Today’s projects are floor cushions and toss pillows from Michael Miller’s adorable new fabric line, SuperFred and Space Pals. As soon as I saw them I knew I’d love to make some floor cushions for my daughter-in-law’s Kindergarten classroom! You can find part 2 here as of March 12, 2020.

With the help of my trusty (just try to pry it out of my cold dead hands! I’m taking it with me) Janome M7 Continental, and some experience having done custom home dec work in a previous life, sewing these cushions was easy, and I’d like to share a free pattern for Everyone’s a Kid Floor Cushions and Toss Pillows with you and show you just how easy!

Fabric requirements are at the bottom of this post and on the free pattern (link in the previous paragraph). The pattern also has all the other “stuff” you’ll need (zipper, interfacing, and so on) and ridiculously detailed instructions. I will focus on bigger pictures for the “how-to” things in this and my next post even though there are plenty of photos in the pattern.

My Deep-Pocket Placket

So many home dec books and pieces of furniture are made with skimpy zipper plackets that gap open and show the zipper teeth–boo hiss! The designer for whom I worked eons ago had *very* high-end clients, so I developed what I think is a much nicer zipper method. Yes, it uses a couple more inches of fabric, but the zipper is fully concealed, doesn’t gap, and even has a little “garage” at the end to hide the zipper pull. I have leftover (miles of leftover) upholstery zipper tape and pulls from doing custom home dec work, but you can order #5 weight zippers or use heavy duty zippers available at big box stores.

The pattern has exact cutting dimensions for the finished zipper gusset (the section of the boxing/sides of a cushion that has the zipper), but honestly I usually cut my strips about an inch wide than I think I’ll need. This gives me some fudging room to get the zipper centered. Once the zipper is sewn in, then I trim it to the desired finished measurements and complete making the gusset.

For this project, I knew the cushions would get a LOT of wear and tear, so I decided to reinforce all of the quilting-weight-cotton fabric with mid-weight fusible interfacing. Then I began assembling the components starting with the zipper. Of course, I was so excited to get started that the interfacing isn’t (yet) on the fabric shown below….I fixed that!

The video below shows me using the Janome M7’s “M” foot. Most machines have something similar. The three little wires help hold the fabric flat, the blade keeps the stitch perfectly positioned on the edge of the seam so you get a good-looking, functional, and non-puckered stitch.

Next, sew the wider upper side of the zipper gusset to the zipper tape using the edge-stitch foot only–you don’t need to do the straight seam close to the teeth as you did with the lower side of the gusset.

Your next step is to attach the rest of the boxing a.k.a. sides a.k.a. gusset–the fabric that goes around the edge of the cushion. First, use the overcast foot to sew the ends together. BE CAREFUL to NOT stitch through the ZIPPER TEETH! Just lift your presser foot and move over the clunky zipper teeth before finishing that seam. Repeat on the other side.

Make the first of the little zipper garage / pockets at the zipper ends. You really only need one at the closed end, but I like the cushions to be symmetrical (about the only time I love symmetry in my work!) so I do both ends the same way. In the photo above, you can see that I have made a pocket about 1 1/2″ deep by making a Z-fold (or S- depending on which side you look at). Pin in place (lower part of photo above) and then stitch a straight line about 1/2″ from the raw edges.

PHEW…that’s Zipper Wisdom according to Sarah. We are now blessedly done with the zipper–I swear it takes longer to explain it in writing than actually do it…well except for the fussing to make sure it is absolutely perfectly straight and nice! In my next post I’ll show constructing and stuffing the floor cushions. And, there are TONS of photos in the pattern, too. One more time, here’s the PDF for the Everyone’s a Kid Floor Cushions and Toss Pillows. Check back in 3 days for Part 2!

And one last minute goodie–my fellow Brand Ambassador Charisma Horton has made this adorable quilt out of different color ways of Super Fred–what a great combination for a kiddo: my cushions and pillows and her quilt! Check it out here on her blog, or the Far, Far Away pattern in her Etsy shop, in both download or paper versions.

