Reindeer Christmas Cushion Tutorial

November 27, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Reindeer Christmas Cushion Tutorial

Changing the cushion covers is an easy way to mark the changing seasons at home, and Christmas is no exception.

Pretty cushions made in some snuggly fabric cry out for cosy times indoors, the best way to enjoy winter!

There’s no need to buy new cushion pads (unless you really want to). All you have to do is slip new covers onto your existing cushions, then, once Christmas is over, put them away with your Christmas decorations until next year.

This reindeer Christmas cushion tutorial shows how to make a cushion with an envelope back. This is my favourite way to make cushions as it is easy and doesn’t require any fiddling around with zips or buttonholes.

I used fleece because I wanted to use a fabric with a warm and snuggly texture. I actually used the wrong side as the right side because I liked its woolliness.

I’ve got another Christmas cushion tutorial planned for next week too, so watch this space!

How to Make a Christmas Reindeer Cushion

You Will Need

Half a metre of fabric (I used fleece. This is an affiliate link), a reindeer template (I have one available as part of the Christmas bundle), usual sewing supplies.

Bear in mind that if you are making the reindeer from cotton or another fabric that frays, you will need to back the fabric with fusible interfacing first.

The measurements here assume that you have a standard 45ish cm cushion pad that’s probably gone a bit saggy, as this is what I made mine for! A 1 cm seam allowance is included in the measurements.

Cutting Out

From the white fleece, cut 1 reindeer.
From grey fleece, cut 1 piece 42 cm x 42 cm, and 2 pieces 42 cm x 30 cm.

Sewing Up

1. Pin the reindeer to the centre of the square piece of fleece, on the right side.

2. Applique the reindeer to the fleece square. The best way to do this with fleece is to use a straight stitch and sew close to the edge of the reindeer. It’s generally recommended that you use a ball point needle (affiliate link) when sewing fleece, although I used a universal one and it was fine.

3. Take one of the smaller fleece pieces and hem along the long edge. As fleece doesn’t fray, it’s fine just to fold it up once. Repeat for the other piece.

4. With the right sides together, place the top back piece on top of the front section, so that the hemmed edge is in the middle and the top edges are aligned. Repeat for the bottom back section. Pin them in place.

5. Sew all around the edge of the cushion

6. Trim the seams and threads. Cut across the corners. Turn the right way out and stuff your cushion pad inside.

Tips and Suggestions

If you’re struggling to sew the fleece, try using a ball point needle.

If you are using cotton or another fabric that frays, you’ll need to use fusible interfacing on the reindeer.

Other fabrics you could use include felt (for the applique), velvet, thick cotton jersey or faux fur.

If you feel that your cushion is a little plain, you could add some ribbon or other trim.

If you liked this reindeer Christmas cushion tutorial, you might also like this Christmas present cushion tutorial.

Christmas Cushion Tutorial

November 4, 2016 · 10 Comments

A Christmas Cushion Tutorial: How to Make a Cushion That Looks Like a Present

Making new cushions is an easy and inexpensive way to mark changing seasons at home, and Christmas is no exception!

It’s very easy to make a simple envelope cushion cover from Christmassy fabric, or even non Christmassy fabric in Christmassy colours.

For this cushion I wanted to do something slightly different. So this Christmas cushion tutorial is a patchwork cushion that looks like a present!

I was sent the fabric for this project by Overdale Fabrics. It’s a fat quarter pack called Scandi Woodland Christmas. I used 2 of the 4 pieces to make 1 cushion.

Because the finished cushion cover is rather smaller than a standard sized cushion pad, it’s a great way to find a new life for a cushion pad that has seen better days. The pad I used was actually the one from my Autumn Patchwork Cushion. It was very lumpy and flat. Stuffing it into a smaller cushion cover has given it a new burst of life!

The cushion cover has a simple envelope back, so no fiddly zips! This is a project that you could easily complete in an evening.

How to Make a Christmas Present Cushion

You Will Need:

2 fat quarters of cotton fabric, 1 old and saggy cushion pad, usual sewing supplies.

Cutting Out

From the grey fabric, cut 8 squares 15 cm by 15 cm.
From the red fabric, cut 4 rectangles 9 cm by 15 cm, and 3 rectangles 35 cm by 9 cm.

For the bow, cut 2 rectangles 23 cm x 15 cm and 2 rectangles 6 cm x 10 cm.

