Flower Power cushion cover workshop

When I was looking at the Knitting and Stitching Show website, I saw there were lots of workshops we could do - between an hour and two hours long, and for a really reasonable price!  We took the opportunity to make the 'Flower Power cushion cover' - for the very reasonable price of £10, it seemed like a bargain opportunity to learn a little more about using our sewing machines and making something pretty for the house!

Using the needle threader

Yes I know - ten months of sewing and I still didn't know how to use my needle threader!  I should be ashamed!  Obviously I could have checked online but I could thread it myself (usually!) so I never quite got round to it.  Wendy, our tutor, was on hand though to show us how.  Surprise surprise, it's very simple, and now it'll save me precious seconds at home when I go to thread my machine!

Appliqué

My previous cushion was my first go at appliqué, so it was great to have another try under some guidance.  I chose dark thread to go over my flowers - just to show off any mistakes, of course - so I had to be extra careful.  The bottom flower was a bit of a fiasco, but fortunately I covered it over with the second one so the overall effect was pretty pleasing!

Envelope back cushion

An envelope back was the perfect thing to be doing in the hour long session we had.  Obviously, I started off my cushion making with a zip cushion (for some reason I always pick the hard things first!), but the envelope back is so easy to do and really effective.  Unfortunately I was running out of time in the workshop so under pressure I managed to get the wrong part of my envelope overlapping.  Still, I think it looks lovely and is so much simpler to do than the zip.

Although the hour was pushing things a bit, it was a great chance to have a play with the sewing machine (which was a beautiful Janome - I got sewing machine envy) and it was lovely to have something to take home and show off.  Now that a lot of the work on the house is finished, I'm going to get the spare room cleared and it will look perfect on the bed in there!