Tutorial: Ikea cushions

I finished the second (and last) Lillberg chair cushions on Sunday night. I made a mistake with the measuring of the patchwork on the bottom cushion and ended up with it vertically instead of horizontally like the others, but I think it looks quite nice. I also sewed these cushions with a 2cm seam allowance around the square edges so they are nice and snug and look much better than the first set.

I also took some photos while I was making them so I could create a photo tutorial.

What you need to make the set of cushions:
4 metres of fabric around 80/90cm wide.
2 x 90cm zip
1000m cotton thread

Cut out the following pieces for the bottom cushion:
2 x back/zip pieces - 90cm by 11cm
2 x side pieces - 61cm by 17.5cm
1 x front piece - 64cm by 17.5cm
2 x top and bottom pieces - 64cm by 74cm

Cut out the following pieces for the top cushion:
2 x back/zip pieces - 90cm by 11cm
2 x side pieces - 40cm by 17.5cm
1 x front piece - 64cm by 17.5cm
2 x top and bottom pieces - 64cm by 52cm

How to

1) Sew the zip on using the two zip/back pieces, effectively joining the pieces together.

• First pin a 2cm seam along the longest on both pieces

• Then pin a piece onto the zip - using the same pins you used to pin the seam. Make sure that you overlap the folded edge at least to the center of the zip.

• Put the zip foot on your sewing machine and sew with the foot as close to the center of the zip as possible. Continue until one piece is sewn onto the zip.
  
• To sew around the zip pull, I open the zip about 5cm, sew along about 4cm, then lift up the foot (with the needle in the fabric of course) and close the zip.
  

• 

• Repeat with the second zip/back piece
  

2) Sew the two side pieces (right sides together) onto the zip piece - using a 1.5cm seam allowance. Note: If the completed zip piece is too wide (wider than 17.5cm) then trim it using the side pieces as a guide.3) Sew the front piece onto the the two side pieces (also using a 1.5cm seam allowance) - so all the pieces are joined up into a circle/tube. Make sure you don't get a twist!

4) Pin the tube onto the top and bottom pieces, right sides together.

• Start with the front piece because it is the only piece that matches the width of the cushion cover, then continue around the tube until you have pinned it around the top rectangle piece.
  

• Sew along the rectangle, this time using a 2cm seam allowance (unless you want to top stitch or stitch in a cord).
  
• To make the corners nice, sew up to 2cm away from the edge, lift up the foot - with the needle in the fabric, turn the fabric 90 degrees left, fold fabric underneath neatly and so it is out of the needle's new path (as much as possible anyway)

• Repeat the same for the bottom cushion piece. It's a good idea to open the zip a few cm so you can turn the cushion the right way when you are done.
  

5) Optional: do a top stitch around the edge of the top and bottom pieces - you can also pin in a cord and sew the cord into the edge for a professional finish. Use the zip foot.

Shwe-shwe + ikea lillberg chair

I finally finished my first patchwork and made two sets of cushions for one of our Ikea Lillberg chairs. I had made one before - click for the blog post with a pattern for the bottom cushion.

The patchwork pattern I choose was fairly easy technically (just sew strips of rectangles together) but selecting which pieces go where is something that either you have a knack for, or comes after years of experience.

I am not that pleased with the results (although it looks pretty good in the photo I must confess). The cushions are a little baggy - I plan to re-do the seams with a 2cm allowance. And I don't like the patchwork arrangement - any tips are welcome. I'll post a pattern once I've done the second chair.

Incidentally, if you want a shwe-shwe charm pack, they are for sale in African cotton's Etsy shop.

Shwe-shwe gift cards

How great are these shwe shwe gift cards (available on Etsy) from JacciR? She also has other stationary.

ikea + shwe shwe = awesome

This is my latest creation. On request of my friend Dave, I made a cushion cover for his Lillberg chair out of Madiba range shweshwe. I wouldn't say it is a total Ikea hack - for me this is something you can do if you've got a sewing machine, can sew, and the patience to measure 3 times over at least.

