Team Colors Seat Cushion

Come Tailgate With Us!

My project is a cushion with handles for carrying ease! This cushion would be useful in those uncomfortable stadium seats, on the bleachers, or on the back of a pick-up truck.

Below, I'll give you the links to the other 8 blog posts!

The team colors shown in this tutorial do not reflect Bob's favorite team, but this is the fabric that I had on hand. Stacy from Stacy Sews and Schools would probably love tohave this cushion to match her DIY Lap Rug or any of her other Steelers projects.

I originally planned for this cushion to be kind of hard, or stiff. I wanted it to at least be fully stuffed. I still may go back and resew some of the inside seams to make the cover tighter. However, by leaving it the way it is, it serves as a cushion and a pillow.

I didn't have to buy any of the materials for this cushion. I didn't use much fabric at all and I used an old pillow for the inside filling. I already had the ribbon from a prior project.

Materials:

1 old pillow

2 square pieces of fabric approximately 17" x 17"

4 pieces of fabric approximately 4 1/2" x 17" (you can make these thinner or thicker, depending on how thick you want the cushion)

Ribbon, or something like it for the handles

I started by cutting the pillow to a square size. I kept the remainder to make a small, decorative neck roll pillow. I washed this pillow before starting...you can't tell. Good thing I'm covering it up.

I then cut the pieces of fabric to the dimensions described above.

On one of the yellow pieces (side piece) I pinned an X of ribbon to create the handles. When I sew it together, the ribbon will get sewn into place.

I started sewing the yellow pieces to one of the black pieces. Basically the sides to the top piece, making sure to sew the right sides together.

Then I sewed the bottom piece onto the side pieces, making sure to keep the right sides together. I made sure to leave a hole in one section so I can get the pillow inside.

Then I sewed the corners shut.

Here it is before I put the cushion inside.

I slipped the cushion inside then carefully sewed the open seam together. This can be done one of two ways, you can use the machine, and have a noticeable seam, or you can hand sew it and maybe hide it a little better. I opted for the machine. I mean, you're going to sit on it; it doesn't really matter.

And here's the handy handle:

And the finished pillow:

Now for the other bloggers!

Karen at Baking in a Tornado has created a Glazed Kielbasa Sandwich; A recipe for Kielbasa and vegetables marinated, skewered, grilled and served on a roll.

Stacy at Stacy Sews and Schools has made Team Color Earmuffs; Sewn fleece headband/earmuff thingies in her favorite team colors.

Robin at Someone Else's Genius will be giving us an inside look at college football with her review of The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football.

Diane at Canning and Cooking at Home will be giving us a recipe for Spicy Mustard Relish; using up all your green garden tomatoes into a wonderful relish.

Shellybean at Follow Me Home has made Busy Bags; a step-by-step tutorial on making "to-do" bags for kids.

Lydia at Cluttered Genius has made an Easy DIY Upcycled Team Garland. Make a garland for your tailgate or mantel out of products you already have in your house!

Melissa at Home on Deranged is posting about Technology and Tailgating; use technology and cool gadgets to ensure you are master of tailgating time!

Shawn at Literary Litter has made a Snapcap, a crocheted hat to keep you warm and let everyone know what's on your mind.

Removable Neck Pillow Cover

A friend of mine has been redecorating her bedroom. It started with a wall hanging that was given to her as a gift. It was gorgeous, but didn't match the decor in her room at all. So, she decided to start redecorating. When she bought her comforter, one of her favorite pillows wouldn't match. She likes to sleep with the pillow, so I told her that I would make a cover for it so that it would match her comforter set and she'd also be able to wash it.

I started by measuring the length and diameter of the pillow. The width of my cut of fabric was the diameter plus one inch for a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Once I measured the length of the pillow (just to the edge seam), I added a few inches to each end to allow for an elastic pocket and to allow the fabric to go to the center of the end of the pillow.

Here's the pillow I started with:

After cutting one piece of the pink fabric, allowing for the measurements described above, I sewed the short edges (end) about one and a half inches back to make a pocket for the elastic.

Next I added the ribbon.

I sewed the ribbons on by sewing down both sides.

I then sewed the long seam, but forgot to leave the ends open so I could insert the elastic. I had to rip the edges open...oops!

I measured the elastic by taking the length of the short edge and cutting it in half and using that size for each of the elastic pieces. The elastic is so that I can close the edge some but still allow the user to get the pillow in and out of the cover.

After inserting the elastic and pinning it in place, I sewed the ends of the long edge.

The finished cover without the pillow:

With the pillow inside:

I wasn't happy that I could still see the end of the pillow once it was inside of the cover, so I turned it inside out and sewed Velcro inside to help it stay closed.

Once I got the pillow back inside and closed the ends with the Velcro, it looked much better!

Refreshing the Dining Room Table Set

My dining room table and chairs didn't match. The chairs were from one set and the table from another. I loved the chairs and I loved the compact size of the table. The fact that they didn't "match" was driving me crazy.

Over Winter Break I decided to paint the set and recover the chairs. I had some mis-tint paint I bought for $5 from Lowe's. It was a creamy white, very pretty and it had the primer already in it.

Some lessons learned:

• Don't try to paint outside in the cool damp winter weather.


• If you're using paint from a can, not spray paint, use a roller, not a paintbrush.


• Paint with primer in it, even just a satin finish, will dry tacky.


• When you have funky shaped chair seats, they don't make foam pads to fit, so you have to improvise.

Again, this isn't a tutorial, just some pics of my progress...

I sanded the table, this was after I tried painting the chairs outside and figured out that I would have to do this project inside.

This was the result of painting chairs outside in the cool, damp weather using a paint brush

 The result of painting inside where it's warm and dry, and using a mini-roller.

 The fabric I used on the seats.

I was able to buy a 4-pack of foam pads for the chairs, but they were square, whereas my chair seats were not. I had to improvise...

Chair pad with pieces of an old blanket to help fill in and thicken the pad.

Bob helped me staple everything to the bottom. We used a clear tablecloth to protect the fabric and padding from spills.

Finished chair pad

6 months after using the clear tablecloth ($5 at Walmart) I'm finding a couple of holes, but we do have cats and that doesn't help.

To fix the "tacky" issue I mentioned above, I sprayed a couple of coats of clear spray paint over the top of the table as soon as it warmed up enough to do so. It made a huge difference! Papers and napkins don't stick to the top of the table anymore.

I wish I had taken a "before" pic of the set so you could see the vast improvement a little paint, fabric, and a clear tablecloth gave this set!

The finished set!

Making My Shorts More Comfy!

I'm finding that as I get older, I really cannot stand anything restricting my waist. I would rather my pants be loose, or at least stretchy. Anyway, I have a pair of shorts that I love because the waist isn't jeans fabric, but rather a jersey knit with elastic inside.

 The Original Pair

The waistband on these shorts would give and move when I moved (or when I ate). My other pair of jean shorts did not...the waistband was seriously restrictive. Yes, If I lose weight, I'd have no problem with them, but it's too hot to wait until I lose 10 pounds to make them too big again.

I'm not really posting a tutorial for this because I want to do it again with something else to perfect the process. But I'll show you a few of the steps I took to give you an idea...

I took the waistband off

 I cut off and kept the button and button hole

I pinned them back on so I could get a measurement for the rest of the waistband.

I could have used the left over pieces of the waistband, but I wanted to go by the size of the shorts, not the waistband, which was slightly smaller (hence the reason they were restrictive).

 I then sewed the new comfy fabric and a piece of elastic to the button and button hole fabric.

Then I pinned and sewed the newly created waistband into place. It's not exactly pretty...the sewing machine was giving me problems.