Kirstie Allsopps Cushion Cover Trauma

Okay, so I’m still on Christmas annual leave and rather than waste my days off work by loafing on the sofa watching Most Haunted reruns, I decided to be Crafty and Creative by making Kirstie Allsopp’s Homemade Home cushion covers.    But, shock, horror, when I opened my sewing box this morning to make a start I almost passed out.  ‘Someone’ (naming no names…you know who you are…) had rooted through it and had pinched the small boxes I used to store buttons and pins in, and had left the contents of the stolen boxes scattered everywhere.   My blind string was unravelled.  There were knots in my tape.  My bobbins were cast adrift.  And my cotton was in a shambles.  It clearly needs to be sorted.

I love my sewing box.  I bought it (along with its intriguing contents) from my favourite second hand/charity shop on Queens Road in Watford.   I only paid £3 for it.  Inside were old patterns and books, some of which were priced at ‘just 4d’, along with old lace and transfers and other bits and bobs with yellowing pages.   

4d seems such a strange price compared to our current currency.  I can’t remember exactly when our currency changed, but I do remember it changing.  I think I was about 6 years old, which make the contents of the sewing box at least 30 years old.  There's even an evenlope filled with old transfers, which I have no idea what to do with.

A few years back I used to love nothing better than to make Roman Blinds and Austrian Blinds.  Austrian Blinds (or Festoon blinds as I always preferred to call them) were my favourite thing in the world to make.  The biggest I ever made were to fit a 16 ft by 8 ft bay window.  I was in seventh heaven and clearly still boast about it now!   But then they went out of fashion.  Typical.  

Anyway, roll on the years….  Twelve months ago I grabbed a bargain at Dunelms.  A lovely, patterned, lemon and gold coloured 20 meter roll of Chenille fabric for just £19.99, which was a brilliant find seeing as it normally retails at £49.99 per meter.  The reason for the cheap price?  The first meter or so had a black ink stain along the outer edge.   So far, I’ve made simple ceiling to floor curtains for the front door to keep out the winter drafts, plus a matching curtain for the landing window.  I whizzed them up in just a few hours, so they’re far from perfect, and in hindsight I wish I hasn’t recycled the old curtains to use as a liner, but hey-ho, they’re okay.

Today, I plan to whizz up some cushion covers out of the same material - what's left of it.  I’ll let you know how I get on…..(once I finish sorting out my blasted sewing box!)