When my good friend Kiki asked me to make a cushion cover from her late mother’s Biba skirt, I kind of refused. Big time! I love my friend Kiki so much and would do anything for her but cut up a Biba skirt?! She was going to have to drug me first!!!
She texted to say she was on her way with said skirt. It didn’t look like I had a choice. In fact she was at mine before I got back myself! Mr O had a cuppa on the go. I went straight for the wine. This was going to be painful.
Luckily for me, Kiki gets things muddled all the time. (I really should write a dictionary of exclusive Kiki words and terms. I’m sure it would be a best-seller!) What she meant was that the skirt was a Biba-esque-style maxi skirt that her mum had hand-made in the 70s. She couldn’t see herself in it and to be honest, neither of us could get it over our thighs!
Well. That was a relief but still didn’t make for easy cutting up. But I warmed to the idea that Kiki would get daily pleasure from it being on her sofa instead of folding it away in the attic forever.
There’s quite a lot of fabric going on in a maxi A-line skirt. Plenty enough for a 50cm cushion pad!
But there was a moth-hole. Typically right in the middle of where I needed to cut.
I’ve not used the darning stitch on my machine before now.
It doesn’t mend totally invisibly but far better than a poke in the eye and a fraying hole!
Nothing complicated about the cushion cover itself. Just two squares. Zipper sewn to top edges first. Seamed all round. And Bob’s yer uncle!
Such a great geometric design on this fabric. It’s great quality cotton furnishing fabric of some kind.
And I have to say – I think it looks great on my sofa! Kiki can take as long as she likes coming to collect it!
Great fabric! It does indeed look good as a cushion. 🙂
Thanks, Kat. It’s still on my sofa (sofa so good… sorry!) 😉
What a lovely cushion and what a lovely way to have a reminder of her Mum. Good job done!
Thanks MrsC. I remember a lovely brushed cotton nightie my grandma bought me when I was younger. I wish I’d have had the insight then.
Cute story and great re-make!
Thanks Karen 🙂
What a great idea. Some of my mums dresses would have made great cushions too.
Thanks SewingElle. Making it was a joy 🙂
Yes, it looks great as a pillow. Fun way to capture a memory of a loved one, too. You’re a good friend.
Beth
Thanks Beth. 🙂
Lovely cushion …
Thank you lovely Rachel x
The cushion is great and does look good on your sofa. What a lovely way to remember someone very special and what a special friend Kiki has in you Janene.
Thank you Marj. We go way back! 🙂
Great story and great cushion! I’ve used the darning needle on my Bernina. As you say, not the most delicate of functions but it does the job if you’re in a fix.
Thank you Karen. Its like the button hole function. I still can never remember at what point it starts or finishes. Joy when you get ‘hole in one’!
Ii love that she gave a second life to something that had meaning. Now every time she sees it she’ll have Nice thoughts. And she had you do it, even better from a friend!
Thank you MET. It certainly does have something special in it. Even though I never saw Jean wear this skirt I did feel quite emotional working with it. Haven’t managed to throw the last scraps of it away either. Going to have to think of something clever for those. The zip will go into one of my own skirts!
Very nice! I love it when people re-purpose curtains and larger than huge skirts/dresses to make other items. And, the darning stitch worked out well! I cannot see the hole in the fabric, at least in the pics.
Thank you. It is very satisfying, I have to say. There would be a bigger green warrior inside me if I didn’t have the temptation of 14 or so fabric shops up the road!
Oh this bought a tear to my eye… you know why xxx