I’m thrilled to have Kathryn from Our Shabby Cottage guest posting a tutorial on ‘Simply Christmas’ today.
Kathryn has been sewing and creating for over 25 years and sells her beautiful and unique fabric creations for children and home, through her website and Etsy store. You ‘simply’ must pop over and check out her pretty handmade wares… and while you are there, indulge in some Christmas shopping. You can also follow Kathryn’s creative journey on her blog ~ Our Shabby Cottage.
Brooch Cushion Tutorial
Make this pretty brooch cushion for yourself or someone you love with only two fat quarters of fabric and a few pretty embellishments.
Materials required:
- 2 Fat quarters of contrasting fabrics
- 9” of (4” wide) lace
- Fibrefill
- Embellishments of choice; I chose ribbon roses, buttons, rhinestone buttons, pearls, clay roses, beads and organza ribbon.
- Sewing machine – I used my overlocker too , but it is not essential
- General sewing supplies – needle and thread, pins, scissors, rotary cutter and mat, iron.
I used a ¼” seam to sew the ruffle on, then used slightly bigger seam allowance when sewing up the front and back pieces.
Begin by cutting two 10” x 7” rectangles from your feature fabric.
Lay the lace over one corner, pin in place.
Sew the lace in place along the two lace edges. Trim the excess lace away from the sides.
For the ruffle you will need to cut 3 strips x 4” wide from the 20” width of the contrasting fabric.
With right sides together, sew all of the ends together, press seams one way, then fold length ways to create a full circle. Press in place. If you have an over locker, sew the edges together, this prevents fraying and bits of cotton being trapped in your finished product. If you don’t have an overlocker, just be mindful of stray bits of cotton, trim if necessary.
Select a long or gathering stitch on your sewing machine and stitch all the way around. Tie your ‘start’ threads together.
Very carefully, pull one of the ‘end’ threads to begin the gathering process. If you have a gathering foot on your sewing machine, you could use this instead.
Your ruffle should measure 17” when folded in half or 34” in total.
Fold ruffle in half, pin the halfway points, then fold ruffle the other way and pin the quarter points. Find the halfway point on each side of the fabric and match up your pinned quarter points on the ruffle. If your ruffle is too large, that’s fine; you can bunch it up a little when sewing it on. Pin in place and sew.
Now you can arrange your embellishments. I used a pretty rhinestone buckle with organza ribbon as a centrepiece. If you have a buckle too, cut one length of ribbon 7” long and another 5” long. Tuck under each end of the ribbon and thread through the buckle so you are left with two loops of ribbon through the buckle.
Have a play with arranging your embellishments before you sew them in place.
Sew on your embellishments. I used my beads to sew the buckle in place and create a feature in the centre.
Embellishments sewn on and in place.
Before you sew the back fabric onto the front of the cushion, it is a good idea to pin down the corners of the ruffle. This will prevent them being caught in the seam when you sew the edges.
Place back fabric face up and lay the front panel of your cushion face down. Pin in place. By pinning onto the front side you can stitch in from the ruffle stitching so that no stitching will be visible, and keep it looking neat from the outside, when it is turned right side out. Begin sewing, backstitch (reverse stitch) then continue around the cushion leaving a 2” opening, backstitch again.
Clip each corner, this will give you a nice sharp corner point when turned right side out.
Take small amounts of fibrefill at a time to fill your cushion. Start by filling the farthest corners first, then, continue on until it is sufficiently filled.
Pin the opening closed and, using a needle and thread, carefully sew opening closed.
Pin on your brooches and voila, one finished brooch cushion!
Thank you Kathryn for so generously sharing your tutorial with us. We love your Brooch Cushion!!
ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!!
Kathryn’s generosity doesn’t stop there; she’s also gifting one lucky ‘Simply Christmas’ participant with a Brooch Cushion Kit so you can make your own cushion using this divine fabric.
(Pssttt… I also heard that if you are quick, she may have a few more kits over at the Our Shabby Cottage web-store).
Here’s how you enter this GIVEAWAY:
1. Leave a comment here on this post answering this question “have you ever handmade a gift to give and what was it?”
2. Then pop over here to check out Kathryn’s blog and leave a comment for her.
Super easy!! You have until midnight on Tuesday 19th October to enter and the winner will be announced on Wednesday.
Hi Kerryanne,
Oh, another goodie to make for a Christmas gift.
This would make a great gift for my Dad’s girlfriend.
I’ve made heaps of gifts over the years~painted, sewn and mostly appreciated~Too many to write!
