Easy Peasy Half Hour Cushion Cover

Last Friday evening, I was really pleased as I had a bit of spare time to whip up a couple of cushion covers.

They are for my son, George, as I'd promised to make him some for his student house in Cheltenham (it was looking a bit sparse on home comfort front!)

I knew this fabric was perfect for George as he has visited all the featured cities...New York, Paris, London, Rome.....twice as many as me!!

I had been out shopping (and lunching) with my mum and sisters on Friday daytime (it's a hard life!) and picked up a couple of nice cushion inners.

The method of making these cushion covers is so quick and easy I thought I'd show you how......

This is my very first tutorial so please bear with me.....

Gulp!

My cushion inners are 20"/51cm square and the tutorial is based on this size. It can easily be adapted to other sizes by adjusting the measurements slightly. It works best with sizes of 16"-20".

Do you remember my Cushion Cover on a Whim post in the summer?

This was the method I used then.

 It's so great for a quick and easy solution to brightening up a dark or dull corner with a new cushion in next to no time ( about half an hour).....

To make an easy cushion cover, you will need:

20"/51cm length of full width (44"/110cm) fabric

Thread

20"/51cm Cushion inner

Sewing machine

Rotary cutter/scissors

Ruler/Measuring Tape

Pinking shears (optional)

Basic sewing machine skills

I like my covers to be slightly snug so this cover will measure 19"/48cm square when completed.

Take your fabric which should measure 20"/51cm by approximately 44"/110cm.

Now depending on how easy you want to make this, here you have a choice. I like the selvedges of some fabrics. And some fabrics have a pattern that goes right to the edge of the fabric so that you can hardly see the selvedge. 

If you like the selvedge or you have a fabric with a selvedge that doesn't show, you can just leave them as they are. 

If you don't like the selvedge or don't want them showing, you can sew a simple hem by folding the selvedge over and sewing in place.

Fold the selvedge over and sew in place

The fabric I used for George's cushion covers has one 'unsightly' selvedge and the other one is good. I will place the 'unsightly' one on the inside so it won't be showing so I'm not going to worry about sewing them.

Good selvedge

Put a pin in the centre of the longest edge of your fabric. This should be about 22"/56cm from the selvedge (may vary slightly depending on the width of your fabric and whether you've sewn a hem on the selvedges).

Mark the centre with a pin

Press your fabric.

Lay the fabric right side up on a flat surface.

Lay the fabric right side up

From your centre pin, measure 9.5"/24cm  towards one of the selvedges and mark with a pin (my pin is the white one)

Measure 9.5"/24cm from central pin and mark with another pin

Then measure 9.5" from the central pin towards the other selvedge and mark this point with another pin (turquoise pin).

Measure 9.5"/24cm from central pin to the other side and mark with another pin

Remove the centre pin. The length of fabric between the remaining 2 pins (white and turquoise) should be 19"/48cm.

19"/48cm between remaining pins

If you are leaving the selvedges unsewn, fold the selvedge that you want showing on the back of the cushion over towards the centre..........

Fold over towards the centre

................so that the fold is at the nearest pin.

Fold at nearest pin

 Straighten and smooth so the fabric edges line up.

Line up the fabric

(If you have sewn the selvedges, it doesn't matter which side you fold.)

Repeat this process with the other side.

Fold at pin and line up fabric

The width should measure 19"/48cm.

Width across 19"/48cm

Remove the 2 marker pins.

Pin the openings at the top and bottom.

Pin the openings at the top and bottom.

Sew along the top and bottom using a half inch/1.25cm seam removing pins as you sew.

Sew top and bottom

Finish the raw edges of the seams with pinking shears if you like!

Pink the raw edges

Turn the cover the right way round.........

Turn cover right way round

and push the corners out gently from the inside with a blunt object.

Push out corners gently

Press.

Pop your inner inside the cover and le voila!!

I told you it was quick and easy!

You can now sit back and enjoy your new cushion!

After making George's cushion covers, I made another one to brighten up our sofa!

I hope my tutorial made sense!

Maggie xx

A Cushion Cover on a Whim!

I've just made a cushion cover ..... on a whim really...

I was searching through my stash for some red and white fabrics for a customer order when I came across this gorgeous seed catalogue fabric from Lakehouse Dry Goods.....

I'd bought it a couple of years ago, as far as I can remember, and loved it then. It seemed such a special fabric that I almost didn't want to use it for anything...just keep it to look at every now and again!!

I love all the old fashioned adverts for roses and sweet peas....

So lovely and summery.....

...and this lovely illustration of a beehive....

Anyway when I found it earlier today, I kept it out of my stash ready to make something. I only had about half a yard of fabric so a cushion cover seemed a good idea. It also meant I could look at it every day!

So I made a very simple cushion cover from the one piece of fabric with an envelope back. It was very easy and quick! Ideal for an impromptu project! 

Here it is!

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's making me very smiley!

Maybe I'll do a little tutorial.....

