Post 12: Main Project Final Report Part 2

For my final project, I decided to take a tomato pin cushion, and make it the size of a foot rest. I started by finding an image of a circle split into six sections, then flattened out to start with my pattern, I then went into Adobe Acrobat to enlarge the pattern over several pieces of paper, I then cut it out, and sketched a diamond shape that would serve to be the green leaf part of the cushion.

I then got red and dark green cotton fabric, and cut out 12 pieces of each shape (I technically only needed six, but I wanted to double layer the fabric for strength and integrity.

I started with the green parts, I need to sew two of the side together, then turn the shape inside-out, then sew all the pieces together into the start shape. I used a double running stitch for ease. Below are the progress pictures and the final result for the green portion.

For the red portion, I had to sew four pieces of fabric together at the same time since there were only simple stitches and not extra steps for shaping the ball portion. Below each wedge represents two layers of fabric.

When I had only one seam open, I pinned the invisible zipper and hand-sewed it in, it took a couple tries because I had to hide the edges and make sure the seams were closed all the way to the edge.

I then had to attach the leaf part to the tomato part, I realized I still had some flaps of fabric flying about, so I tacked them down with a few stitches, making sure nothing bunched up strangely.

I then placed the leaf on top and pinned it down. I then tacked all the endpoints, midpoints, and center point so that it would not move.

After I finally had my sewn-up cushion, I needed to fill it. I planned on using fabric scraps that I have saved (for no good reason other than the fact that I felt bad throwing them away.) but as I was filling it up I realized I severely underestimated how much filling I needed. I will stick to filling it with scraps, but I just know it will take a while.

Overall I am very happy with how this turned out, and even though it is not full, it is still comfy to use as a pillow. I am very excited for when it is fully stuffed and I can sit on it or rest my feet.

Presentation Link: https://vimeo.com/823614978?share=copy