Cushion & hottie cover

This pretty and useful set by Jane Kharade is made from hand dyed wool in gorgeous autumnal hues. Embellished with appliquéd wool leaves, sequins and beads, the back of the coordinating hottie cover is also blanket stitched in a contrasting colour to create a great design feature.

Essentials

Cream wool fabric, 1m x width
White poly cotton fabric
Concealed zip, 18cm
Beads and sequins, selection
Hand dyes, rosewood red, flamingo pink, woodland brown, terracotta brown
Salt
Toy stuffing
Orange embroidery thread

Dimensions List

Hottie cover: 23cm x 33cm
Cushion: 31cm square

stitch an autumnal cushion

1 Cut wool fabric large enough for the cover front and two backs. Colour using Flamingo Pink hand dye, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once dry, cut out a 31cm square plus back pieces, 17cm x 31cm for the top and 20cm x 31cm for the bottom. Trim several large rectangles of wool for the leaves. Intermix Woodland and Terracotta Brown and Rosewood dyes to create several new shades.

2 Dye then dry the wool rectangles. Go to www.sewmag.co.uk and download the templates. Use to create nine leaf shapes. Pin or glue in place, then machine stitch the leaves onto the cushion front. Embellish with coordinating beads and sequins.

3 Insert a zip into the two back sections using a 1.5cm seam allowance. Layer the front and back right sides together. Pin and machine stitch using 2.5mm stitches and a 1cm seam allowance. Clip the corners and turn out.

4 Make up the cushion inner using 31cm squares of white poly cotton fabric. Pin and machine stitch together, leave a small gap and insert toy stuffing. Turn out and sew up the gap with small stitches and place inside the cushion cover.

make a hottie cover

1 Cut wool fabric large enough for the cover front and two back pieces. Make up a dye bath of Terracotta Brown and colour the fabric. Once dry, cut out the three pieces using the templates. Trim the two backs so that the two flaps sit on the selvedge edge, to avoid fraying. Using the leaf templates, cut six shapes from wool left over from the cushion.

2 Position on the cover and pin or glue them into place. Machine stitch around the edges in either matching or contrasting thread. Blanket stitch in orange embroidery thread along the edge of the two back pieces.