Karen MacKenzie and her five-year-old daughter Perry decided to create their own cushion for the bench in their kitchen. Rather than buying an existing fabric design, they hand-stamped their own on heavy canvas. Here are step-by-step instructions for how to make your own hand-stamped seat cushion: - Purchase heavy canvas at most any craft store or art supply store. You will find a variety of acrylic paint and stamps to there as well. You can buy upholstery foam (figure A) and a zipper from a fabric store.
- Press the fabric to get out any creases.
- Set up a painting area and pour paint on a plate.
- Stamp carefully in a random pattern. Be sure to use something to blot excess paint of the stamp before applying it to the canvas. Leave a portion of the fabric unpainted for the underside of the cushion.
- Measure, size and template the seat area. Calculate length for piping for all edges around top and bottom of the cushion.
- Cut foam insert using template for seat and welting to use for piping, or buy ready made piping.
- To make your own piping, cut out fabric on diagonal, about 4" wide (figure B), then stitch pieces together to make one long strip of material. Fold over welting and stitch with zipper foot attachment.
- Cut fabric to size of template for top and bottom pieces, adding 1/2" all the way around for seam allowance (figure C).
- Cut side edges to match the width of the foam insert, adding the 1/2" seam allowance as well.
- Cut section for back side 2" wider than width of insert and split. Press center edges over and sew in zipper for finished piece to be 1/2" wider than insert on top and bottom edges.
- Sew side band to zipper band.
- Sew piping to top and bottom pieces.
- Sew top and bottom to side band, and your cushion is complete.
Don't worry if anything has to be done over or if the seam has to be re-sewn. You wouldn't be learning if you didn't have to do that once in awhile.
| 
)
)
)
)
)
)
