Use up your stash - make a cupcake cushion

At last I've found a way to combine my two favourite crafts - handknitting.......

and applique...

knitted cupcakes appliqued onto a vintage linen cushion.....

This cushion was such fun to make and is a great way to use up all those scraps and oddments of fabric and yarn that accumulate at the bottom of your stash.

I discovered the bottom of my stash last week. I've been tidying up the workroom and transferring the majority of my fabrics and other bits and pieces into my new cupboard - an old school cupboard that I've painted in a soft blue. I've filled the panels with Cath Kidston blossoms wallpaper and lined the shelves with oilcloth. It is BEAUTIFUL!! And tidy too ... take a look at the shelves .....

... but how long it will stay like that is anyone's guess. Anyway, back to the cushion - if you want to have a go then you can find a free pattern for a similar knitted cupcake motif at Little Cotton Rabbits. I love Julie's blog - her animals are so beautiful .. I would love to have her knitting pattern design skills.

You can probably work out the rest from the photographs of my cupcake cushion. I made my cupcakes in cotton dk and fixed them to the fabric squares with Bondaweb being sure to tuck in all the tails. For extra strength I handsewed around the edges of the cupcakes. The fabric squares were about 6" square and the actual cushion cover measures 12" x 18". I applied the cupcake squares to the cushion using reverse applique, ie cutting and hemming a "window" in the linen and placing the cupcake square behind it.

I then machined each square in place and outlined the "window" in running stitch. Dolly mixture ribbon completed the front and I used my usual recycling trick to fasten at the back .... I am on very good terms with our local Animal Hospital charity shop. They save me all the shirts and blouses that are not good enough to sell - I remove the button bands, cutting about 1/2" either side.

I cut the rear panel of the cushion in half and attach one side of the button band to each half - hey presto - easy removal of pad for washing without the fiddly business of inserting a zip or making button holes. The picture above isn't of the cupcake cushion but I think explains what I do much more clearly than my somewhat garbled text. I also feel that if you choose your shirt/blouse carefully it's quite an attractive method of creating a fastening.

And finally .... don't forget to download your free Halloween bunting pdf. A while ago I created this using scanned vintage fabrics and images from early 20th century cards. I never got around to listing the bunting on DevonBear Designs, so if you'd like to print your own for a party then please feel free to do so.