Patchwork Cushion // Let's Make a Cushion!

The final step of these cushion is definitely the easiest, and also probably the most useful because you can use it to make any simple cushion (you can find all the other parts here). In fact all the cushions in the above photo are made in this way. So you can make some to match (or not match like mine) to go with your fancy patchwork, ooh la la.

To finish off the cushions I used more white fabric but you can go with anything you like, more patchwork, the same fabric as the front, or go crazy (well within reason) and use something totally different.

Cut yourself two rectangles of your backing fabric, they need to be the same width as your cushion top and several inches longer than half the length. This will mean when you put them on the back of your cushion top they will over lap to make your opening for the cushion pad without showing off the pad when you use them.

You need to 'hem' one of the longer edges of each rectangle. Hemming is a seriously useful technique and you will use it again and again. To hem the long edge, turn your iron on to the hottest heat your fabric can handle, test it first on a bit you won't be using. Then fold over about 1cm, towards the wrong side of your fabric, of this long edge and press it down with you hot iron, then fold it over again 1cm and press again. Pin this down and then sew along the edge of the folds on both backing rectangles:

Then you can put the 'right side' of your backing fabric rectangles onto the right side of your cushion top. You'll need them to overlap with the hemmed edges in the middle like this:

Then you can pit it in place. Now sew a straight seam all the way around the edge, use a 1/2" seam allowance this time, make sure you put you needles down in the corner to turn around and remember to sew a few 'back stitches' at the beginning and end to make it extra strong. Now 'finish' the edges of your fabric with either zig zag stitching or pinking sheers.

Finally turn your cushion cover out the right way through the hole and press the edges. Stuff it with your cushion par and Tada! You make a cushion!

Wow you actually made something with your sewing machine and it looks amazing! Well thanks for sticking with me for this step-by-step sewing project. I hope you have found it helpful. Over the next couple of weeks I will show you a few other things I have been up to and then I am going to go through another step-by-step beginner project to make a skirt. Yipee. Looking forward to it. Zoe xx

Patchwork Cushion // Sew The Lining To Your Patch Work Cushion Tops

A little later than scheduled (I know you are probably all weeping over the extra wait so sorry about that ;) ) but for today's tutorial we are going to be lining our cushions tops (that we made here and here). We need to line them so that the seams, which are unfinished, will be protected from fraying. You'll need to get your lining fabric ready for this. You should have one metre of fabric, it won't be quite a metre square as the width will either be 115cm or 150cm. You need to cut this length of fabric in half, make sure you cut starting on the shorter side, so you end up with 2 rectangles of lining fabric 50cm by either 115cm or 150cm.

Each of these rectangles will provide enough fabric to line the cushion cover and make the cushion back (this part will be next week). Let's start with lining the checkerboard cushion cover. You can put this cover onto your lining fabric, lining up one side of the checkerboard with one short end of your rectangle, and cut yourself a square of lining fabric the same size as the checkerboard.

When you have two squares, one your patchwork checkerboard and one your lining, put them together with the 'wrong side' of your lining fabric and the back of the patchwork with all the seams on the inside. Pin them in place.

Take them over to your sewing machine and stitch a line down the centre seams, in between the patches. We call stitching along the seams 'stitching in the ditch'. It take a little bit of practice to get it nice and straight but it doesn't matter too much of you stray over. When you have done the centre seam, work out towards the edge of the cushion 'stitching in the ditch' along every other seam until you get to the edge.

Then turn your cushion top around and again starting in the centre seam, stitch in the ditch along all the seams in the other direction. When you are down the lining side will show all your stitching but from the front you won't be able to see much of it at all.

Repeat these steps with your 'half square triangle' cushion top. Stitch in the ditch along all the seams, you don't need to sew the diagonals on this one. Start in the centre and work
your way out towards the edge.

When you have done both you are all ready to start making your patchwork cushion tops into a cushion cover. The final part of these tutorials will cover how to make it into a simple envelope cushion so come back and have a look. Zoe x

Patchwork Cushion // Cut and Sew Your Fabric For the Checkerboard Cushion

So thanks for sticking with me through some sewing basics. Today its time to start a simple sew project. By now you should have what you need to make 2 cushions. We will start with the top for the checkerboard cushion. This tutorial will results in a classic patch used in many quilts, so you can easily use these instructions to make patches to sew together to make a larger project if you fancy it. Today we will just start with one.

Prepare Your Fabric
You should have 1m of lining fabric and then 2 fat quarters of fabric for the checkerboard. If you haven't already you will need to wash this fabric before you start cutting, once it's dry iron it ready. You need to cut your two fat quarters in half, one half will be used for this cushion and the other for the half square triangle cushion. You may have bought 1.25m of fabric to be both your lining and 1 colour for the checkerboard. If you did this then cut off the extra 25cm of fabric and cut this in half to give you two halves of fat quarters.

Make a Pattern
Once your fabric is ready you need to make your self a pattern, or a template for the shape and size of the pieces you need to cut out. On some normal paper (I use greaseproof paper from the kitchen because its bigger) draw a rectangle that measures 2 1/2" by 20". Cut it out.


Cut Your Pattern Pieces Out of the Fabric
Now draw around your rectangle pattern piece 4 times onto both of your half fat quarter pieces. Then using your fabric scissors cut these out:

You should now have 8 strips of fabric, 4 from each colour.