Thanks for popping by!

Maggie xx

Spencer's Sunday Hat and CAL update

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post!

I've had such a lovely week :)

 My son Will came to stay and it was wonderful to spend time with him.

Lots of puppy walking, Guitar Hero (me on drums), eating out, cinema and chatting - just great :)

This photo sums up the weather we've been having here with blue skies and white clouds in one half of the sky and threatening black clouds in the other half.

We've been lucky to get out for a walk without getting rained on.
But never mind, a bit of rain never hurt and Spencer doesn't mind ;)

A couple of days ago, after seeing his Dad wearing a hat in a rain shower, Spencer decided he would like to wear a hat (just for fun and just for a few seconds)....

he looked so cute.....

So now we have 'Spencer's Sunday Hats'!

 This will be a regular feature on my blog with the cutest pupster around donning a different hat each time :)

So here it is.......

the first of many.....

'Spencer's Sunday Hats'.....

The Tilley Hat.....

He's needed this hat with all the sunshine and showers we've been having round here...:)

Cute eh?.....

Ok... enough of cute pupsterness....

Let's talk crochet...

I've really been enjoying my CAL projects...

So good to pick one up when watching a bit of TV (I'm always addicted to the Apprentice when it comes round each year)...

I have made it to the penultimate round of my Wool-eater Blanket....

A gorgeous emerald green.....

I love the way that when I add a colour, the look changes....

My festival granny poncho is growing....

This wool is so pretty...

All my favourite colours all combined together :)

And last night I completed 6 roses for the Granny Rose Cushion.....

Once I got the hang of them, I was surprised at how quick they are to make...

Here are the links for each CAL:

Wool-eater blanket - Sarah London's wonderful blog here.

Granny Poncho - Sucrette's lovely blog here.

Granny Rose Cushion - Astri's fabulous blog here.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you've probably gathered that I like to have a few different projects on the go so I can pick one that suits my mood ;)

Well, I have another project that I started this week...

It's not crochet but knitting.....

But not with wool...

It's with fabric strips....

It's a rag rug that you knit with really big needles...

And it uses up all those strips of fabrics you didn't know what to do with :)

This is my rug so far......

Mmmm...yes... I know it looks a bit rough and ready at the moment...

But it seems to be improving as it grows...

And isn't that what it's supposed to look like?!

I found the tutorial on Amanda's fabulous quilting blog, Crazy Mom Quilts.

Amanda's rug looks so beautiful and tactile :)

You can find her tutorial here.

This rug is ideal for me because I always have lots of strips and selvedges left over from my patchwork projects and I hate throwing them away! It's really satisfying recycling them into something useful like this rug :)

Looking outside, I've just noticed it's stopped raining and Chris has disappeared into the garden to continue with the dog-proofing.

The beautiful red leaves on our Pieris are just appearing.

Better take him a cup of tea....

Thank you for your lovely comments about Spencer and his new quilt last week. I love reading your comments :)

Have a lovely week.

Maggie xx

Hot Cross Bun and Butter Pudding and CALs

Hope you're all having a lovely Easter...

Earlier today I made this Hot Cross Bun and Butter Pudding.....

(uncooked version)

Handy if you've overbought on the Hot Cross Buns!

It's in the oven now so I'm hoping that by the end of this post I will be able to show you the finished result :)

If you have the same 'problem' and fancied trying this recipe here it is.

This lovely Camellia is flowering for the first time in our garden.....

Isn't it a gorgeous pink?

And these tiny little daffodils....so pretty....

Spencer has discovered a new hobby.....bee watching....

I thought you might like to see how my Crochet-A-Longs are progressing...

I've started a new light green round on my-wool-eater-blanket......

Only a couple more rounds of colour and I'll be back to the aqua blue I started with.... 

and it'll be finished :)

My Granny poncho from Le Monde de Sucrette is growing very nicely. I had a feeling it would. I'm using this gorgeous random yarn from Robin.

Turquoise, aqua and purple - my favourites!!

I was given the yarn as a birthday gift from my Mum and Dad a couple of years ago. I had started knitting a jacket but didn't get very far with it so I decided to use it for my poncho. I'm really pleased with the results so far......

And now to the Granny Rose cushion...Mmmm

This is such a pretty pattern from Apple Blossom Dreams and there is an excellent video to help you.

I've struggled with the rose a bit but I have now managed to produce something that resembles a rose...

This is as far as I've got with this....just need to get the tension a bit tighter....

Once I've 'mastered' this rose though, I'm sure I will progress much quicker.

My oven is beeping - I'll just go and check on the pudd....

Gosh I'm impressed! This pudd looks and smells delicious...

I'm just giving it another 5 minutes to make sure it's golden all over...

In the meantime, take a peek at these pretty tea towels I bought in the week...

Such pretty Springtime colours...

The oven is beeping again...

This time the pudd's ready.....mmm....it really smells so delicious...

I'll just make some custard to go with it.....

Maggie xx