Bye Bye Christmas, and 2011

Hello New Year.

Here's a pair of cushions I made my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas. I think the recipients liked them. I was told I'll have to do another one when number 3, currently brewing, gets here, but I think that was just politeness. I don't know. It is hard to tell when you don't really get an enthusiastic response at all.

Anyway, to make them, I took a couple of side-on photos of the niece and nephew, turned them into silhouette outlines in Photoshop Elements and printed them. Traced onto fabric, ironed onto Vliesofix, cut out about 1/4 inch outside the line, then ironed onto background and stitched around, on the line, by machine.

They are very recognisable as my niece and nephew, and I was quite pleased with how they came out. What topped it off for me though was the little tags, done with Moda twill tape from a jelly roll, and a laundry marker. Simple, but it added a spot of colour and a kind of professional touch.

I enjoyed making these, and though I wasted a bit of time doing needle-turn applique first up, not liking the nose area, unpicking, retracing etc... it all worked out in the end.