Start Sewing
You can now start to sew these together. Start by putting one black piece right sides together with one white piece and pinning into place:

Then use a 1/4" seam allowance to sew along one of the long sides:

Now open out the two pieces. Take another white rectangle and line right side and a long edge up with the right side of the other long edge of the black piece, pin and sew using another 1/4 inch seam allowance. Keep on adding your rectangles, alternating colours, until you have something that looks like this:

Press your Seams
To get your cushion top looking sharp and neat you are going to need to press the seams. When quilting the general rules for pressing seams are to
1. Press towards the dark side and
2. Press in alternating directions.
It won't always be possible to do both of these so you have to work out which is more important. We press towards the dark side so that you can't see the darker fabric seam showing through on the front. We press in alternating directions so that when you come to sewing several seams together at a corner point they will lie nice and flat.

On this occasion we can do both. So at every seam, using your hot iron and ironing board, press the seam towards the dark side. Avoid using steam because it can distort the shape of the pattern pieces. When you are done you should have a patch that looks like this from the back:

And when you turn it over your patch will be lovely and flat and your seams beautifully crisp:

Turn Stripes into Check
Now I know so far that this doesn't look much like a checkerboard. Well quilters try to be very thrifty with their time by minimising the steps they need to do. To turn this into a checker board we need to get our pattern piece (the paper rectangle) and use it to cut strips of the same width (2 1/2") across:

Cut all the way along until you have 8 strips:

Now you can turn every other strip upside down:

And you can see how the checkerboard will start to form. Put every second strip right sides together with the strip before it and stitch along one long edge with you 1/6" seam allowance:

Open these out and each pair, with right sides together, with another pair:

Then open these out and sew these two together along one side with a 1/4" seam allowance:

Now you have sewn it all together you just need to give all your seams a final Press. This time you won't be able to follow both rules but you can press in alternating directions to give you this:

And give it a good press from the front side too to give you a lovely checkerboard patch:

Easy as that! Even mine hasn't matched up quite perfectly but you should definitely be on your way to making yourself a patchwork cushion. Yippee! On Tuesday I will go through how to make the half square triangle patches. Zoe xx

Patchwork Cushion // Cut and Sew Your Fabric For the Half Square Triangle Cushion

On Friday I went through the steps to make yourself a 'checkerboard' cushion top and today we will go through making a half square triangle cushion top. The cutting and sewing technique I am going to go through is one that is used very often in patch working and quilt making. Just as with the checkerboard, you sew some, then you cut some and then you sew some more to help make your work quicker and easier.

You should have a 'half fat quarter' left of both your fabrics from making your checkerboard top. You will need both of these for this part. Cut each of these 'half fat quarters' into 8 squares that measure 5" by 5". You can make yourself a paper template again if you like and draw around it onto the fabric, or you can just draw your line straight onto the fabric and then cut them out.

 When you have 8 squares of each colour draw a line down the diagonal centre of all the lighter coloured fabric squares on the 'wrong side'. Then put each of these right sides together with a square of the other colour. You might want to pin these in place but you can probably manage without on this occasion.

Then sew a line of straight stitching on either side of this drawn line. The sewn lines should be 1/4 inch away from row drawn line. You might want to draw these lines on first but you can also use the edge of your presser foot as a guide.

Do this with all 8 pairs of squares. Then cut along the drawn line:

When you then open these out you will get your half square triangles:

 You can then press the seam 'to the dark side'. Give them a good press on both sides to make the seam lie nice and flat. You can use these half square triangles in any way you like, try out different arrangements for them, until you are happy with the layout. (You could also make lot's more using this method to make yourself a union flag quilt if you are feeling brave.)

But when you are happy with your arrangement, sew one row at a time together, with right sides together. Then press all these seams. Try and alternate the seam pressing and if you can also press towards the dark side. Then sew all your rows together to make your finished cushion top.

And you have finished another cushion top! Woop! If you have any questions about the steps so far, then just leave a comment and I will try to get back to you. On Friday I will go through how to line these cushion tops so don't forget to come back for that, Zoe xx

Patchwork Cushion // What You'll Need

YEY!  We have finished an introduction to sewing in Sewing School! Now its time to start making something. Woohoo! I have given you a list of ideas to work on but this tutorial is going to be broken down into bite sized chunks so even the most apprehensive learner will be able to take it all in. Over the next few weeks I will be going through the steps to make these two patchwork cushions. Mine are very simple black and white but you can make them from any fabric you like.

The first cushion is the checker board cushion:

And I'll also be sharing instructions for making a 'half square triangle' cushion:

To make both cushions you will need:

1 Fat Quarter (quarter of a metre) of fabric 1
1 Fat Quarter of fabric 2
1 Metre of fabric to line and back the cushions
2 16 inch square cushion pads
Coordinating thread
Sewing Machine and other basic supplies

My fabric 1 is the black fabric, my fabric 2 is white and I also used white for the lining and backing. So altogether I had 1 fat quarter of black and 1.25m of white. When choosing your thread choose a colour that match the darker of your two fabrics, so I used black thread. When you get your fabric make sure you prewash them to prepare them for sewing.

This is how the steps will be broken down:
1. Cut and Sew your fabric for the checkerboard cushion
2. Cut and Sew your fabric for the half square triangle cushion
3. Sew the lining onto your cushion top
4. Sew Up a Cushion

Come back on Friday and we can start cutting your fabric.  Zoe x