Both print and digital versions of Far, Far Away are available in Charisma’s Corner Etsy shop, here. Go to page 3 of the Etsy shop and scroll down to find the patterns.

Fabric requirements for two 24” square floor pillows and two 14×20” toss pillows:

Preshrink all fabrics!

NOTE:  Yardage is to make two floor and two toss pillows. Additional materials (zippers, foam and so on) as well as cutting and construction details in the free PDF show measurements and how to make each pillow. 

• Focus Fabric 1:  Space Pals Black                 3/4 yard (will yield two 19” center squares)
• Focus Fabric 2:  SuperFred Grey                 3/4 yard (will yield two 19” center squares)
• Solids:  
  • Yellow                                         1/2 yard
  • Apricot                                        1/2 yard        
  • Acid                                            1/2 yard
  • Lilypad                                        1/2 yard
  • OPTION:  you can use the same fabric for all of the sides if you prefer
• Boxing / sides fabric:  Galactic Black            2 yards

I was absolutely delighted when Create Whimsy wrote to ask if I’d like to do a Spotlight interview with them–so many people I admire have interviews that you can still see and read. It was even more fun when the Editor, Chardel Blaine, realized that I had taught at a shop she worked at–Quiltworks Northwest in Bellevue, Washington–and we had met about 15 YEARS ago!

Here’s the link to my interview… I hope you enjoy reading the flotsam and jetsam of my life and mind. I opened up a half dozen interviews to review and prepare which led me to a new artist I admire, and I’m planning on opening another half dozen for lunchtime reading. Thank you Chardel and Create Whimsy!

This morning I was checking my spam folder, because the spam filter (I get at least a hundred spam messages most days) frequently leaves spam in the inbox and puts a few “good” messages in the spam folder. Today’s discovery is WHY I do check diligently….sometimes I’ve found inquiries from guilds asking me to teach, but this is even better.

I’ve X’d out some of the details to protect the privacy of the person who wrote, but it brought tears to my eyes.

 “I just saw your quilt “Coach’s Clipboard: Win by Fall” at the Mid Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, VA. I can not tell how much joy I felt when I rounded a corner and saw it. It was worth the xxx hour drive to Hampton and back just to see it!! I looked for wrestling themed fabric or patterns for ages and had given up. Wrestling was the best thing that ever happened to my socially awkward ADHD 5th grade son (now age 2x) and his first coach in particular was an inspiration and mentor to both kids and parents. Since graduation my son now referees for youth league and JV matches. I now especially enjoy watching all the girls who now wrestle, learning to be strong and fearless. Olympic wrestler xxxxx xxxxx, who originally attended my son’s high school, has inspired a lot of kids in the area. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful work and thank your husband on behalf of all the moms out there whose children have benefitted from having another adult in their lives who care about them and help them be better people.”

THANK YOU, L.P. in the mid-Atlantic….you have no idea how much your comment means to me. Our older son was ADHD and is also in his 20s, and wrestling benefitted him. Our younger son, pictured in this quilt, has just finished is senior year in college, including four years on a D1 wrestling team. To his dismay, between lack of top training before college and three major injuries/surgeries/recoveries, his college career wasn’t what he had hoped. But he has learned and grown, and I know that every minute of his athletic career has helped make him the amazing young man that he is.

So THANK YOU AGAIN L.P.! You have given me something that I will remember for a very, very long time.

And yes, I meant every single one of those excessive exclamation points. Usually I’m lucky to get two out of two quilts juried in to a given show. This time, not only did both Lupines and Rose Hip get in to the Mancuso Brother’s Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, they BOTH RIBBONED!!!!!! That is a bucket list item that I never, ever, Ever, EVER expected to check off! Guess what…done! To the judges: THANK YOU for making a dream come true!