To save you the trouble, I have made my plan open source.
I am going to be making some for myself and am still deciding which fabrics... what would you do?

This is what you need
At least 100m length of cotton thread
1 x 90cm zip (35.4")
fabric, 90cm (35.4") wide, about 2m/78.7" long (3.5m and I got 4 cushion covers)

These are the pieces (2cm/0.8" allowance)







To put it together, follow these simple steps
1) Sew the zip on using the two zip/back pieces, effectively joining the pieces together.
2) Sew the two sides pieces (right sides together) onto the zip piece.
3) Sew the front part onto the other three pieces making a tube.
4) Pin the tube onto the top and bottom pieces, right sides together (sew inside out and remember to leave the zip a good bit open so you can turn it right ways in the end)
5) Turn right way and do a top stitch around the edge of the top and bottom pieces.

If you want to make the top cushion (which I will in the near future when we arrive in CT) note that it is smaller (obviously the same width, but at least 17 cm/6.7" shorter. I am not 100% sure).

Quilters, get your shwe shwe charm pack here!

Want to make yourself a shwe shwe quilt but don't have enough different pieces? AfricanCotton to the rescue - she has a charm pack (in indigo) for sale.

Shweshwe poppis

These very cute dolls are made from shwe shwe. They are based on the drawings of children from the Zola creche in Soweto (run by a NGO), and handmade by their mothers and grandmothers. Isn't that create? They are available for sale in the African Toy shop (I love this shop except sometimes the toys aren't really for kids).
ps: poppis are dolls in Afrikaans.

Squarebags from African Cotton

African Cotton has some new things in her shop. The squarebag, a cute boxy pouch, comes in all the shwe shwe colours and a shwe shwe baby quilt or mat (shades of indigo). I was surprised to see a bag in the post from her on the same day she listed it. It's perfect for small things in your purse.

History of shwe shwe

Shwe-shwe (or schwe schwe) fabric was introduced to South Africa with German settlers in the 19th century, but over time Xhosa women, who took a liking to the stiff indigo-dyed fabric, replaced their animal skin clothes with shweshwe. It is said to be named after the sound the skirts make when you walk.

It is now available in three colours (blue, red and brown), two toned, and double sided prints. Its distinguishing characteristics are a repeated geometric pattern, the use of local fora and fauna (and even political figures!) and the trademark logos on the back of the fabric. The characteristic designs are made by patterned copper rollers brushed with a weak acid solution.

Here are some other websites with information about shweshwe
TheWren - The shweshwe story
FreshlyFound - Shwe shwe
Shweshwe lovers - about shweshwe
SouthAfrica Info - Shweshwe
South of the Sahara
Durbana - isishweshwe
And this is definitely not shwe shwe, but I loved all the African prints, used for cushions!

*New* shwe shwe skirt panels

AfricanCotton has a new shwe shwe skirt panel listed. It's actually one I chose but never got to list. To me it looks like ben day dot inspired flowers with a psychedelic print on the rest of the skirt. If you bought it you could make the standard skirt or the strapless dress I designed.

great bags made from awesome south african fabric

Dari has listed a bag made from some shwe shwe fabric she bought from my Etsy shop. I'm very tempted to buy it back, lol

me on the beach this morning

A picture of me on Umhlanga bronze beach this morning. It was a such a beautiful day that even I, a well known late sleeper, had to get up early for a quiet stroll before breakfast. The shwe shwe skirt is an old one (made over five years ago) and features a kingfisher - I haven't seen that pattern lately.

Sold out

I've sold out of my shwe shwe skirt panels. wow! And there I was at the store thinking I shouldn't buy anymore. It's probably better that I didn't because our leaving date is now just around the corner :(

I'll let you know when there are some panels on AfricanCotton...

New stuff on Etsy

After my friends loved my strapless dress I decided to make some for my shop. I also added some new panels.

