i made this for my mother for her birthday last Thursday. It took about 10 days - a few of those being temple massaging days just turning the parts this way and that and hmmmm-ing. From my own cushion experience, i know that knitted ones draw animal hairs to them better than any clothes brush (mine look like extra pets - you can't hoover them, the wool bobbles and stretches), and as Sylvia has 7 cats, a dog and some ferrets, i thought i'd try a sewn name-cushion instead.
The top, bottom and left side is blue cotton velvet, heavily machine stitched and a little hand stitched. All the parts were sewn over a layer of quilting fabric. I experimented with foiling but found it a bit bright and stitched through it and also veiled it with organza. Some of the organza was distressed with the heat-gun. I stitched the name by hand and then added beads. I really enjoyed sewing on the beads and went down to one of the haberdashery stalls in the market to buy some more and sewed bright 'Our Lady' blue ones on here and there. I didn't have time to do them justice in the end, they were the tiny ones that look best in masses.
i also sewed a few sequins on. i didn't have a clue how to do this so just used beads to anchor them. None of them are catching the light in this picture but that's them in the middle. There are some star shaped ones on the cushion and also some leaf shapes.
This section of the cushion is a Tyvek and organza sandwich: two pieces of painted Tyvek paper with two different coloured pieces of organza in between; machine sewn for a resist, and then ironed carefully both sides. The Tyvek melts much more quickly than the organza, so it pops out of the holes in the Tyvek unscathed.
I cut away Tyvek here and there and did a little bit more machining and some beading once it was attached to the backing; also added some gold embossing powder.
What larks, Pip!
