Tag: seat

Completed Project: Orsome Ottomans

It starts out simple enough. You think, oh before I start sewing this skirt I’ll just draft up this really easy pattern for ottomans I saw online. Then you start thinking about the skirt some more and then think, you know, it would be really easy to whip up one or two of those cute ottomans right now, who cares if the skirt is already cut. Then BAM! before you know it it’s midnight and you have two of these beauties:

Aren’t they divine! I’m so happy with them, and I know Sweetheart likes them too: instead of his usual ‘cool, baby’ he smiled and looked at them for a while. Then he tried sitting both at once and promptly fell off. 🙂 *love*

Like most things I make these have a back story too. The fabric is from an old doona cover that was given to me about 3 years ago. I cut it up soon after with the intention of making several large floor cushions, but I never finished making them all because I didn’t really like them that much. After that, the cut up pieces of fabric went from fabric stash to throw-out pile and back again more times than I care to count.

Then on Saturday, I found we faced a dilemma. We’d bought some new furniture, and the Sunshine Seat was just too big for our space. Plus, we also have a seating shortage when guests visti and two ugly corners in the living area: cables and powerpoints made me want to claw my eyes out. So I had an idea for ottomans… and found this great tutorial over on Living with Punks!

I worked out my own dimensions and skipped the handle, and found some neat gold bead piping in my stash that I thought I’d use in a dress but decided it would be better used in these. Then sew sew sew and when they’re done, half the beans from the Sunshine Seat go on the floor and a small amount make it into the new ottomans. I just love them. Here’s a close up of the fabric and piping combo:

I now have enough pieces of cut-up doona cover left to make two more in smaller sizes, and I’m considering some complementary ones in leather look vinyl… oh to  creative, ’tis a joy and a curse!

😀

Three-quarter Completed Sewing Project: Sunshine Seat!

A while ago, I sewed together some Triangle Bean Bags from Grosgrain Fabulous free translated pattern and called them Sunshine Seats. Well, I managed to get one filled!

In my excitement I wanted to fill them as soon as I could, but I hadn’t worked out how many beans I would need… turned out to be 8 bags for one, and that overstuffed it. 8 bags of 100L of bean bag beans for one bean bag is a little expensive, so it took some time. But once we did get 8 bags and filled one, it was huge! That would have been fine, if we had not gotten a new piece of furniture that same weekend that replaced its function. Doh!

I don’t think the second one will be filled just yet, as we don’t have the space for even this one now! Design aesthetic says no. What to do what to do. I can’t wait though, to have them properly set up for two and tea – I’m thinking they’d look great in some kind of modern minimalist warehouse with polished cement floors… 😀

Stay inspired!

Meditation Cushion Made by Me

Another from my Completed Projects Pile, here’s a meditation cushion, or zafu!

I love this style of cushion and I loved making this. I’ve studied Tibetan Buddhism in the past and I always go back to it when I need a bit of calm-down time. Buying a cushion didn’t seem right for me so when I decided to make one I found a lot of good patterns online. Check out the one I used here.

This I filled with wheat we bought from a pet food store, I think it was $7 for 5kg, which works out much more cost effective in my corner of the world than the traditional buckwheat option. The finished cushion weighs 7kg.

I’d love to make this again, but when I do I think I’ll add more pleats. Once the cushion is full on this version, they disappear in the middle.

Stay calm! 😀

Sunny Seats for a Sunny Spot

Spring is so close now and the days are getting lovelier and lovelier. I wanted nothing but to sit outside with a cup of tea and a little project these past two mornings, but we have nowhere to sit comfortably unless it’s in bed or in front of the TV, and neither of those spots are in the sun!

So, after uncomfortably enjoying my Sunday morning cup of tea on the floor, I decided enough was enough. We needed some Triangle Pillows (click to get the tutorial!).

Don’t they look as sunny as the afternoon sun! But I’d agree with you if you said they look a bit flat. I’m excited to see them filled with beans, but that must wait till later in the week. Does my little tray set up give you a hint as to what I’ll be doing next weekend? Hehehe 🙂

About the fabric, I bought it a few months ago to try making a doona cover and some pillowcases for our bedroom. But I’ve since gone off this idea in favour of another! As the fabric was cheap, I bought 12m (the last of the roll!) and ended up with two of these Triangle Pillows, and still have enough left over for a silly dress, and possibly a skirt!

My version is a little different from the tutorial posted on Grosgrain Fabulous. My fabric was about 190cm wide, and I didn’t want to try cutting a parallel line to shorten it to the tutorial’s stated 120cm. Aside from that, I always find bean bags are never big enough to get really comfy in, so I wanted mine to be BIG.

And big they are! When I hold the apex it’s taller than me. They even look big piled on the floor. When I showed my Sweetheart, smiled his smile and worked out the math on how many beans we’d need to fill them. Yes. Well. Quite a bit as it turns out!

The other variation I made was adding a zipper. I figure they’ll need to be refilled at some point and this will make that easier. After I added the zip, I stitched on a little cover and stitched over the metal end of the zip so if they ever need to go on a wooden floor, the zipper won’t scratch them. Thinkin’!

I can’t wait to see them filled up. But more importantly, I can’t wait to sit in them in the sun!

Stay inspired 🙂