Dog on Wheels

Feeling inspired by Amanda Blake-Soule's new book Handmade Home I was desperate to do something crafty last night.

I had the idea to make a cushion using:-

• an old pillow that was ready to be thrown out
• a pillowcase that my youngest had had a nosebleed on (sorry is that too much info?! - to add to the horror I've even shown a pic above) and try as I might I couldn't shift the stain
• some cheap but lovely Ikea linen (£3.99 per metre)
• My sewing machine that hadn't seen the light of day for about 6 months
  

First I created a square cushion by taking the pillow and shuffling all the stuffing up to one end, and sewing so it would all stay put.

I then lay the cushion on the linen and cut a front piece, leaving about 1" allowance (I think this may have been too generous though as the completed cushion isn't as plump as I'd like). I cut out the dog picture and stitched this to my linen using a zig zag stitch. I then took the red ribbon trim and sewed this all around the picture (got a bit over ambitious here with the mitred corners but nothing ventured.....nothing gained).

Once it was kind of square I made the back of the cushion using 2 more pieces of linen and attached it altogether envelope style.

I was so proud of my creation and showed it to I, who exclaimed incredulously - 'What is that?! A dog on wheels?!'

He just didn't 'get' it........but I'm happy anyhow.