It's been a year of changes and due to that we've ended up with a lot of foam sheets and we're trying to come up with projects that might make use of them.
We had a cushion cover which the zip had broken on and my daughter, Izzy, remembered that we had some furry black fabric I'd never gotten around to using, something she loves, so she begged me to make some new cushion covers with it. As we looked at the cushion insert, it dawned on me that it was stuffed with chopped foam and I suddenly realised that we could make some more cushions too, using the foam sheets to fill them.
First things first, we needed some material to make the new cushions and to replace the fabric on the current cushion which was developing a hole, because that fabric was basically interfacing, think thin and flimsy. I have a confession to make and that is that when it comes to throwing things out I'm not very good at it. So I hoard old sheets which have developed holes and they get used for a variety of things. This time some old flannelette ones were going to be used to make the cushions. The chicks came in to help at this point...
The area in the centre of the sheet where the hole had developed was wearing thin, but there was still plenty of area for the cushions which was in good shape. I got a rough idea of size, using the old cushion insert, which was actually a bit big for the original cover, so I made the new cushions a bit smaller.
Cutting a long rectangle, rather than two squares, meant I could just fold it over and there'd be one less side to be sewn.
Then it was just a quick job of running two sides through the overlocke, leaving one side open to add the stuffing.
Izzy prepared the stuffing, cutting the foam into strips and then cubes, then filling the cushion cases. We also utilised what was in the old cushion and added a bit more for one cushion.
Sewing the last edge closed with the stuffing in was a little more awkward, but it didn't matter about keeping the seam invisible, so that kept things simpler.
The cushion cover was where things got a little bit more long winded and fiddly. I decided to go for the long rectangle folded over again, to save on sewing. I could have marked the fabric out with chalk, but decided to mark the line to cut by folding the fabric at the cut point instead, which saved a little bit on time.
Then fold it in half with right sides facing and sew the two sides with about a centimetre seam, leaving the end opposite the fold open ready for the zip. No overlocking here, just a straight stitch.
Next step choose a zip. Yes, I am also a hoarder of zips, salvaged from various items that were being thrown out at some point in time. Unfortunately, a lot of the black zips had rather larger slider parts, which isn't particularly ideal for a cushion.
We ended up picking out one of the smallest, which still wasn't particularly small. They were all too long for our needs, so this one got downsized simply by cutting off some of the end. I sewed a bit of fabric back over as a stopper.
I decided to sew the zip in by hand, because I'm just terrible at doing them on the sewing machine. As I was pinning the zip in place I realised a slight problem. Fluffy fabric means it's going to get caught in the zip and that's not ideal. So it was back to the fabric stash for a black satin to line the edge where the zip was going.
Over the next few days, when sat in front of the tv, I hand stitched the zip in place. A long process, but you get to fast forward to the result.
And voila, one cushion down, which has disappeared into Izzy's bedroom.
I'm currently taking a cushion break while I do an adjustment on a dress.
All photos courtesy of 
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