A Cushion Cover Sruce-up

I've never been one to be afraid of colour I can live with it easily...If nothing matches in the house it doesn't worry me. So when choosing the fabric off-cuts to recover my cushions (the others went shabby real quick) my bright yellow walls didn't come into the equation at all.

Anyway I can't do much with the walls they have to stay yellow, my house is still not fixed from the Earthquake. So no renovating, or painting until the claims settled...Would you believe it's almost five years on and I'm still living with a broken slab etc. Very cold in winter...

I made the cushion covers envelope style with a sewn border around the edges...With no zips to sew it was a very happy sewing day. I must say the cushion covers with the invisible zips did not last. Too many pets and a dog that thinks it's a pony, not a Labrador that it was born to be, plus with little and big children all adding to the wear and tear...So basically I went back to my old style of making cushion covers, easy with no fuss. Washing these covers is a breeze because they just slip off.

From my experience, buying the most expensive material at $60.00 a metre is not good either when you find out that cushion cover fabric still falls to bits...I now settle for cheap, or buying fabric in the sales.

Dog Cushion for the Crate

I've been into my stash and this waterproof fabric was for an apron, an art apron to be exact. But I never got round to sewing this one, so the dog is benefiting from a new cushion. I'm making a big envelope style cushion, stuffed with old Dacron that I have saved for 'a rainy day'.

It was a shame I didn't have enough fabric for the cushion to actually fit the crate. Never mind, the dog is coping with an overstuffed cushion.... I don't know how many times I have sewn a comfortable cushion, or a polar fleece blanket. I even made a waterproof cover for a thick foam mattress I had cut to size for the dog crate...

The covered mattress was a perfect fit and you could even take the waterproof cover off to wash it. Except the dog worked out it was done up with Velcro and started to pull the Velcro and then bit all the foam.....Totally destroyed!

Next I made polar fleece blankets,  but they got chewed at too. These were cheap to replace but then the dog kept getting big spots on her chin (she looked like a witch). I read somewhere that plastic causes this, so polar fleece was out.

Feeling very sorry for the dog lying on hard plastic I went out and bought her a Dacron duvet inner and I covered this with an old duvet cover. All was well until her rear end decided to poop all over her crate with one sock amongst the mix...You can guess I threw it all out!

You may think she is doing all this out of boredom, she is not...They say it takes three years for these dogs to grow-up. I agree she is still a pup in a big body who loves to chew! Now I am feeling very pleased with myself I've made a very waterproof envelope style cushion. The dog knows nothing about zips, so she hasn't worked out how to get at the Dacron inside.

Do you crate your dog? It's this dogs den, she is very happy in it (wished I'd known about dogs and their dens years ago). Sometimes you can't find her and she's wandered off to her crate and is sitting inside with the door open.... It's her time away from the pesky cats. They are also trying to claim the crate for themselves. Must be my cushion!

I pinned the fabric in the end, tape just kept moving
 and unsticking. It was rather a hard job!

Shame it didn't fit, but I'll make more I'm
sure!

Save Dollars by Make Your Own Cushion Inners

Lets Make a Cushion Cover

Are you new to sewing, or just a kid who wants to sew his mum a cushion  Do you want to use an invisible zip? Making a cushion cover is fun and fairly simple. The tricky part is the invisible zip...

There are plenty of invisible zip tutorials on the Internet. But I learn best by pictures, and so do a lot of children, so this video a good one for a beginner to learn from.

Materials Needed

Approximately 1 metre of fabric if fabric has a nap

1 cushion inner/ or make your own from an old pillow

Thread to match fabric

Pins

Tape measure/ quilters ruler

1 Invisible zip 30- 35 cm. Size will depend on cushion cover

Newsprint/paper to make pattern

Sewing machine

Overlocker/Serger a zig-zag stitch

Sharp scissors

Quilters cutting mat

What Does Nap Mean?

Nap is fabric that has a pile like velvet. This makes the fabric look different shades of colour from different angles. Hence you need to cut the fabric in the same direction, or the garment you are sewing will look like you have used two different fabrics.

Cushion size

Is approximately 46 cm. Cover size is approximately 43cm.

Okay Lets Start Sewing

Firstly choose the fabric, check for one way designs and nap. Make sure the nap is going the right way if you chooses something like velvet, fur, etc. The big one is to check for flaws in the fabric, there is nothing worse than sewing up your creation and you spot a flaw.

Oh no a flaw, I didn't check  the fabric before I cut out the
cover so now I have one flawed cushion!

Make the pattern out of newsprint. I used a 43x43cm  (17") pattern
for a 46x46cm  (18") cushion inner.

Purchase a invisible zip to match the fabric. Mine is 30-35cm long

Using a iron, not too hot. Iron the zipper teeth flat on the wrong
side, one side at a time. Refer to video above. 

Three pairs of cushion covers ready to sew out of 1 1/2 metres
fabric. Fabric bought from Spotlight

Overlock the edge of fabric you are sewing the zip on to. Make
sure you have the design and Nap of the fabric going the right
 way. The zip is at the bottom of the cushion.

Pin zip approximately 5/8" from the overlocked edge

Use an invisible zip foot start to sew the zip. 

Get ready to start to turning the zip to pin to  the other side.
Refer to video...

Zip turned over now. Pin it to sew. Excuse the messy
sewing mat...

The inside/ wrong side of  zip finished

Using a zipper foot sew up to zip stitching and stitch a little bit over.
 It doesn't matter if you stitch a bit below the zip stitching.

This is how the zip will look on the out side of the cover.

Pin 5/8" seams around the cover on wrong side.

Change machine to a straight stitching foot and sew seams.

Next overlock/serge the rest of seams

You don't need to tie off overlocker stitches because you are
going to cut them off.

Cut straight across the corners and beware of the seam. Use fabric
 glue where you have cut to prevent fraying. This is optional.

Use something pointy/or a tool designed for poking out corners.
 This makes the sewn corners nice and square

Place the cushion into the cushion cover. 

If you want a tighter cover just subtract  measurements when
drafting the pattern. If you want a looser  cover just add measurements.
 Don't forget your  seam allowance though. 

The Designer

Lately I have had a sewing fan ........Firstly it was......'Can you make me into a Zombie?' (for Halloween). It had to be a certain type of zombie and we achieved the look he wanted with muslin cut according to his instructions (all this done at the last minute).

Yesterday it was 'Can you make me a Sunflower cushion?' It had to be 'this small, stuffed with cotton balls' ( he stuffs everything with cotton balls).  I was presented with a drawn design carefully coloured in.  I did try to put him off but he was very persistent...........So after school I was expected to make the cushion......There was one little problem though when I went to get the felt.......A naughty black pussy cat had been using the box of felts as a toilet........what a smell! The bright yellow was the worst hit, it smelt totally of cat pee. Yuk!.......I had no other felt so into the washing machine all the felt went...... It fixed with a little squirt of detergent and disinfectant. Then all the felts came out smelling just fine. Once it dried I was ready to start......

I'm not a quilter or an applique sewer.....So I just did the best I could and hoped it would meet the approval of the designer........I did pass with a smile and one very happy chappy took his little aqua dacron stuffed cushion into his room.

What was the wee pillow for?  It was for SpongeBob. There's talk now about a Buttercup cushion.....but I'm just closing my ears!

It's five inches square it looks rather wonky in photo but it's not.....
The flower is made of felt and the cushion a polyester/cotton blend

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz......SpongeBob resting!