Hello :)

Congrats on completing the Sewing For Beginners class, we hope you loved the session and feel confident in threading and using a sewing machine. We've put together this handout for you to walk through the process again. This handout won't be in so much detail as the class, but it will guide you through the steps.

Running through this handout soon after the class will help you get to know your own machine, gain confidence, further develop your skills, strengthen your sewing foundation and give you that sense of achievement you felt after completing your first cushion cover! If you're ready for the next step, secure your space in the Intro to Garment Making class asap, spaces for this class fill up fast.

Good luck, allow the mistakes to happen and don't be too hard on yourself, you can always unpick stitches!
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Sophie xoxo

1. Fabric Recommendatons

Start with easy to sew fabrics that do not have much stretch. Here’s a list of some fabrics we love using for envelope cushion covers:

100% Cotton
100% Linen
Cotton/Linen Blend
Upholstery Fabric
Cotton Duck

Follow the manufacturers guidelines on how to pre-treat your fabric before sewing. Remember to iron your fabric to get rid of any creases before cutting.

2. Tools & Equipment

‍Sewing Machine
Fabric
Iron & Ironing Board
Quilting Ruler
Fabric Scissors
Tailor's Chalk
Pins or Wonder Clips
Quality Thread (We recommend Rasant)
Thread Snips or Scissors
Cushion Insert

3. Making the Pattern

If you forgot your pattern at the shop, or if you want to make a cushion cover in a different size, here is the formula for you to create your own pattern.

Length = (Insert Size x 2) + 6"
Width = Insert size + 1"

Half the length measurement if you want to cut on the fold. Example: In the shop, our cushion inserts are 17.5" x 17.5" (45cm x 45cm), so lets use that for our example.‍

Length = (17.5 x 2) = 35 + 6 = 41
Width = 17.5 + 1 = 18.5‍

Once you determine your measurements, draw out your pattern on a big piece of cardboard, or stick A4 sheets of paper together. Cut your pattern with paper scissors. Outline your pattern on your fabric using your tailor's chalk, then cut your fabric.

4. Double Folded Hems

Open up your fabric nice and long (not folded). Place on table with the wrong side up so that you can mark out your double folded hem lines on the back.
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On each short end of the fabric, draw a 1" line to mark your double folded hems.
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Now head over to your ironing board with your fabric, it's time to iron your double fold hems in place.

Make sure your iron is off steam
Start on the side you hold the iron and fold the fabric towards the line, but only half way. Do not fold straight to the line yet. If you remember, in class we fold half way to the line first, and then once that's ironed, we repeat and the second fold lands on the line.
After completing the second fold, steam press the double fold and use the spray to really set it in place.

5. It's Sewing Time!

Thread the machine and position your fabric just past that hole in the foot (under the needle). Check your guide and sew the inner edge of the double folded hem (the side closest to the middle of your fabric). TIP: Don't look at the needle when you're sewing, keep an eye on your guide!‍ TIP: When you've finished sewing, if you have a mechanical machine, remember to finish with your hook up (needle at it's highest position). Digital machine users don't need to worry about this.

6. The Folding Technique

This folding technique is slightly different to the one we went through during the class, this version get's the same result but is a lot easier to explain the steps with written words

Determine the centre point by folding the fabric in half, right sides together (nice print on the outside).
Crease the fabric on the fold with your hands
Open your fabric back out and lay it flat. Wrong side down so that you're looking at the side that'll eventually be on the outside.
Take your favourite double fold hem and fold it to the middle of the fabric where you can see the crease you created in step 1.
Align the sides
Take your quilting ruler and lay it across that double folded hem you just folded to the crease line
Take the other double folded hem (your least favourite) and pull it on top of the ruler, lining it up 4" over your favourite double folded hem.
Align the sides.
Clip or pin the four corners, then slide the ruler out and clip each double folded hem to mark out each area that you need to backstitch.
Sew using a 1cm seam allowance.
Zigzag the edges to secure them.

Congrats on completing your second cushion, and don't worry if it's not perfect, it's a learning curve. If you feel ready to learn more, we recommend joining the Intro to Garment Making Class next. You'll learn so much in this class which will help you on your sewing journey.