Wednesday 20 October 2010

Cushion Creation

Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post about my Christmas bunting. I'm so pleased that you all like it, and it is clear from the comments I received that there are people out there who would, indeed, like me to write up the pattern I kind-of invented.

Well, I said if you wanted me to do it, that I would. So I will. (Did that make sense?) :-)

I am happy (but a little surprised) that I have made something that others are so interested in that they might want to try it for themselves. That's really cool, actually, now that I think about it. Awesome! I'm very happy to share, so I will.

I just have to get around to typing it up. That pesky Paid Work is getting in the way of Life again, but I will have a go at the pattern this weekend. I've never written down a pattern before - I'm sure I can manage it - but I suspect it will take a bit of time.

So, bear with me, if you can?

In the meantime, I have another project I'd like to share with you, if you'd like to see?

Some time ago (before I went on my bunting frenzy!) I wrote about a Charity Daisy pattern that I was using for a cushion cover.

Well, here it is again:


And, while on holidays, I also made the other side for this cushion:

Pretty, hey?

This side is made using a groovy flower pattern from the talented Elizabeth Cat.

The pattern is not on her blog (but please check out her blog anyway - it's very beautiful and interesting!). The pattern is instead written in the comments under a picture on Flickr.

This picture, actually. Click here to go to the pic and read the pattern.

My Andy Warhol Cushion, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Cat.

Now the pattern is a little confusing - at least for a beginner like me. I also found it quite fiddly and it took me a few goes to work it out. I
think I've got it right, now, but I'm still not entirely sure!

This is what my version looks like:

After the flower is made, a granny square is wrapped around it. Now, some of you may know that I've not always been a fan of the granny square (as I wrote about here), but I must say they are growing on me, especially ones that are a little bit different and interesting - like this one.

I looked at a lot of different ways to join squares before deciding on trying a join called Flat Braid Joining. I found out about it at Marie Anne's blog, Every Day Crochet - you can read about it in this post, here.

Marie Anne really loves this join and uses it all the time. Her blog gave some links to video tutorials and these explained it really well. It looks tricky, but it's actually not too hard after a few goes. I really like the lacy-braided look it gives and thought that went well with the granny squares. (Well, I thought it made them look less like granny squares, actually, and more like an all-in-one, interesting, lacy creation.)

So, thank you, Marie Anne, for those great links and all the info on the join. I am very happy with the result.

I then added a few rounds of double crochet (UK trebles) in the "solid" granny style around the whole thing because I thought that would match the back nicely.

I only hope that the tension is all okay and that when it is a finished cushion it isn't too ripply. I guess I should probably block it but I never seem to get around to blocking - it all seems like too much of a hassle to me!

I think (I
think) it is going to fit a 36x36 cm cushion insert and I have now bought one. I was thinking about buying a blue pillow because that would look better (I don't like the white insert peeking through the holes of the grannies) but I couldn't find one small enough. So at the moment, it's just the white insert that I'm using. Whether or not I fix that later might depend on how "over" the project I am by then! :-P

So now I'm ready to attempt to sew the two sides together! By wonderful, happy co-incidence, Jacquie over at Bunny Mummy recently posted some info on sewing cushion sides together - showing how she adds buttons down one side. I am so thrilled because it's all perfect timing for me and her method looks really easy!

I'll let you know how I go.

And, no, I won't forget about the bunting pattern. :-)

Till next time,
Have a happy, hooky day,
Caz :)

12 comments:

  1. Hi Caz , love your cushion so far. Looks like you have got the pattern right to me . Thank you for the link to the pattern and thanks for linking to my blog...hope it helps you with the joining :0)
    Jacquie xx

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  2. Those flowers are gorgeous! I have a hard enough time doing something simple in the round, I don't know if I could manage a dimensional flower. Great job!

    I love the daisy too. I think I joined that group a couple of years ago and got the pattern, but she put a temporary hold on more squares until she could get caught up, so I never did any. They really are pretty, though.

    Thanks for the nice comments about the flat braid join tutorial. It's the only way I'll join!

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  3. Hi Jacquie and Marie Anne,

    Thanks for visiting and I'm glad you like what I've done so far.

    I'm more than happy to give links to your blogs as I am a regular reader of both - your blogs are awesome!

    Thanks for all the ideas and help you've given me through them. :)

    Caz :)

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  4. How beautiful it is! I love the daisy square so much! Your cushion is so cool and that's a great color combination! You are so clever and creative!

    I am so happy enjoying your amazing blog. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. The cushion looks great, I love the colours you have used.
    Looking forward to giving that beautful bunting a tryx

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  6. Caz,

    You are complete in the crochet mood!
    You never knew you're so talented........

    Heel veel liefs uit Nederland,
    ~X~ Karin

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  7. Yes, you definitely have the crochet fever. Welcome to the club! Hee-hee. Love your cushion cover and your daisy square!

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  8. Love the daisy - you are too clever!!

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  9. The daisy square is so pretty. How did you find working the pattern?

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  10. It's looking great! The colours are lovely.
    I find that when putting the cushion together the ripples sort themselves out as long as the cover is a weeeeee bit smaller than the cushion....
    looking forward to seeing the finished result!

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  11. Alice - thanks for the advice! It's just that fine line between being a "weeee bit smaller" and being just plain "too small" that's the tricky part, isn't it? :-)

    Maria - I found the daisy square HARD. Very tricky and fiddly. But the instructions and extra photo-tutorials, etc on the website are a big help - they made a huge difference. Actually, it wasn't so much that it was difficult, it just needed a lot of concentrating - reading and re-reading every step of the pattern, etc. I hadn't done anything that involved alternating 2 colours (without cutting yarns) before, so that was particularly tricky - for me. I'm sure next time it will be easier - it's the sort of thing that once you get it, you get it - know what I mean?

    Hope that helps!

    Lovestitch, Jacey, Karin, Pammy Sue, PaisleyJade - thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments! So nice to hear that you like my work. No one in my "real" life really "gets" my crochet, so it's so nice to hear from people that do! :)

    Caz xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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