Beauty and serenity is all around us, it lies in the forgotten, the hidden and the ignored - we
must look in the shadows and search if we are to be truly at ease in this world. Carly Johnson

Monday, September 13, 2010

Kids Kraft: No Sew T-shirt Cushion Tutorial

We made 4 of these t-shirt cushions over the weekend - they really are that easy and require no sewing what-so-ever!!  Unfortunately I got so caught up in the fun of it all that I forgot to take photos for a tutorial post so I spent a few minutes just now doing some (very) simple drawings on paint - next time the kids let loose on an oversized t-shirt I will have my camera ready!
1.  Lay your t-shirt (the bigger the better) out flat, place your cushion pad down and draw around it with some tailors chalk (the blue line) then draw another line about 2inches out (the red line). 
2.  Cut along the red line making sure you go through both the front and back layer of the t-shirt.
3.  Using the picture as a guide mark lines (the red lines) about 2cm apart all the way around - take note of the corners, you want a tab coming straight off from each one.  Cut along these red lines going only as far as the cushion pad outline - discard the 2 triangles either side of the corner tabs.
4. Take 2 corresponding tabs from the back layer and the front layer and tie them together with a knot.  It is easier to start with each corner and the middle one on each side - inserting the cushion pad before doing the fourth side.
5.  Continue knotting the tabs all the way around untill they are all done.  You can leave the cushion like this if you like the tassles as they are.
6.  Alternatively you can take one tassle from each pair and knot it to another tassle from the pair next to it, and so on, all the way around.  This should make the tassles lie flat against the cushion which means you can easily poke them inside to hide them, giving you a strange knotted-piping effect along the edges.
7.  Plump, relax and enjoy.
 
If you are making them as gifts then you can easily wrap them in clingfilm to keep them clean, ready for when you want to wrap them properly.  I know clingfilm isnt the most eco-friendly thing out there but when it comes to crafts and the kitchen is a seriously handy thing! More importantly it can be rinsed and re-used (with-in reason of course, hygeine not with-standing) and if you do happen to throw it away, keep in mind that it can be rolled into teeny-tiny little balls - effectively taking up less space in those dreaded landfills.
 
TOODLE-PIPS
xx

3 comments:

  1. just wanted to say thank you for your tutorial! I;m using it today and appreciated your post!
    best!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so so much! I'm teaching from home and I think my High Schoolers will enjoy this hands on project!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the illustrations, Keep em coming :}

    ReplyDelete