corners. Turn out and pop the cover on the cushion pad.

Now you have a cushion with a pocket! This could be adapted so you could personalise the cushion with appliqued letters, or you could sew the pocket in half to make 2 smaller pockets.

Here’s a cosy corner all ready for somebody to curl up in with a book. Although I don’t think I’ll be letting Aidan use my new favourite mugs that came from Love the Sales!

You might also like these cushion tutorials:

Easy tea towel cushion

Quilt block cushions

Reindeer cushion

Linking up here.

How to Turn a Pillow Into a Box Cushion With Piping

April 7, 2017 · 4 Comments

How to Turn a Pillow Into a Box Cushion With Piping

One of the things I would love to have in my home is a reading nook.

Lots of us living in a small house means that at the moment, there isn’t space for the any of the lovely ones I’ve seen on Pinterest.

However, I’ve decided that I might be able to squeeze a reading nook into my smaller boys’ bedroom.

They have a wooden chest in one corner that is home to the Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railway. It’s sturdy enough for them to sit on and it’s already next to a bookcase!

All this little corner needs is a splash of paint on the chest to smarten it up a bit, some cushions and possibly a lamp. So Phase 1 of Project Reading Nook is making cushions for them to sit on!

We recently bought some new pillows, but as the old ones still had some life left in them, I was reluctant to throw them out. So I decided to turn these old pillows into some new cushions for my boys’ reading nook.

I love a bit of piping on a cushion! If you’ve never made piping before, it’s quite easy and you can find a tutorial for it here.

I need to say at this point that Pam from Threading My Way made some beautiful cushions with contrast piping which I spotted on Facebook a couple of months ago. I have pinched her idea of making the piping in a contrasting colour! You can see her lovely cushions here.

Here’s how to turn a pillow into a box cushion with piping!

How to Turn a Pillow Into a Box Cushion With Piping

I have included some affiliate links.

You Will Need

A feather pillow for each cushion, 1 m cotton fabric per cushion (there’ll be some left over), fabric for bias strips if you’re making contrast piping and 5 m piping cord per cushion. A zip foot is useful as it will allow you to sew close to the cord.

Making the Pillow the Right Shape

If you’re using an old pillow, you might want to wash it first.

Despite what is says on the label, it is possible to wash a feather pillow. Put it on a hot wash, then into the tumble drier. It will take quite a lot of drying, but once the feathers are dry the pillow will become fluffy again. Two pillows in my tumble drier took about an hour and a half.

To make the pillow into a box shape, take one of the corners. Squash the corner so that the edges of the pillow are together. Measure up 7.5 cm from the corner and pin. Sew across the corner. Cut the corner off. Repeat for the other corners.

Your pillow is now a box shaped cushion pad!

Making the Piping

There’s a tutorial showing how to do this here. For a standard sized pillow, you will need about 5 m of piping.

Sewing the Cover

1. Cut 1 rectangle 34 cm x 54 cm and 2 squares 34 cm x 34 cm. For the side pieces, cut 2 rectangles 93 cm x 17 cm.

2. Take the 2 side pieces and sew them together along one of the short edges. Hem the other 2 short edges.

3. Hem both the square pieces along one edge. Arrange them so that the hemmed edges overlap and that they are the same size as the rectangular piece.

4. Pin the piping around the edge so that the cord is on the inside. When you get to a corner, snip the bias strip so that it bends around the corner neatly. Once you have got all the round, cut the cord so that the ends meet. Fold over one end of the bias strip and slip it over the other end. Pin in place.

5. Sew the piping to the bottom section.

6. Pin, then sew the piping to the top section in the same way.

7. With the right sides together, pin the side piece all the way round the bottom section. When you get back to where you started, the ends will overlap. Sew the side to the bottom.

8. Sew the top piece onto the side in the same way.

9. Trim the seams and turn the cushion cover the right way out. Stuff the cushion into the cover. You’ve successfully upcycled an old pillow into a box cushion with piping!

Tips

If your pillow is a bit flat, even after washing, just make your cover slightly smaller. That way, the feathers will be more squished up and the whole thing will look plumper.

If you don’t want to make your own bias strips, you could use bias binding instead.

If you are in a hurry, it’s possible to buy piping that can be sewn straight in.

Linking up here.

Nordic Star Cushion Tutorial

December 3, 2016 · 3 Comments

Nordic Star Cushion Tutorial

Decorating for Christmas is a lot of fun, but there’s no need to stop at Christmas trees and fairy lights!

Changing your cushions is an easy way to add a little bit of the current season to your home, and Christmas is no exception. You don’t even need to buy new cushion pads. Just slip the new covers onto your existing cushions!

This Nordic star cushion tutorial shows how to make a simple, envelope back cushion with a Scandinavian style star appliqued to the front. The star is made from 8 diamond shapes, and you can download the template for this here.

I used fleece fabric in red and white as I love the warm snuggliness of fleece. It’s easy to sew and doesn’t fray. The hems can just be folded over and the appliqued pieces don’t need to backing with interfacing.

You could make the cushion in red and white, as I did, or you could use other colour combinations like grey and white or blue and white.

The cushion cover should fit a standard sized cushion pad. A 1 cm seam allowance is included in the measurements.

How to Make a Nordic Star Cushion

Cutting Out

From red fleece, cut 1 square 42 cm x 42 cm and 2 rectangles 42 cm x 30 cm.
From white fleece, cut 8 diamonds (you can download the template here).

Sewing Up

1. Take one of the red rectangles and hem along one of the long edges. Repeat for the other rectangle. Put them to one side.

2. Take the red square and position the white diamonds onto it as in the pictures below. Pin them in place.

Don’t be tempted to skip this step! You’ll not get them all in, then you’ll have to spend lots of quality time with the unpicker. I’ve been there!

3. Using a long, straight stitch, applique the diamonds to the cushion front.

4. Take one of the rectangles and place it top of the cushion front with the right sides together. The top edges need to be aligned and the hemmed edge should run across the middle of the cushion.

5. Take the other rectangle and place it on top of the other pieces. This time the bottom edges should be aligned.

Pin the pieces together, then sew around the outside of the cushion cover. I turned it over before sewing, just to be sure that I wouldn’t sew over the points of the star.