Tweedle dee

Tweed made a huge impact on Autumn interiors, (it is a recurring theme) our leather sofa needed something warm, nothing is nicer than tweed and wool. 

I decided to make a set of cushions working loosely with deer, so created this little friendly chap. The blue is an dissolvable pen which disappears once the embroidery was done, in a little water. 

Hand embroidery is a pleasurable delight, while slower than a sewing machine, I love the connection with creating each stitch - there are times when hand made is nicer to do than machine stitching,  I love the irregularity outlining the deer in blanket stitch and using stem stitch to follow the curves of the antlers. 

Then it is a case of trimming the tweed to a square and edge strips to frame it. 

 I love the way the deer's body is a diagonal while the strips are fairly straight, it creates a lovely contrast.

The back was made easily; lay a zip under the folded bottom edge, stitch in place. Fold the top piece with a deep fold, (enough to cover the zip). It is simply a case of following the bottom stitched edge for about 2 inches, then going vertically up until you reach the other zip edge. Stitch along until you are 2 inches away from the side, stitch vertically down over the zip again and then stitch along to the edge. It creates a lovely concealed zip effect on the back keeping the cushion nice and soft with no hard zipper.

I always push stuffing into the corners of the cushion, it creates a nice neat edge then add the cushion. 

I made another three cushions with the tweed, creating a trio. The left hand deer is a machine embroidery pattern, the patchwork squares were angled again to give a more interesting effect.  The blanket is a beautiful blue welsh wool we bought at the Country Living Christmas Fair. 

Now the sofa is a cosy warm place to watch the crackle of the log fire hearing the wind and rain pelting against the window, a perfect winter's evening. 

Cushy number

We are having family to stay over Christmas and bought a lovely white sofa bed. The great thing about the colour is that is possible to update or change the look simply by sewing different cushions. I had some of this clarke and clarke fabric left over from a few projects so I thought I would make some new cushions. I simply love this design the birds and roses are lovely. There are so many colours and the duck egg blue is one of my favourites. Once I had made the cushions I thought it needed a nice fringing  to give them a finishing touch, which was all the excuse I needed to go to the Eternal Maker. 

After walking round Chichester in the pouring rain purchasing the final gifts for Christmas I decided I would treat myself to a visit to the store which is simply delightful. Not five minutes through the door I was offered a lovely cup of tea and decided to participate in their make and take. It was a little button tree, which was delightful to make as there were huge pots of buttons to pick from. Daisy talked me through the project and it was like sitting with a good friend. Living in West Sussex is wonderful there are so many fantastic fabric shops, clothkits is in Chichester too, one of the many reasons I am so happy to be here. 

Little button tree made at the Eternal Maker.