When cutting out the red pieces, if you are using a directional print, check that the print is running the correct way.

Sewing the Front

1. Take 2 of the grey squares and 1 of the shorter red pieces. Join the squares to either side of the red piece along the long edges. Trim the seams and press.

2. Repeat with 2 more grey squares and 1 red piece.

3. Take the 2 sections you make in the previous steps and 1 of the longer red rectangles. Sew the red and grey sections to the longer red rectangle, along the longer edges.

Try to ensure that the red bits are aligned before sewing so that it looks neat. And before you sew, check that the reindeer are all the right way up!

Sewing the Back

1. Sew the remaining grey squares and smaller red pieces together as you did for the front.

2. Take one of these sections and one of the longer red pieces. Sew the longer red piece to the bottom.

3. Repeat step 2, but this time sew the longer red piece to the top.

4. Hem both pieces along the red section. Press, then trim away any stray threads.

Making Up the Cushion

1. With the wrong sides together, place the top back section onto the front section. Make sure that the top and sides are aligned, and that the hemmed edge is in the middle of the cushion.

2. Place the back bottom piece over the top, this time aligning the bottom edges and the sides, again with the hemmed edge in the middle.

3. Pin it all in place, then sew all around the outside edge of the cushion cover. Trim the seams and cut across the corners. Turn the cushion cover the right way out.

Making the Bow

1. Take the 2 larger rectangles and pin them with the right sides together. Sew around the outside, but leave a gap in one edge. Trim the seam and turn it the right way out.

2. Tuck the raw edges of the opening inside and top stitch all the way round.

3. Repeat for the 2 smaller rectangles.

4. Take the larger rectangle and pleat it so that it looks like a bow. Wrap some thread around to hold it.

5. Take the smaller rectangle and put it over the middle of the bow, where you wrapped the thread. Pin it at the back, then hand sew where you pinned to hold the small rectangle in place.

Attaching the Bow to the Cushion

1. Stuff your lumpy old cushion pad into the cover. You’ll notice immediately how much happier it looks! Pin the back sections together where they overlap.

2. Using doubled thread, sew a few stitches into the middle of the bow at the back. Insert the needle into the middle of the cushion and pull the thread right through to the back. Bring the thread back up through the cushion and into the bow. Pull it tight and tie off the thread.

Your cushion is finished! You could use just one or two to Christmas up a cosy armchair, or you could make lots!

Piped Box Cushion Tutorial

October 11, 2016 · 11 Comments

A Piped Box Cushion Tutorial

You know when your husband tries to help by buying something you need, but ends up getting the wrong thing?

In the bathroom we have a pretty box/ bench thing for hiding mess.

It lives between the bath and the sink and sometimes I sit on it and chat to the boys (and drink a cup of tea!) while they’re in the bath.

As I had some fabric left over from the Roman blind I made for the bathroom window, I decided to make a box cushion with piping to go on top of the box bench thing.

I had planned to buy a piece of foam, but Hubby had bought a couple of cushions from Ikea. They were the wrong shape, but I didn’t want to waste what we had already. So I set about changing the shape of the cushion.

I am very happy to share with you that it is perfectly possible to do this!

How to Turn a Normal Cushion into a Box Cushion

Turning an ordinary cushion into a box cushion is very easy to do. The process is exactly the same as making boxed corners for a bag.

Here’s how to go about it!

Take one of the corners of the cushion. Squish the corner the other way so that the edges of the cushion are together. Pin, then sew across the corner. Cut the corner off. Repeat for the other corners. You now have a box cushion!

If you need to make your boxed cushion a certain size, you will need your original cushion to be larger.

Work out how much larger your cushion is, ie how much extra cushion you have.

Divide that number by 2.

Squash your corner, then measure up from the corner by that amount. That’s where you need to put the pin.

My cushion was 50 cm square and I needed it to be 35 cm. So that was 15 cm I had extra. I measured up each corner 7.5 cm and pinned there. That extra 15 cm gave the cushion its depth.

The instructions below are for a cushion 35 cm by 35 cm, but if you wanted to make one a different size, just change the dimensions.

How to Make a Piped Box Cushion

You Will Need

1 m cotton fabric (if it’s very light, like mine was, you’ll also need fusible interfacing to make it heavier), a boxed cushion or piece of foam, 4 m piping cord, bias binding if you don’t want to make your own strips (these are affiliate links).

