Last Christmas (2018) I made each of my grandchildren a fun pocket cushion and they loved them. I initially had made the cushion cover (without the pocket) at a class I did at my friend Annie’s sewing school, Start to Stitch, a few years ago. I hadn’t done any serious sewing apart from my quilting for a while and decided doing a refresher class would be a fun way to get back into sewing some home decor projects.
Making an envelope back cushion cover was a fun and easy project. And I’ve made a few since and thought how neat it would be to add a really simple pocket to the front. I had seen some on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun project to try. They were a huge success as Christmas presents last year.
And so this year I played around a little more with the idea and designed an easy to cut and sew fabric panel of the cushion cover. I took the idea to my local fabric shop and they loved the design and idea so we collaborated on the project and launched it in their shop this week (October 2019).
There are two colour ways, traditional Christmas red and green and a more modern pink/turquoise. Each panel has full instructions on how to put the cushion cover together plus I’ve done a full tutorial. I’m also doing a workshop on November 22nd for it. A fun couple of hours making the cushions. And an easy fat quarter project for those that want to do different designs rather than use the panel.
Christmas Fun
As well as making a fun home decor project, these cushions are perfect to give as a Christmas Eve gift with sweets, a book, little trinket or even a cuddly toy for kids. And for those of you that do the Elf on the Shelf or have grandchildren that love it, the cushion would make a lovely place for
Eco Friendly Fabric
One of the things I love about this project was having it digitally printed with a UK fabric printing company. The digital printing process, using Digital Pigment Inks, means it uses 95% less energy making it more eco friendly than the more traditional screen printed fabric. It has also passed various stringent safety and eco tests. It is colour fast and has the benefit of not fading in sunlight. Perfect for retailers wanting to do window displays with their fabric.
For me, it’s a small step as a designer, to do what I can to lessen my carbon footprint. It’s not always possible but it’s a consideration for the future of designing and manufacturing fabric. I have heard discussions in the quilting/sewing community about how we need to be more considered when buying fabric. And whilst I wholeheartedly agree, if everyone stopped buying fabric for a whole month, as I have seen suggested, it would have a devastating effect on retailers and the industry as a whole. So there has to be more thought and discussion around the subject and quite possibly, digital printing may well be a small step in the right direction.
My Christmas Cushion Fabric Panel is only £9.95 and is available now from The Sewing Studio either online or in their shop. Click the link below to go to their online shop:
Let me know what other designs you’d love to see. I’m already designing for next Christmas so I’d love to know what you think. Leave a comment or feel free to contact me via my contact page.