Category Archives: Cushion construction

Cushion number 3!

Derek the upholster gave me some fabulously modern fabric – glorious red velvet flowers on cream. I could just cut a square and run it up, but that would be cheating! I’ve lots of beads from when my daughter Sam, was into jewellery making, bits of old necklaces and strange things from goodness knows where! You can always pick up beaded bits and bobs from charity shops, much cheaper than buying new and just as good!

Cushion 3 is for Macmillan in Christchurch, Dorset.

Just got to work out what’s going where…at least I can do it while watching The Great British Sewing Bee!

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THIS is better!

My cushion for Mosaic, the bereavement counselling charity in Dorset still has a heart, but I found this fabulous embroidery pattern at Embgallery.com. I used a jade velvet which my Stepmum gave me years ago. It’s brighter than it looks in the picture, and found some little heart buttons for the back.

If you’re embroidering velvet you want to use a sticky stabiliser in the back of the hoop. That way, you don’t need to use the top ring that crushes the pile (although I have done it when I know the velvet will wash). You can also buy stabilisers to put on top of the fabric that either wash or iron away and stop the stitches sinking into the pile. I was annoyed to find I’d run out, and as I really wanted to complete this before the weekend, so risked working without it! I’m pleased with the result but it would have been a crisper finish if I had used it

Mosaic a charity supporting bereaved children, their families and carers in Dorset. http://www.mosaicfamilysupport.org.uk

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Things not going quite to plan!

Ok, first appliqué heart I stuffed slightly. Not good. Second go, had trouble trimming close enough to the heart in the hoop and then realised the combination of fabrics (stripy background, plain heart) didn’t look quite right and embroidery on the stripy fabric (Always in our hearts) isn’t going to look right!

Back to the drawing board!

A cushion for Mosaic

I hadn’t realised that I would know the charities I would be making cushions for, which means, when I can, I’ll try and make something related to the amazing work they do. Mosaic, in Dorset, support bereaved children and their families. Incredibly important and special work.

I’m going to make a cushion with appliqued hearts and the words “always in our hearts” embroidered through them. I’m hoping it’s not too shmaltzy!

Derek the upholster gave me some very beautiful silk like stripey fabric – I’m off to give it a go!

Progress Reports

We’re off! The first cushion is for Feline Welfare on the Isle of Wight. I thought I’d use this beautiful embroidered fabric Derek gave me, but I want something to do with cats in the middle so I’ve cut it with the pattern at the edges.

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Unless your making something fairly funky, pattern placement is really important. I’ve found a lovely embroidery pattern with the outline of three cats faces which I’m going to use my whizzy embroidery machine to create. There are lots of embroidery machines on the market

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