Cutting Out

Cut out 1 square of fabric 38 cm x 38 cm and 2 rectangles 38 cm x 25 cm.
For the side piece, cut a strip 160 cm x 17 cm. You’ll probably need to cut 2 pieces and join them together.

You will also need 320 cm of piping cord, cut in half and either 2 pieces of bias binding 160 cm each or bias strips cut from your fabric.

Making the Bias Strips

You could skip this stage and use ready made bias binding. It’s easy enough to make your own strips though, especially as you don’t have to turn them into bias binding.

If you want to make your own strips, this is how to do it!

1. Take a large square of fabric and fold in half on the diagonal. Pin.

2. Measure 2 cm away from the fold, all the way along. Draw a line with a pencil or a fabric pen.

3. From the line you have just drawn, measure 4 cm away from it all the way along. Draw another line.

You might need to draw an additional line 4 cm away from this one if you need more bias strips.

4. Cut along the lines. This is easier with a rotary cutter (affiliate link).

5. Join the strips together by pinning them at right angles and sewing across from corner to corner. Cut the corner off.

Making the Piping

This was actually my first attempt at piping!

For the piping at the top of the cushion, I slipped the cord inside the bias strips and then pinned it to then cushion top. This was fiddly, so to make the second lot to go around the bottom, I made the piping first, which proved to be quite a lot easier.

To make the piping, fold the bias strip in half and press with your finger. You don’t need a proper crease here, it’s just to get the cord in the middle.

Pop the cord inside the bias strip.

Using a zip foot, sew along the folded bias strip close to the cord, so that the cord is enclosed inside the bias strip.

Making the Cushion

1. Take the cushion top and lay it right side up. With the cord inwards, pin the piping around the edge of the cushion top. Line the raw edge of the piping up with the raw edge of the cushion top and when you get to a corner, snip the bias strip so that it bends around the corner.

When 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.

2. Sew the piping to the cushion top.

3. Hem the short edges of the side section.

4. With the right sides together and starting at the back of the cushion, pin the side piece all the way round the cushion top. When you get back to where you started, the ends should overlap.

5. Take one of the back pieces and hem one of the long edges. Repeat for the other back piece.

6. Arrange the back pieces so that they are both right side up with the hemmed edges in the middle and overlapping so that they are the same size as the top piece.

7. Pin the piping to the bottom section then sew it in place, in the same way as you did with the cushion top.

8. With the right sides together, pin the bottom section with the piping to the side piece. Sew, then trim the seams and turn out.

9. Stuff your cushion into the cover.

I was pretty happy with the results. I’m guessing that using piping gets better with practice.

Linking up here.

Comet Star Quilt Block

June 23, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Comet Star Quilt Block

I love quilt blocks but I’ve never made a quilt.

Usually I stick to quicker projects because I have a tendency to not finish things if they take too long. I currently have three unfinished crocheted blankets for this reason!

Quilt blocks don’t have to be used in tiny squares to make a quilt large enough to cover a double bed. They can be used in all kinds of other ways too. And if you did want to make a big quilt, you could just use bigger blocks!

My favourite way to use quilt blocks is on cushions. I actually used this quilt block, plus the pinwheel and the 8 pointed star to make these cushions.

For other quick projects (quicker than a quilt anyway!), they can be used on bags and purses. Or you could make a little quilt for a child. I have a Pinterest board devoted to this kind of thing!

How to Make a Comet Star Quilt Block

Although they sometimes look complicated, most quilt blocks are actually quite simple.

They are usually squares divided up into other squares and triangles. The comet star quilt block is made up of 1 square and 16 triangles, all the same size, in 3 different colours.

When you have drawn the template, you will only need to cut out 1 square and 1 triangle, although you might prefer to have 3 triangles so that you have 1 for cutting out each colour.

Making the Template

The first thing to do is to decide how big you need your square block to be. The template will not include seam allowances, so the finished template will be the actual size of the finished block.

When you have drawn a square, divide it into 9 equal squares. You could either fold it or measure it. Measuring will be much easier if the dimensions of your square are divisible by 3!

The centre square stays a square. The other squares will need to be halved to make 2 triangles each.

Starting in 1 corner and working around the outside of the central square, divide 2 squares one way, then the next 2 the opposite way. Keep going like this until you have gone all the way round.

