Sewing Brings People Together

Cushions with zips

One of the absolute best things about being a teacher is the six-week summer holiday. Six glorious weeks where I convince myself I’m going to get so much done.

Obviously, that doesn’t always happen.

But this summer, one of my friends came round for what turned into a whole day of sewing, chatting, drinking and generally putting the world to rights, and it reminded me that sewing isn’t always just about what you make.

Sometimes, it’s about who you make it with.

First Things First… A Gossip

Naturally, no sewing could possibly begin until we'd had a proper catch-up.

My friend had been away visiting family and started telling me about her holiday. Sadly, while she was there, two elderly members of her family passed away.

What should have been a summer break had suddenly become two funerals and a wedding.

Not exactly the summer she had planned.

So before we really did much sewing, we talked. About her family, everything that had happened, the wedding she was going to and probably another hundred completely unrelated things along the way.

Sometimes you don't need to do anything for someone. You just need to sit together, have a drink, listen and let the conversation wander wherever it needs to go.

And having something to sew while you're doing it definitely helps.

From Funerals to a Wedding

My friend had been making herself a dress to wear to the wedding and needed to get it finished.

So eventually we dragged ourselves away from the gossip long enough to actually do some sewing.

We pinned the dress to get the hem to the right length, and then she got to have a go on my overlocker to finish everything off neatly.

I’m still at the stage where I get ridiculously excited when anyone uses my overlocker. After the trauma of completely unthreading the bloody thing when I first got it, I now feel like an overlocking expert.

Well… expert-ish.

The dress was finished.

One less thing for her to worry about.

Operation Cushion

Next on our sewing-day agenda were cushions.

My friend had recently decorated her lounge and wanted to make some new cushion covers, and she wanted zips.

Now, there are probably professional cushion makers reading this who are about to recoil in horror, because rather than finding out the official, technically correct method, we came up with our own incredibly simple way of putting them in.

Classic me, really.

Was it the proper way?

No idea.

Did it work?

Absolutely.

And that's good enough for us.

We started by adding a small piece of fabric to each end of the zip to conceal the ends and give it a neater finish.

Attaching the zip to the sides

Then we placed the fabric right side against the zip and sewed from the edge of the fabric all the way along the zip.

We repeated the same thing on the other side.

And suddenly…

WE HAD A ZIP!

There may have been more excitement about this than was strictly necessary.

Whatever You Do, Open the Zip!

With our beautifully improvised zip successfully attached, we opened it before sewing the remaining three sides of the cushion together.

This bit is important.

Because sewing your entire cushion together and then realising you've left the zip closed would be exactly the sort of thing I would normally do.

Once we'd sewn the other three sides, we turned the whole thing through the open zip and there it was, an actual proper zipped cushion cover.

Simple, neat and surprisingly painless.

So naturally, we made another one.

Sewing Brings People Together

Sewing, Laughing & Putting the World to Rights

By this point, the drinks were flowing, the sewing machine was providing a constant background buzz and we'd pretty much put the entire world to rights.

There was talking.

There was laughing.

There was sewing.

And there was an absolutely ridiculous amount of cat hair.

My cats could clearly smell my friend's dogs on her and were extremely interested in investigating this suspicious dog-smelling woman who had appeared in their house.

So while we were making cushions, they were conducting their own full-scale investigation.

Nothing says homemade with love quite like picking cat hairs off your newly finished cushion.

Sometimes It's Not Really About the Sewing

At the end of the day, my friend had a finished dress to wear to the wedding and some lovely new cushions for her newly decorated lounge.

But I think we both got something else out of the day too.

After a summer that had unexpectedly brought sadness, funerals and a lot to process, we had spent a whole day just being friends.

We talked about serious things and completely ridiculous things. We laughed. We had a few drinks. We made things with our hands. And for a few hours, the outside world could wait.

That's one of the things I love most about sewing.

It gives your hands something to do while everything else just… happens.

Conversations seem easier when there's a sewing machine humming in the background. Silences don't feel awkward because you're concentrating on a seam. And before you know it, hours have passed and you've talked about everything from the really important stuff to complete and utter nonsense.

You don't need to be an expert.

You don't need the fanciest sewing machine.

And apparently, you don't even need to know the proper way of putting a zip into a cushion.

Sometimes you just need some fabric, a sewing machine, a good friend and an entire day with nowhere else to be.

My friend went home with a finished dress and two new cushions.

I was left with a sewing room covered in scraps, empty glasses, cat hair and that lovely feeling you get after spending a day laughing with someone you care about.

The Cushion

I'd call that a pretty productive day.

Sewing Brings People Together.

Have you ever noticed how crafting brings people together?

Maybe you sew with your mum, craft with your kids, knit with friends or simply sit around a table making things while putting the world to rights.

I'd love to hear your stories in the comments.

And if you enjoy my slightly chaotic approach to sewing, have a look around More Shabby Than Chic for more of my makes, mishaps and occasional sewing triumphs.

Because sometimes the best thing you make isn't the thing you planned, it's the memory that comes with it. 

Before You Go… 🧵❤️

If you enjoyed reading about these memory cushions, sign up so you don’t miss my next adventure in sewing, creativity and inevitable chaos.

You can also read my other blogs, visit More Shabby Than Chic to see more of my handmade work, or leave me a comment—I would love to know whether you have a treasured item that deserves a new life.

Until next time… keep making, keep laughing, and remember: handmade doesn’t have to mean perfect. ❤️

Rhiannon

More Shabby Than Chic