These cushions are ‘sew’ fun to make
Children love to see the result of their artistic handiwork – pictures pinned to the fridge door; collages displayed on classroom walls; and home-made birthday cards given pride of place on mantelpieces. All of the pieces of art listed above are not normally put on display for long but a sparkly mini heart cushion can last a lifetime and prove to be a happy reminder of a child’s first successful attempt at sewing. Art and crafts specialist Baker Ross has mini heart cushion sewing kits which provide a fun introduction to sewing for anyone aged 5+. At the time of writing (2nd February 2012) you can buy a pack of two kits for £3.98 or a pack of eight kits for £14.
Each kit contains the following craft materials:
Pre-cut felt shapes
Self-adhesive felt pieces
Sequins and heart stickers
Yarn and a plastic needle
Stuffing
Oh and make sure that you have glue dots and a pair of scissors to hand before you start this task.
Begin by threading the needle with the yarn
Then take the two large heart-shaped pieces and place one on top of the other so that the holes around the heart’s edges line up neatly. You’ll need a steady hand for this!
Next, stitch the two hearts together – starting at the top of the heart and taking the needle through the holes and out again.
Work your way around the edges but leave about four holes unstitched at the top of the heart so that you have enough space to feed the stuffing through later.
Before padding the heart with stuffing it is best to decorate the heart while it is still flat.
Arrange the heart stickers into piles and sort them according to size.
Take the biggest pale pink sticker, peel off the backing and stick it the centre of the cushion which you stitched together earlier. Stick a darker, smaller heart sticker at the centre of the pale pink sticker.
Repeat this process around the edge of the cushion so that the cushion is covered with hearts.
Already your cushion is looking wonderful but we’re not finished yet – glue a sequin sticker to the centre of each heart using the glue dots.
It’s now time to take that candy floss-style stuffing and insert it into the cushion – I bet you’re glad you left that gap at the top of the cushion now!
Even out the stuffing so that it doesn’t bunch up in one part of the cushion – this is the part which I find the trickiest!
Once this fiddly step is over with you can apply the finishing stitches to the last four holes at the top of the cushion. Tie that last straggly bit of thread in a knot – cutting off the surplus yarn with those scissors we talked about earlier.
You should be holding a finished cushion in your hand and hopefully it looks a little like the one in these photos.
Place it on your sofa and see if it feels as good as it looks. Are you sitting comfortably?
(Don’t panic if you struggled with any of these steps as help is at hand. Just check out Baker Ross’s tuition video on YouTube and let Kate talk you through the process. Happy sewing!)
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