At this point you might like to decide which colours to use if you haven’t already.

Cutting Out the Pieces

You will need to cut out the central square and 1 of the triangles. You might prefer to cut out 3 of the triangles so that you have 1 for each colour.

When you are cutting, remember to add a seam allowance!

Cut 1 square and 4 triangles from Colour A.

Cut 4 triangles from Colour B.

Cut 8 triangles from Colour C. This will be the background.

Sewing Up the Quilt Block

Arrange the pieces.

Sew each pair of triangles together so that you have 9 squares.

Then sew the squares in each row together so that you have three rows, each with 3 squares in.

Sew the rows together.

You might want to add a border. The way I did this on my quilt clock cushions was to sew 2 pieces of fabric the same length as the side of the square, one on each side. Then I sewed 2 more pieces on the other side that included the border pieces.

This is for a different quilt block, but you get the idea!

If you need more inspiration, then please take a look at my Quilts and Quilting Pinterest board!

A Budget Friendly Cushion Tutorial

May 19, 2016 · 16 Comments

A Budget Friendly Cushion Tutorial

An easy and inexpensive way to change things up a bit at home is to change the cushions. It’s possible to change the feel of a room quite a lot by swapping the cushions for ones with different colours and textures, and maybe some different throws too.

Although changing the cushions is cheaper than buying new furniture, if you are on a budget, you might not have that option. Even if you make your own, fabric can be expensive and you’ll probably need more than what you have left over from another project. You could make patchwork cushion covers (more about that another time!), but patchwork anything is time consuming.

This tutorial shows how to make cushion covers quickly, easily and cheaply. My secret is to use tea towels!

Tea towels can be bought very inexpensively from shops like Poundland and you can often find nice ones that co-ordinate. The ones I used came from Sainsbury’s. I’ve included some affiliate links at the bottom for some pretty tea towels I found on Amazon if you don’t feel like leaving the house!

Tea towel cushion covers are about the right size for a 45 cm x 45 cm cushion pad (affiliate link). You could just use the pads from your existing cushions if you didn’t want to buy new ones.

There is some sewing involved (this is a blog about sewing after all!), but actually not that much. It’s possible to sew the cushion covers by hand without it taking ages.

So here is a cushion tutorial showing how to make cushion covers easily, quickly and inexpensively!

A Very Easy Budget Friendly Cushion Tutorial

You will need: tea towels (see below for my affiliate links for some pretty ones!), a cushion pad (affiliate link), usual sewing supplies.

1. Take the tea towel you are using for the front of the cushion and cut it into a square. The easiest way to do this is to fold it over so that it makes a triangle and cut the bottom of the tea towel off.

2. Take the tea towel you are using for the back of the cushion. Cut it in half.

3. With the right sides together, place the top back piece on the front piece so that the tops and the sides are aligned. Use the hemmed edge of the tea towel as the bottom edge of the back piece. That way you won’t need to hem it!

4. Take the bottom back piece and lay that over the top, with the bottom and side edges aligned with the bottom and side edges of the front and the hemmed edge at the top.

5. Pin in place, then sew all the way around the edge.

6. Trim the seams and cut off the corners.

7. Turn it out and put the cover on the cushion pad.

Here are some affiliate links for nice tea towels.

If you liked this post, you might also like these.

Ways to Save on Crafting Supplies

Drawstring Bag From a Pillowcase

Linking up here.

Reindeer Christmas Cushion Tutorial

How to Make a Christmas Reindeer Cushion

You Will Need

Cutting Out

Sewing Up

Tips and Suggestions

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A Christmas Cushion Tutorial: How to Make a Cushion That Looks Like a Present

How to Make a Christmas Present Cushion

You Will Need:

Cutting Out

Sewing the Front

Sewing the Back

Making Up the Cushion

Making the Bow

Attaching the Bow to the Cushion

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A Piped Box Cushion Tutorial

How to Turn a Normal Cushion into a Box Cushion

How to Make a Piped Box Cushion

You Will Need

Cutting Out

Making the Bias Strips

Making the Piping

Making the Cushion

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Comet Star Quilt Block

How to Make a Comet Star Quilt Block

Making the Template

Cutting Out the Pieces

Sewing Up the Quilt Block

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A Budget Friendly Cushion Tutorial

A Very Easy Budget Friendly Cushion Tutorial

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