Malphor - Camo Cushion

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Camo Cushion

I have been gathering and preparing all the bits and pieces that will go in my boy's new bedroom. It is coming along nicely and we're all getting excited. I painted his brown wardrobe in light grey, bought a new ceiling light, and cleaned and refinished his wooden bed frame. I have already painted the walls in the dark grey and olive shades Zak chose himself, along with a 'yellow cake' door and it looks great - and pretty much as planned. But more on all this later. For now, I want to share how I made a camo cushion cover with the fabric I picked up in Paris, back in December, teamed with a simple black cotton fabric I had in my stash...

This is the first post I write in the 'Sewing' section, which clearly indicates that sewing is not my favourite pastime! Of course, fabric and paint are the two easiest and most cost-effective ways to transform your pad dramatically, so I do it. I love painting. I love re-upholstering chairs. But sewing, yuk! It's so fiddly, it makes me feel like I'm all thumbs. I always try and be millimetre-perfect but I find fabric very rebellious and I fight with it a lot.

I'm making a no-zip-no-buttons cushion cover. I got the idea one day I wanted to make a cushion, but had no zip, or a zip foot for my sewing machine for that matter. I looked at a pillow case which had a little flap the pillow tucked under. It had buttons but I can't make button holes, so I thought of using ribbon instead. It's easy enough to make (although it still takes me ages to complete) but also looks more interested than an ordinary zip-up cushion.

I have a 50x50cm pad, so I cut two 50x50cm fabric squares, plus one rectangle measuring 50x25cm for the flap. My aim is to end up with a - roughly - 47x47cm cushion cover so that the pad is nicely squished into it and my cushion ends up looking fat and cuddly. I have to mention at this point that this is the first time I've used a pair of left-handed scissors and that I am still adjusting! After a lifetime of using right-handed shears where I had to follow the cut with my gaze over on the left-hand side of the tool, I now have to look on the right-hand side... It is very confusing but I expect I'll get used to it... They cut like a dream though!

50x50cm

Anyway, I shall also need three 15cm lengths of ribbon (ties, ropes, anything that works for you is fine) and three 10cm lengths.

I zig-zag stitch my hems to stop any fraying.

Zig Zag Stitch

Now I want to stitch the two pieces of black fabric together, sandwiching the 10cm ties in between. In preparation for this, I iron the hems flat. On the larger square, I iron a 1cm hem on all edges. And on the smaller rectangle, I iron a 1cm hem on three edges and fold over twice a 5mm hem on the fourth edge (this will be the edge opposite the one the ribbons will be sewn).

I pin the two pieces together with the inside facing and pin the ties at regular intervals. Note that I tuck the flap's hems inside the hems of the main square.

Folding In The Flap

I then stitch everything together.

Flap And Ribbons Are Sewn To Black Side

Now on to my camo square. I iron three 1cm hems on three edges and fold over twice a 5mm hem on one edge. On the latter edge, I pin my three 15cm long ribbons (tucked under the hem) and sew along the hem to secure the ties in place.

Ironing Hems