Thursday 26 May 2011

Handmade Thursday - Cushions

I'm a little sad that my sewing classes have already come to an end.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning a new skill, meeting some lovely new people and, if I'm honest it was great to get out of the house one evening a week and do something for myself leaving him indoors to deal with the toddler-bedtime-traumas.

Hopefully what I've learnt on the beautifully behaved and well mannered machines provided during the lessons will translate to my rather more petulant and unpredictable machine at home.



My cushions are finally completed.  I've made them for Ruby's playhouse where she has rather more cushions than the soft furnishing department of John Lewis already. But still, she likes to cosy down with her books and her teddies 'upstairs' in the playhouse, and these two new additions make it even more snuggley.



Because I was too busy gassing on Twitter and not concentrating, I did mess up whilst cutting the fabric for the second one, so ended up having two cushions which are the reverse of each other.  Nevermind, I quite like this happy accident, and if anyone should ask then I shall tell them it was completely, deliberately intended.



I mastered the art of button-holes, which on the machine I used was a breeze.  It basically does it all for you, all you need to do is keep your foot on the pedal - my kind of sewing!

Armed now with my pattern and the knowledge of how to make a cushion which won't fall to bits, I'm planning to completely stuff our new house with soft furnishings (won't the old man be pleased?!).  I've already had a splurge on eBay, Ikea and a boot sale and now have an arsenal of fabby fabrics ripe for cushion-making.  I even picked up two brand new feather filled cushion pads at the boot sale for 50p.

By the way, you know I'm hugely needy I love comments and Blogger is up to it's tricks again. If you can't log in to leave comments and you want to, please leave it as 'anonymous' and leave you're twitter name. x

Pop on over to White Lily Green to see what everyone else has been making.

Inspire Me Beautiful

19 comments:

  1. Well done Liz, welcome to my world! You wait and see how much fabric you acquire ! Keep up the good work, and glad you loved your sewing class!@neverforgetcouk

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  2. Lovely cushions. I've never mastered buttonholes :(

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  3. Well done!! They are so cute! I'm thinking about taking some sewing lessons myself! :)

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  4. Lovely fabric and you can do buttonholes - something I can only aspire to!

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  5. Well done they're super and I'm sure Ruby will love them. Lucky thing! Would love to know where you get the actual cushion inside bits from (erm as technical as I can get) as I can't find them for less than a fiver round here.

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  6. Thanks everyone!! I'm rather pleased with them :0)

    Maria - I got my cushion pads from Dunelm Mills. They are feather ones so more expensive than polyester - but look better. I think they were about a fiver. Apart from my lucky find at the boot sale, I've been considering buying second-hand cushions with feather inserts from charity shops (just for the pad!) and washing them. I know you can wash feather cushions but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough :0(

    Missie Lizzie (Blogger, you're really getting on my wick. I can't even comment on my OWN blog? WFT)

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  7. Lovely! I've never attempted a button hole - I get scared by the mention of a different 'foot' on the machine, worried I'd never get the original one back on again. But then I am ridiculous and only recently mastered putting petrol in my car.

    I really miss my craft group, it's not on at the moment as the lady who runs it is setting up a new business. I fear it may never come back :-(

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  8. Gorgeous! My sewing machine is still lying idle - mainly because I haven't got any material (and haven't got my a in g to get any). I am inspired by your cushions and skill (buttonholes!) -might just give me the push I need to get going x

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  9. The cushions are fab, I have a sack that's awaiting a child-free day to be transformed into a cushion.

    My sewing machine does button holes but I've never tried, I shall have to have a practice as yours look great!

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  10. Gorgeous cushions and you play down your skills, button holes on a machine are an art I still haven't mastered in almost 20 years of ownership! If buttonholes are needed, and I take great steps to avoid them, I have to do them tediously by hand.

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  11. Awwwww wow!!! Those are AMAZING!!!! I don't think the 'mistake' matters at all. They are gorgeous!

    Well done you! Thank you so much for linking up!

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  12. The cushions look great, well done :)

    You reminded me, I need to order a real for my sewing machine x

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  13. utterly gorgeous! well done you x

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  14. *sighs happily* how gorgeous! I am looking forward to the end of my current (lovely) chaos and getting back to some making!

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  15. Ahh thanks for your lovely comments.

    Can't wait to make some more :0)

    (it's me, commenting on my own blog *damn you Blogger*)

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  16. Those cushions are gorgeous - I love them.

    Imagine how much they'd cost in a fancy shop :-) !

    @theWriteRach

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  17. Hiya
    I’m just sending out a quick message to let people know their Faith Hope and Charity Swapping partners. Days of spreedsheet fiddling I tell you, if this works it’s going on my CV! I won’t have access to a PC from Tues 31st until June 6th – so any questions will have to wait til I get back I’m afraid. I’m going to put up a quick post on the rules before I go, but for now you can check out your partner’s blog and start figuring out what they might like.
    Your swap partner is Wendy at The Butterfly Balcony

    http://thebutterflybalcony.blogspot.com
    Thanks for playing along!
    Lakota

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  18. These cushions are gorgeous! I love the colours!

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