Hi again from MadDi
I am on a sewing roll right now and am taking advantage to brighten up my home. Here is one of my finished cushions:
These are my dining room chairs. They are called 'riempie chairs' and as you can see they DEFINATELY need cushions.
Definition of Riempie: |
South Africa leather weaving strip: a strip of leather used for weaving chair seats |
[Mid-19th century. Via Afrikaans< Dutch riempje "small thong" < riem "thong"] |
I made these covers a few years back but needed a change! I feel they are a bit boring now!!! LOL
So first things first - what you will need:
- Fabric for the cushion - I like to use upholstery fabric for the top and cotton for the bottom. Both MUST be washable.
- I bought 1 and 1/2 metres of fabric (140 cm wide) for the top of the cushion to give me 50cm by 50cm squares for each of the 6 cushion covers. (The leftover piece was 40cm by 1 1/2 metres and I thought I could use that for a table runner for the centre of the dining table)
- I bought 2 metres of heavy duty cotton (purple) for the bottom of the cushions and for the ties.
- Fabric for the ties - I use the same fabric as I use for the bottom of the cushion - but use something different that co-ordinates if you like!
- Inners
This is the fabric I chose:
Instructions Cutting (see photograph):
- I cut 6 pieces of fabric for the top of the cushions 50cm by 50 cm
- I then cut 2 pieces of cotton for each cushion each measuring 50 by 75 cms
- I then cut strips for the ties - you will need 24 ties ( 4 for each chair). The ties measure 10 centimetres wide by 30 centimetres long. Now depending if you want to tie knots or bows you may want to make the ties a little longer!
Instructions for sewing (see photograph):
- Sew the ties, turn them inside out and iron flat.
- Sew the edges of the underside
- Now the tiny tricky bit: Place the fabric for the upper part of the cushion wrong side down, then place the 2 pieces of fabric for the underside right side down. Insert the ties. Pin everything together and sew all the way around
- Turn your cushions inside out.
- Now you can topstitch all the way around IF you like.
- Insert your inner.
- We are done!!!
Finally my sew easy tips:
- Measure and cut carefully.
- Choose fabric that you really like!
- Iron the ties before you attach them to the cushion.
- Position the ties carefully BEFORE you stitch, They have to be in the right position to tie on to the chair.
- Do not make the cushions too small - let them hang over a bit!
- When you turn the cushions inside out make sure that the corners are just right - square!!!
- Check your bobbin BEFORE you start to top stitch - I HATE running out on the top stitching!!!
- Enjoy!
Almost forgot - here are my tips for creating the 'ties:
Woo Hoo, what will we be sewing next???
Thanks for visiting IACW
Love from MadDi
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