Hello Dear Reader,
I haven’t done a tutorial in a while. Here’s one for you. I am desperately tired of my cushions and really don’t want to buy any. Here’s how I made new covers instead.
First, I measured the cushions! 16″ by 16″
Then I measured them again, I swear cushions, curtains ect change shape! Measure twice and cut once.
I bought three items of clothing from the cheap charity shops. I also went into the £1 charity shop. Nothing there but the £1.99 Red Cross shop had lots of fabric to buy. I always look out for XL men’s shirts…………..I get more for my money that way.
Here’s my haul of fabric.
I dismantled the clothes.
I ironed all the fabric.
I measured again, then wrote the sizes down! I’ve been caught out so many times by shape shifting cushions!
I then cut the shirts into strips. 3″ strips, or there abouts, they didn’t need to be exact.
I then sewed them together.
Ta - dah! I kept sewing until I had 54″ of strips sewn together.
I trimmed off the excess on either side.
Just as if I were making a pillow case, I didn’t add any zips or buttons, just folds. I sewed down the seams of the folds so they were not visible from the outside.
I then simply sewed up the two side seams and turned it the right way round.
Here it is, one cushion and I have plenty of fabric left over for quilting projects in the future.
Shirt to cushion. A few more of these in a variety of fabrics and colours will brighten up my lounge.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx
I love how you see potential in anything.
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Wonderfully thrifty use of fabrics!
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Those are lovely. I was wondering what you were going to come up with, with such an eclectic array of fabrics! The results are truly remarkable, well done 🙂
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A lovely project! What did you do with the old covers?
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That's a maxim I use all the time…measure twice make it once, a good practice to stick to m'dear.
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Simple but very, very effective.
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How clever! AND it looks like a breath of almost-spring with the pink in it. Nicely done. I would not have thought of it in the same way.
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Very clever. I like to make Christmas pillow covers from red plaid shirts. I just use the button side as the back. Easy on and off!
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how loving of the thrift shop volunteer/worker to mention a button was missing.
pretty combinations of fabric, always love the quilted look, some of my favorite skirts are patchwork form the 1970s from thrift stores.
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When making cushion covers I use the front of a shirt for the back of the cover. With a ready-made opening of buttons and buttonholes there's no need for zips or other fastenings.
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Old evening dresses or bridesmaid dresses, especially large sized ones, can be terrific for upcycling fabric too. They don't always sell well due to changing styles, so get sold off cheaply. Perfect for low cost, upmarket cushions. One of these days I really want to make a winter patchwork quilt too - lots of tweedy material salvaged from thrifted coats and jackets.
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Lovely cushions! I've got a mountain of checked triangles cut from my son and daughters old shirts, all I need now is the time to make them into something! I would love to make them into a quilt that would hold so many memories.
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We hate thin cushions so usually make our covers a little smaller than the cushion itself, good use of fabric though.
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Lovely cushions, and such an ingenious way of making your own fabric. But I am so envious of your cheap charity shops. The cheapest we have here is Barnardos where everything is £1.99. I buy most of DH's shirts for work there. The only other cheap one we had has recently had a makeover and is now much more expensive. It always used to be packed with people looking for a bargain but seems empty every time I pass by now so I don't see how they will make any more money from raising their prices.
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I spent a large part of Sunday dismantling a pile of clothes that I'd bought the day before at the jumble sale I'd helped out at. In my case they are destined for my next Morris dancing tatters jackets. All zips and buttons removed and kept and any spare fabric will go to the textile recycling.
Arilx
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Cushions really are tough to measure. I recently knitted some cushion covers to give as a wedding gift and I guess my measurements were off, or possibly it was my gauge that was off, they didn't fit properly so I stuffed them and stitched them closed. Thankfully it's a tightly woven pattern so no stuffing leakage.
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I have to tell you how much I love your blog froogs. You are an inspiration to me you really are. When I'm feeling sorry for myself I go back to your blog, re read it and it gives me a good kick up the backside to either, cook, clean, shop wisely, go to the charity shop and donate my unwanted stuff, garden, craft and a multitude of other things. Thank you so much
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These look great! I wish I had your patience to make things like this Froogs! I'm already told off for having too many cushions everywhere though, and if I could make awesome ones like this I'd just keep buying more and more cushions to cover! 😛
Eats x
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This looks fabulous. Amazing what you can do with old clothing. 🙂
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