Making Covers For Cushions

I like the idea of having a lot of pillows on a sofa as it gives a feeling of opulence. Go for a look that isn't too contrived with a mixture of texture, color and shape – I like variety.

My sofa at home is covered in cushions – just thinking about it makes me want to go and put my feet up! You want your vacation property guests to feel relaxed and comfortable and lots of cushions on the sofa is a great way to liven up a dull sofa or add a new lease of life to an old one. On the practical side, the covers can be easily removed for washing so better that something gets spilt on these than on the actual sofa itself which is much harder to clean.

So let’s get started – making unique covers for those of us who can’t manage anything more complicated than sewing a straight line.

Using my mum’s trusty old Singer sewing machine, I can manage to sew a straight line but adding buttons or zips is beyond me. For that reason, rather than buying fabric to make covers, I prefer to use shirts which come complete with buttons and button holes.

Simply take a clean shirt (either an unwanted one of your own or one bought for pennies in a charity shop), do the buttons up, turn it inside out and lie it down on a table. Place your stuffing pad on top, mark out a square and then allowing a little extra for seams, cut out the fabric. You might find it helps to use a few pins at this stage to hold the back and front of your shirt together so you can cut out both at the same time.

With the two squares of fabric still pinned together, sew round the four sides of the square. Remove the pins, undo the buttons and turn the fabric cover the right side out. Pop the pad in and do up the buttons – voila!

We joke in our house that we never lose the TV remote control as there is always a handy pocket to pop it into!