Project by Gill Rich
Why not make this lovely pinwheel cushion for your outside furniture, it will brighten up any chair for the summer..
What you will need :-
Three co-ordinating fabrics. I chose Tea Party by Craft Cotton Co
Co-ordinating thread
Rotary cutter and cutting mat
Piece of cardboard and a ruler and pencil
1m piping cord, mine was 5mm in width
Small piece of Bondaweb or similar
Two self cover buttons 30mm in diameter (or similar)
Polyester filling
First you need to make your template from the cardboard. Draw a rectangle 6cm x 27cm then find the middle of one short edge, draw a line from the centre point to each corner and cut out your triangle shape.
Using your template, cut out 22 triangles from each fabric, 33 for each side.
Take one triangle and stitch to another triangle using a scant 1/4" seam allowance. Take the third patterned fabric and stitch that in the same way.
Continue until you have 16 or 17 triangles sewn together (about half). Repeat to make the second half making sure your fabrics are in the same order. Don’t worry too much about the points at the end, we will deal with those later.
Once you have your two halves, stitch them together from the outside edge to the centre on each side. Repeat for the other side of the cushion. Press flat with your seams to one side and give the top a good press too.
To complete the middle section, adhere a piece of bondaweb approximately 6" x 3" to one of your fabrics. I chose the same fabric as the piped piece. Cut two circles of fabric 2" in diameter. Peel off the backing paper and press the circle over the middle pointed bits. Zig zag stitch all the way round both of them.
Cover your two buttons following the instructions on the packet. Attach one to each side by sewing through the loop on the base of each button.
Cut a strip of one of your fabrics 1.5" wide and 1m long. Take your piping cord and place in the centre of the fabric strip, fold the long edges together with your cord wrapped inside. Stitch along the strip as close to the cord as you can.
Take one of your pinwheels and with raw edges together pin the cord casing to the cushion top. Stitch all the way round, again as close as possible to the cord taking care not to sew over your pins!
With right sides together, repeat for the other side of the cushion ensuring you leave a gap of about 4-5" to insert the polyester filling.
Take your two buttons and stitch one each side so that they are attached to each other through the centre section of the cushion.
Now you need to fill the cushion with your polyester filling you can make it as hard or as soft you prefer.
To finish off slip stitch the gap closed making sure that the ends of your piping cord are neatly tucked inside.
And there you have your finished cushion ready for the summer, why not make them in different summer fabrics!
To see more from Gill, visit her on Instagram @designbygill66
Made by Gill Rich for The Craft Cotton Company 2020
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