I have been busy sewing letter shaped cushions for gifts. No special reason, just thought they would make a lovely present. I first saw one last year and ever since I wondered how to sew a letter, inside out, which had a whole in the middle – like A or D or P. For some reason I can’t really imagine things and it took me ages to try and picture in my head how I could possibly attempt to make the letter A. Well two A’s, one S, one J and a half-done D, I think I sussed it. Each one looks better than the previous one so there is a lot of truth in the saying “learning through experience”.
I did my first letter without piping and stitched the light fabrics using brown thread as I wanted to see what will go wrong – it wouldn’t have been so visible with white thread. It wasn’t too bad, although sewing the little whole in the middle was harder than I thought.
My second letter was S, and I personally think it was harder than the A. At least the A has some straight sides, compared to the S which wiggles and curves in different directions. In fact the first time I stitched everything together, the front and the back did not really align properly, so I had to do it again ( boy, how I hate unpicking). For the piping I used bias tape which was not cut on the bias and that was not perfect.
Rule: all bias tape should be cut on the bias, that is why it is called bias tape, isn't it?
The J was also a bit tricky, and what I’ve noticed is that the letter curves slightly to the front. I believe this is due to the piping, which pulls the fabric a bit. I decided to make some blue bias tape, actually cut on the bias, for the piping and I am pleased to say that it worked lovely. The piping just followed around the curves during sewing and the letter looks much better.
I heard that such cushions could be made using a guset, but I don't even have an idea what guset is let alone how to use it! Any idea anybody?
I also found a
great tutorial of how to make meters and meters of continuous bias tape – it is actually very clever and really handy if you need to make lots of fabric strips.
So I know there are lots of online tutorials but here is how I do it. I used 50cm x 50cm square which made just over 5m of bias tape.
Fold one corner of the fabric to create a square. Off course I forgot to take a photo of this. Iron along the fold to create a line. Use this line to cut the square in half, creating two identical triangles. Place the pieces one on top of the other and stitch together.
Press the seams open. It should look something like this.
Using a ruler, make long lines along the fabric. Be as precise as possible, as these lines will guide you when cutting the bias tape.
When you are finished drawing the lines, fold you fabric so that the lines meet each other. This is the tricky part – make sure you first line from one side meets the second line from the other side. I know it sounds confusing, just try it.
Pin together and machine stitch. It is very important to press the seams open, before cutting. Once you are ready start cutting from that first line which is on its own.
When finished trim your bias tape and roll together. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Happy sewing!
Love,
Irina xx
