July 2015 Newsletter

Cushions Galore, July 17th 2015

Hello and welcome to new subscribers and an apology for the late publication of this newsletter.

Family life took over with birthday celebrations and catching up with people from overseas.

In the months leading up to the warmer weather here in the UK there was a television reality programme called "The Great British Sewing Bee". This showed 12 amateur contestants making different things and completing tasks set by professionals in the sewing industry, with the final contestant winning the prize over a series of approx 10 weeks.

I love to watch the contestants as they get inspiration when doing remakes and seeing what they end up with. The winner this year was a man who had not been sewing all that long but had taken to it very well.

In some ways making soft furnishings and practising all the different techniques such as pin tucks, pleating, gathering, inserting zips to name but a few can give a good platform for then progressing onto making clothes.

There are also more elaborate finishing touches in soft furnishings such as embellishing with embroidery, beading, cross stitch or appliqué.

I have shown a simple way of quilting when making quillows or other quilts but the actual art of quilting is very complicated and can take a long time to complete.

The end results are always spectacular and shows the passion of the person making the item.

As always the summer is the time for family gatherings, picnics and of course the BBQ. Lots of items can be made to enhance these experiences such as padding picnic seats, table or ground mats to put the picnic on and cutlery holders for place settings. Any gathering can be made into a celebration by adding some bunting.

New pages

I went off on a tangent with another subject but one that was still relevant to cushions and that was curtain making.

Many people like their curtains and cushions to match. When buying curtains,cushions can be made by using excess material if the curtains need shortening.

This gave rise to a series of pages of how to measure a window for curtains, working out how to calculate the fabric needed. Steps for making Eyelet, Tap Top and Pencil pleat curtains from the beginning.

I also love doing patchwork and wanted to try a more complicated pattern in the cathedral window pattern.

Coming up next time

I will try to expand the curtain section with valances and tie backs.

I also want to do a section on getting ready for parties.

Whatever type of project you have in mind or on the go, enjoy.

Regards

E J

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