I’ve never won a prize such as Best Use of Color at a national level show, so I am particularly pleased–my work is about color, and then about the quilting. Next August 5-7 I’m going to be teaching a three-day workshop, Exploring Paint on Cloth, at ProChemical and Dye in Fall River, Massachusetts. I’ll be sharing the techniques I used in both of these quilts in that workshop and hope some of you can join me! Details in the hotlink. I’m deep in the planning for the specifics of what we can do in three days and getting so psyched for it!

Today we’ll wrap up the last steps in this fun apron. Get ready to make a Kitschy Cocktail wearing the cutest apron ever to cover a frock. Enjoy a nice sip, preferably with a little paper umbrella! Make mine a pina colada, please!
For the blogpost for Part 1 of this pattern, click here.
For the blogpost for Part 2 of this pattern, click here.
To download a Free-in-2020 PDF pattern with ALL the instructions and images, click here.

Sew the waistband and finish neckband

• Administer chocolate or wine as needed—you’re near the end!
• Sew 1” strips of black to each side of the starched plaid waistband piece.  Press seam as stitched, then press seams away from plaid.  On top edge, wrap fabric around to the back and press.  See photos below.  

FITTING NOTE:  this is where you get to alter the size to fit you.  I wanted my apron to come around my hips to the back.  This is your apron, so make yours the way you like best!  It can come just to your sides, be almost all on the front, or wrap well around you.  I’m messy, so far around was my choice!

• Sandwich the lower edge of the bib between the back and front of the waistbands.  Optional:  baste the bib to the center of the solid black waistband (back side).  Photo below.
• Pin the plaid waistband front and sew.  In the third photo below, I aligned the right side of the presser foot with the edge of the seam and positioned my needle just below the seam edges.

• Press seam as stitched, then press all fabrics away from the bib portion. Photo below.

• Pin apron skirt to black portion of waistband, wrong side of apron to the right side of the black leaving ½” extra on each end (see step 43).  Distribute gathers as desired/evenly.  You can use the tip of a pin to scrape the gathers into place, photo below right.  Sew.

• Sew apron skirt to black waistband back with a 3/8” seam.  Use the pin to prevent tucks from forming as you stitch.  You may wish to decrease the presser foot pressure so the bulk travels more smoothly under the presser foot.  Remember to change it back when done.  

• Check to make sure you like the way it looks, then zigzag the edges, see right photo above.  This will make the next two steps easier. 

• Fold in the ½” extension on the waistband upper photo above. Tuck the square end of the waist band ties into either end of the waistband, lower photo above.  Fold the waistband front over the seam you just stitched, being sure to cover the seam line. As best you can, get the skinny bits of black on the waistband and ties to line up.

• Stitch on the edge of the black waistband front to secure the waistband to the top of the apron.
• Stitch in the ditch or on the edge of the black of the waistband as well as along the ends where you tucked in the ties.

• Tie the apron to your waist.  With the unfinished end of the strap behind the bib, adjust the length of the neck strap to suit you.  If it is long enough to pull over your head easily, trim with about an inch of extra length.  Tuck the ends in and stitch closed.  Pin the strap to the bib at the desired spot and machine stitch in the ditch next to the black trim near the top ruffle.  If it’s awkward to pull on and off, use Velcro or snaps instead

• HALLELUJAH you’re DONE!   Put it on, wear it with gusto!  Grab some bubbly or mix yourself a Kitschy Cocktail and celebrate a party apron made with the finest of details and finishing—not a raw edge to be seen anywhere.  (And if need be, give it a wash or wipe to remove any visible glue stick—it’ll come out in the wash.)

THANK YOU for following along this intricate project.  Yes, you could have overcast edges and make it faster, but this way you’ve learned some fine finishing techniques to apply to garment and home dec sewing AND made yourself a Rockin’ Retro Apron!  

And of course, Thank you to Michael Miller Fabrics for selecting me as a 2020 Brand Ambassador and to Janome America for having me as a Janome Artisan since 2003. I am honored, humbled and grateful for your support.  

And just in case, here is the link to download the pdf on more time for the Rockin’ Retro Apron in Kitschy Cocktails!