Making cushion covers is something I have been doing since I was really young. It was a common rainy day activity for summer holidays. They are so simple but also very satisfying and can brighten up your room. I haven't felt like talking on any large sewing projects recently but I did make some new cushion covers at the weekend ready for the arrival of a new sofa this week! Additionally, my old cushions had been made from old feather pillows - which was a great idea at the time but in the 4 years that I have had them they are still leaving feathers everywhere.
I saw some nice cushions in Dunelms a few weeks ago (that were super expensive £65 for 1!!!) that looked like that they had been made from a throw wrapped around the cushion and buttoned up - I thought "that can't be too difficult to achieve!"....
So I bought a cable knit throw from Linens direct for <£8 and set to work.
I wanted to make pretty large cushions but I still got two out of the one throw. I simply cut the throw in half length ways and then measured the length based on where I wanted to position the buttons. The excess was cut off and I zigzag stitched a double hem to stop it from fraying.
Sewing up the cover was pretty simple - I tried using a blanket stitch with some matching wool which worked pretty well if you didn't want to use a sewing machine. I also found that a simple zigzag worked well too but doesn't bind the cut edge so well.
Once the side seams were sewn up I put in the newly stuffed (not with feathers) cushion pad and folded over the top. I was going to put in button holes to make it easy removable but decided to sew the buttons on through both layers - it won't really be that difficult to resew them on if I need to wash the covers.
It didn't take more than a couple of ours from start to finish for this project and now my sofa has arrived and they are super comfy to sit on. Just need to keep the dog away from the tassles!!