Cheaters' quilt - baby mat

I hestitate to call this a quilt, but I guess it qualifies in a very vague way.
My m-i-l makes intricate, creative and beautiful quilts, so that is why i hestitate. hopefully she opens an etsy shop soon!




I used some blue 'three elephants' shwe shwe. Conveniently I have some available in my Etsy store :D

I made the animals using an iron on paper - tracing + cutting out the shapes. Here are a selection of some african animals:

sew your own (shwe shwe/schwe schwe) skirt+dress fabric panels

I mentioned that I went fabric shopping the other day and now I have listed some of my skirt panels. If don't know what to do with them, check out how to make my strapless dress howto

I am just mad about shwe shwe skirt panels. If you want to buy schwe schwe and you don't know what to do with it, just buy skirt panels. It is really dress making made easy. (Thanks Niall :)

If you want to make the dress skirt check the strength and thickness of the elastic thread you buy. Get a good quality because I found that out the hard way today while I unpicked 7 rows (I was making one of those dresses I already mentioned ;)

Here they are (click on the images to go to the listing)

Been keeping out of trouble

Image by azaldin via Flickr

Sorry for my laziness/lack of posting lately. Since we got back from Cape Town it's been go-go-go!

I went fabric shopping again, and bought loads of shwe-shwe skirt panels - I have sold out in my shop and I have started making some of those dresses. I am going to see if I can sell some in my Etsy shop.

I have got a lot of other projects lined up - repairing the old cloth nappies, sewing some larger size ones, and making bags to sell in the 5th May market in Utrecht (the Netherlands). Oh ja, and don't forget about the t-shirt stuff! (I bought a J-Zee (Jacob Zuma) tee - ready to go.)

An update about the Melville Quilt - I found someone on Etsy who loved it (yay). I posted it off to Esse yesterday. Click on her name to visit her shop.

Sales

I made a sale from my etsy store last night, which is always cause for excitement - I don't make many - yet! What's interesting is that it was the baobab skirt panels ... The brown spider web panels didn't make a great impression on the heartomatic. Now what I need to figure out - was it the price, the colour, or the design. What do you think?

She wears shwe shwe

She wears shwe shwe is a cute blog featuring people on the streets who wear shwe shwe; obviously in South Africa that is quite a lot. I love candid and street style blogs, so this one is right up my alley. The creator also sews and posts about her shwe shwe sewing projects.

strapless shwe shwe dress

This pattern is a winner - it's a dress and high waisted skirt combo, and is real easy to make. Best of all no bra is necessary because the elastic in the smocking keep you snug.

As I overheard 'panels are dressmaking made simple'. Very true - if you use at the standard length, there is no need for finishing hemline seams.

All you do is take some panels, in my case I used eight panels in three different patterns. If they are still connected together, cut out panels.


Pin the panels right sides together so narrow edges are together at the top and wide edges at the bottom. Do not sew together in a circle - leave it flat as shown in the picture. Finish the raw edges using a serge stitch.


Then thread some elastic thread (used for smocking) onto the sewing machine bobbin.
Sew in straight lines starting from the top of the garment. Sew on the right side. The first three should be close together (say 1cm) then the next three at 2cm and the rest at 5cm until you have 15cm (at least enough to cover your breasts). In order to keep the elastic lines straight, I suggest marking the fabric with a removable marker (e.g. chalk). Finally sew up the two edges so you have a finished dress.


If you want to make this pattern without the standard skirt panels, use this guide to make your own: each skirt panel measures (without seam allowance)
91cm long (0.99 yards),
13cm wide (0.14 yards) at the top
25.5cm (0.28 yards) at the bottom.

For my dress I used 8 panels and I am a size 78cm (32 inches) under the bust and 91cm (36 inches) over the bust.

I have some panels available in my etsy shop:
brown spidersweb
baobab tree

Ngi Dala (I create)

How cute is this Nelson Mandela bag?

I sell a similar Madiba shwe shwe fabric (but in blue) in my Etsy store.

Here is the bags for nelson blog post from my friend 'b'