My friend and her boyfriend got engaged back in Northern Ireland at Easter time, and I was pondering what to get them as an engagement present. A bit mortified because it had taken me so long to get something sorted, I decided that it would be nice to make them something, rather than just buy a gift - that, as well as the few hundred miles of distance between us, might excuse the lateness...!
I went down to Fabric Land here in Bristol to buy fabric, and got a gorgeous cream crepe - I asked the girl serving whether she thought it would be good for cushion, and her only comment was 'Well...it's cream"! So that was a yes, and I'm trusting that the colour of the fabric isn't too challenging for them! I also had some of the fabric left from which I made my bunting back in May - I thought it would be ideal for my letters.
Ideally I would have used a 14" zip, but because I had already sewn everything together, I ended up using a 12", as there just wasn't enough space to fit the longer length in at the corners of my material. One of these days I will definitely install the zip at the right time - I continue to live in hope! However, in the end it looked fine - more coincidence than my skills, I can assure you!
Popped my little label on the back of the cushion - at least this shows that it's handmade, so hopefully that adds charm to the little flaw underneath, haha! The little lip around the zip hides the zip nicely, which I think is a nice little effect as well.
For a first attempt at a cushion, I'm really pleased - and the bride-to-be was as well, which is really the most important thing! What a relief!
So may I present my first ever cushion...
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| LOVE cushion |
I went down to Fabric Land here in Bristol to buy fabric, and got a gorgeous cream crepe - I asked the girl serving whether she thought it would be good for cushion, and her only comment was 'Well...it's cream"! So that was a yes, and I'm trusting that the colour of the fabric isn't too challenging for them! I also had some of the fabric left from which I made my bunting back in May - I thought it would be ideal for my letters.
There were a few great challenges for me with my first cushion
1. Letters
This was something a wee bit different - cutting out letters from fabric and then sewing them onto the cushion. I used a zigzag stitch on my machine to go round the edge of each letter, and this worked really well - it was a cute little effect, and also stopped the edges from fraying.
1. Letters
This was something a wee bit different - cutting out letters from fabric and then sewing them onto the cushion. I used a zigzag stitch on my machine to go round the edge of each letter, and this worked really well - it was a cute little effect, and also stopped the edges from fraying.
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| Template letters |
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| Cut out letters |
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| "L" with a zig-zag stitch around the edges |
2. Putting in a zipper
Zippers continue to be a challenge!
Please, please, please, when you're making a cushion, don't do what I did. I got so carried away with all my cutting out of letters and all sorts that before I even thought about it, I'd sewn up the other sides of the cushion, and left the zipper til last! Disaster - as all good sewists know, you should put your zipper in as early as possible. This understandably led to a bit of complexity!
Popped my little label on the back of the cushion - at least this shows that it's handmade, so hopefully that adds charm to the little flaw underneath, haha! The little lip around the zip hides the zip nicely, which I think is a nice little effect as well.
For a first attempt at a cushion, I'm really pleased - and the bride-to-be was as well, which is really the most important thing! What a relief!
Love it! Really effective! xx
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