Thank you for great ideas,
Hugs,
Anna
Hola Kerryanne,
Woouu hermoso trabajo muy lindo!!
me anoto en el regalo
soy seguidor
siempre hago con mis manos algunos trabajos para regalar, manteles, toallas,tarjetas y todo lo eh hecho con mucho amor, me encanta regalar, es dar todo nuestro cariño
las manualidades son mi pasión
un abrazo
y gracias
besos
Lore
How pretty….Ms Kathryn is so talented all her stuff has such a signature to it!
I have made many gifts over the years mostly baked items that I wrap all creatively!
I also love getting cooked goodies,Something about it!
A very pretty cushion. Over my (many) years I have given home-made gifts – one year all the men in the home got fishing waistcoats (whether they fished or not) and they were HORRIBLE but at the time Ithought they were amazing!!
Hugz
Thanks for another great Christmas gift idea! My favourite handmade gift that I gave was a patchwork cushion for my nephew for his first birthday. Their house burnt down not long after that… but guess what they found still in one piece… wet and a little brown… the cushion! I brought it home, cleaned it soaked it and it looks like new… just awaiting some new stuffing and stitching closed and it can go back to my precious little man!
What a beautiful cushion.
I have made loads of stuff over the years but couple of years ago I knitted 30+ scarves for family and friends using lots of different fancy yarns (didn’t want to pick up any needles for quite some time after that LOL)
Toni :o)
Another great gift idea Kerryanne.
I started handmade gift giving in earnest when I had my children. It started with hand painted singlets, t shirts and jumsuits for the cousins. As I only have boys I love making things for my nieces including painted jewellery boxes, photo canvases, jewellery. The last few years I have been too unorganised to do much so I am looking forward to this year with this great head start
Lee:)
Hi, Thanks for a giveaway, that’s very generous.
I have made lots of gifts to give away, the one I liked best was a cushion for my Mum’s 80th birthday, it had lovely words on it and praire points.
oh what a lovely idea..I have made many gifts over the years…breads, jams, clothing..love getting a gift someone has put their love into it..
I hand make 90% of my gifts. Anything from knitted scarfs to painted slate signs.
I love giving gifts I’ve handmade! I’ve given quilts, aprons, baked goodies, jewelry, napkins rings, wreaths — all kinds of stuff! Something about a handmade gift just says, “you were worth my time and effort to create something special just for you”! 🙂
I love the cushion. I am in the process of making a few presents for our annual “October” birthdays get together. I remember one time making a heart with roses(On a coathanger) and being really disappointed with it. Otherwise I have really enjoyed making everything.
Kelly
I forgot to say that I am doing Altered canvasses at the moment.
Kelly
everything kathryn makes is 100% gorgeous! i love making handmade pressies but i always worry if the person receiving it likes it too… my latest gift was to lee from artfulee designed for guessing something on my blog. i made a little bird and heart garland.
thanks for the chance
xxrosey
A truly lovely gift to make, nice work to.
I have made allot of knitted gifts mostly 2 bags, scarfs, wrist warmers, a knitted waist coat for my daughter. An most recent was a fabric cat that I designed while learning to sew again on my machine.
julie.C
I think this is gorgeous…and it’s the only way to go in my eyes….
I figure if I can’t make my own gift because of lack of time or whatnot…then at least buy something that is handmade and has love stitched right into it!
This is so very pretty…and all the tutorial photos are terrific! Well done! thanks so much for sharing,,,and for the inspirations!!!
did you get my email…?
TAG ! Y O U ‘ R E I T !!!
send me your address!
ciao bella
CREATIVE CARMELINA
I’ve just finished a felt gingerbread man Christmas tree decoration for my daughter. I made one for me earlier but didn’t have the right colour felt and he definitely looks undercooked!!!
What a great cushion!!! Lovely.
I make many had stitched gifts. Love doing that. Some are on lmy list for Christmas presents.
This will make a beautiful goft for a friend who loves brooches.
I have made 2010 the year of the handmade and my aim was to make as many gifts as possible. Just yesterday I whipped up a couple of aprons for my great neice and nephew whose birthday is on Sunday and one is cut out ready to be made up for their bigger cousin for Monday.
Gail
Wonderful tutorial – love to make homemade gifts. My favorites are crochet items – afghans, scarver, slippers etc but also love to sew gift items – purses are a real favorite of mine!
The pilllow is beautiful! If I made it, I would have to keep it for myself.
I’ve always made a lot of gifts. Many years ago, I cross-stitched and framed little sayings on the front of photo albums. I’ve made sweaters, afghans, and ornaments. This year I plan to make a few stockings.
Thanks for the chance to enter the give-away!