Appliqué, Patchwork & Button Cushion

After getting a bit punch-happy with my new Cath Kidston Button Factory, I’ve found myself with a china saucer full of colourful buttons and nothing to do with them. My favourite things to sew and make are cushions, so it seems only right that I make another, this time in bedroom colours and this time adorned with my floral button-haul.

The pattern I use to make my cushions is from the Cath Kidston Sew! book – the best sewing book I’ve ever bought, with easy to follow patterns and lovely pictures. It’s a simple square cushion pattern that has two panels of fabric on the back and three (or more – I’ve used 5) panels on the front.

Our bedroom is styled in teal blue and biscuit (not beige!) colours, so I went down to the Remnant House in Harrogate and bought myself some fat quarters in complementing hues. I picked three different – but matching – patterns, as I like to mix the cushion panels up a bit and go for a more patchwork-looking effect.

After sewing all the bits of fabric together according to the pattern (which I now know by heart I’ve done it that many times), I appliquéd some matching hearts onto the front, selected my handmade Cath Kidston buttons and carefully pinned a refined amount onto the front of the cushion in an agreeable arrangement. I love the finished result and it will look great in the bedroom!

I also got a bit bored and made this little stuffed, fabric heart to hang on my bedside table too. The butterfly is from an old necklace that I dismantled and safety pinned onto the ribbon. It was so quick to do, I might make one for every drawer handle!

Trendy Tweets (or applique birds)

Since the world is fascinated with Tweeting, and since purchasing a rather large sheet of Bondaweb (iron-on backing), I’ve decided that applique and birds are the way forward. They may not have anything to do with Trending Topics, but this flock of applique birds are more than trendy, no?

The cushion I’ve made here is the most basic pattern out of my Cath Kidston Sew! book, which takes about 5 minutes to cut out and sew together. Rather than leave the main panel plain or in patterned fabric, as I have done previously here, I decided to cover the front in little floral birds – a trend that seems to be making an appearance on everything and everywhere in the worlds of fashion and jewellery.

I made an applique bird cushion once before and gave it to my friend for her birthday – you can see it here. That time I hand-stitched the detail, rather than using bondaweb.

For this new cushion, I cut out the same bird template 6 times in different – yet matching – fabrics, and then repeated this for the wings. The idea is that it looks eclectic and random, but all the colours tie in together and don’t look out of place. To jazz it up a bit more I stitched buttons from the same colour palette onto the wing of each bird. The main cushion is made up of  floral back panels, pink stripe fabric down the sides and a plain cream for the front panel.

As much as I love the cushion, I can’t help but think that it needs yet more detailing. Perhaps a bit of hand-stitching will do the trick – maybe to gift the birds with the power of sight!

In Bloom

Here is the latest addition to the mountain of cushions currently breaking it’s way through the surface crust of my bedroom and out into the open.

This time I decided to have a go at applique. I used a flower pattern from trusty Cath Kidston’s book, and cut out three in two contrasting, retro-orange florals fabrics. Bright orange colours are a spring/summer 2011 must have, and I think I’ve almost hit the fashion-nails into the soles of the fashion-wedges with this one.

I used my sewing machine to stitch around the edges of the flowers onto the plain cream backing. I chose a contrasting pink colour so that the row of stitches would stand out, and make the cushion look even more home made. I didn’t put any hems around the edges as I quite like the ’vintage’ frayed look. I then hand-stitched a load of contrasting coloured buttons onto the centre flower just to add a bit more to that eclectic look I was striving for.

The back of the cushion uses the same fabrics as that of the applique flowers. I think the contrasting panels works quite well. This cushion wouldn’t look out of place in a retro fashion store (or indeed my grandma’s living room).