Butterfly Cushion Tutorial

I had great plans for this weekend's sewing - another iPad cover, little oven mitts, more sock monkeys, not to mention my plan to learn how to crochet! But well I found this cute butterfly cushion cover over at Ruffles and Stuff and I just had to make one of my own. :) I used different sized butterflies in a random pattern as I just didn't trust myself to line them all up as nicely as she did! But the end result is pretty cute I think. :)

Want to make a butterfly cushion of your own? Of course you do! 

Choose some fabric for the main part of your cushion and a cushion pad. You can do this all in felt but I had the perfect sized piece of soft brushed cotton so I used that instead.

Wrap your fabric around your cushion pad to see how much you need. Leave about 1/2" overlap at the edges and 4 - 5" overlap for the flap at the back. There's no buttons or zips so make sure it's overlapped enough and then cut it out.

Pick some cute butterfly templates (or download mine here). Cut them out, trace around them on some good quality wool felt and cut out. 

It's up to you how many you do or what sizes you like but I used 1 of the biggest two, 2 or the next two and 3 of the smallest butterflies.

Pin your felt butterflies in place on your cushion.

Sew around the centre of each butterfly so that the wings are still free to flutter but the butterflies are secured in place.

Next sew a hem on each end of your fabric. Just fold it over, pin in place and sew a straight line along it. Or a slightly wavy one if you're like me! :) I only hemmed the edge that you can see from the outside but then sewed it wrong and had to rip and redo! Oops.

Next take your fabric and wrap it around your cushion pad again. Make sure it's inside out (i.e the butterflies are facing the cushion and can't be seen), then pin the overlap closed.

 Pull the cushion pad out and pin the sides.

Sew along the two sides. (This pic is from my first attempt - if you're only sewing one hem you should have the raw edge visible here!) 

Then turn your cushion cover the right way out and pop your cushion pad inside! This is what the back of mine looks like.

And this is the front. Flutter by cute little butterflies. :)

Things I've learnt:

- Use a good quality wool felt, not your craft shop stuff. It looks and feels much nicer and it'll hold its shape better.
- Make sure to line up the front of your cushion properly. I really wish I'd taken a second to check mine, those big butterflies should be a little closer to the top.

- Just sew a hem on both ends of your fabric. Then you won't make my mistake and sew it wrong and end up with the unfinished edge on show. On the plus side my stitch ripping skills are coming on nicely!

- As there's no zip or buttons or anything this is really quick and easy to make. My favourite kind of project! The trickiest part is negotiating all the fabric around the machine as you sew the butterflies on.

- You could make this a bit fancier and add a little detail to the butterflies but I kinda like it plain and simple like this.

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