Christmas Cushion

I could not wait for the latest release from Concord and 9th to arrive as their new stencil was just screaming easy Christmas gifts to me!  If you've been reading the blog for a while, you'll know I LOVE a handmade gift - and when they're quick and easy but look like they took hours, then even better!   This stencil I thought would be brilliant to use on our Calico fabric to create your own panels which can then be framed (in one of our hoops) for an easy Christmas dec, or as I have done here, turned into a cushion.  Believe it or not, I made this cushion from start to finsih in 2 hours - and I sewed it by hand - if you're less scared of a sewing machine you could half that make time and run up a batch for presents.

To begin, I took a 6 inch square of calico and used the 3 layers of the wreath stencil to create the wreath.   I used Altenew's mixed media inks as these work brilliantly on fabric and once heat set with a dry iron can even be washed at 30 degrees.   I used Waffle Flower shader brushes to get the ink through the stencil.  I used two shades of green on the leaf layer - you rotate the stencil 180 degrees to get the full wreath and I used the paler green on the second "turn".  A darker shade of green for the "stems" layer which wasn't roated, and then red on the berries which was rotated but I used the same red on both turns.   I then used a yellow ink to stamp the sentiment in the centre from the co-ordinating Boughs and Holly Stamp set.  I sandwiched it between 2 sheets of kitchen roll and then ran the iron over it for a minute on high with no steam to set the ink and flatten the calico.

To turn it into a cushion, I took a 6 inch square of cotton fabric from my stash and sandwiched it front sides inside with the stencil panel and stitched around it with a quarter inch border, leaving a couple of inches at the bottom centre open to allow me to turn it right sides out, and then fill it with toy filling.   If you wanted to take it further, you could add a sachet of dried pine and rosemary to give that Christmassy scent - I might do that for the next ones but hadn't thought that far ahead today.   You could also take it one stage further by adding some embroidery highlights to the stencilled image (french knots for berries would be fun) before making it into a cushion.  Once turned (I need practice on getting the corners out!) and filled I used ladder stitch to close the stuffing gap.

Then, I thought it would be fun to make a card to match the gift so used the background stencil (the other 3 in the pack) to make a matching card.  This time I used oxide inks for a softer look but the mixed media inks work brilliantly on card too, and then I added stickles in red and diamond to the berries for a bit of glitter.

I might have a go at making some circular cushions for the next ones and will get some dried smellies to stuff inside.  These would be perfect inexpensive teacher gifts.

Hope that gives you a new idea to try.

NEWS FROM THE STORE

As you may know, pretty much everything in the UK is closed tomorrow for the Queen's funeral.  Our store will remain open but nothing will be shipped until Tuesday when the post office is open again.

Reverse Confetti is currently stuck in customs clearance - we hope to have it sorted on Tuesday - can't talk to them until then - and then it should be here before the end of the week.

We have a massive delivery from Altenew in transit and customs willing should be here on Tuesday.

That's all I have confirmed for now - will update when we have more news.

Tara