As one of my final Australian sewing projects, I made my sister a cushion/pillow for her sofa. We had previously discussed the lack of such adornments and I had been wanting to make her something before we left anyway. I had also decided to recycle an old baby blanket of my daughter’s and cut it up for scraps at the same time. So a few HSTs later, a bit of wrestling with the also-recycled fleece for batting while quilting, and a mathematical fluke that the finished size was exactly right for the pillow form without any prior calculations and I had this:
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| Sideways envelope closure as I didn’t think before sewing it together! |
Other than the white solid, the whole thing is made from Darling’s old blanket – the pink gingham was the backing, the fleece batting is now used to make it cushy-er (is so a word!) and the scraps from the front were odd-sized but the beauty of HSTs is being able to trim them all to the same size. The pillow insert is also recycled from one of our old cushions we were going to have just thrown out in the Big Move. And the best part? My sister loves it. Sure my brother-in-law complains it’s a little girly, but so what?! Finished size is approximately 17″ x 17″.
On the way to Japan we spent a few days in Cairns with my in-laws. While there, I was desperate to sew and thought that why not kill two birds with one stone again. I’ll make another cushion and give it to my mother-in-law. So off to Spotlight for one last time to pick out some fabrics with my MIL and a bit of fiddling getting to know her sewing machine and voila! A European-sized cover, this time measured and planned and finishing at 66cm x 66cm (approx 27″ x 27″). This time without the insert as she was going to buy it later.
I’m loving envelope closures. So quick and easy, and I like to do a double stitch line for the overlapping hem to make it seem just a little bit fancier. Even if staring at those spots as the material fed through the machine was a little trippy and made it hard to focus on staying straight! And I even got to keep the leftovers/scraps. We all know that’s just awesome. This one also made me itch to buy a jelly roll or two to try out some of the patterns I’ve been ogling or designing. I mean, sure, I could buy yardage and cut but SIGH! That’s just so much work…
Your’s lazily,
Alyce xx
Cherie says
The pillows look awesome! Both styles are so effective. Hahaha…or a charm pack to go with that jelly roll =D
AlyceB says
Thanks Cherie!! Hehe, or just any fabric really, if we’re honest about it 😉
Amanda says
Just found this blog post. Love both cushions!!!! Been trying to decide what to do for a cushion for my MIL too. Glad I’m not the only one who likes to tackle repurposing items. I have a cot quilt ready to baste and quilt but I’m planning to use a polar fleece blanket for batting. I don’t have a walking foot so haven’t been brave enough to try quilting it yet….