Aloha and good morning, readers! Today we digress ever so slightly from the world of dressmaking and bring you a quick and easy DIY project to dress up your home - plus a Giveaway! One lucky lady or gent will win three whole metres of our delicious and delightful Eloise fabric (including free shipping to wherever on the Earth you happen to be), all you have to do is leave us a comment below telling us what you would do with the fabric if you won. The comment that inspires us the most will be crowned the winner.
*Entries are now closed - Congratulations to our winner Diana, who said, "The only obvious use for this sweetly terrifying fabric is a sweetly terrifying get up — some kind of Stevie Nicks meets Maleficent meets Alice post-Wonderland. Some combination of revealing and girlish, maybe with some surgary pink leather thrown in for good measure…! A 3/4 sleeved Georgia crop top, perhaps? And either a sweetly pleated skirt, or shorty-shorts like Papercut’s Rite of Spring? Hmmm…." Can we hold you to that and ask to see pics when you're done?? Sounds truly magnificent...Three metres of Eloise are on their way to you! We also have a runner up - we couldn't resist - Alice, we're sending you a metre for your cat teepee!*
So, what would we do with Eloise? Well, as I'm sure you can imagine, that is one long list... But we've been wanting to make some cute little heart shaped cushions for the longest time, and Eloise's fierce flower monsters presented us with the perfect opportunity.
You will need:
- About a metre of a light-medium weight cotton - the cotton poplin Eloise is ideal for soft furnishings as well as general dressmaking.
- Pillow stuffing - we used leftover scraps of fabric to fill ours, specifically scraps of soft knit fabrics. Avoid scraps of medium-heavy weight wovens as this will just make your cushion lumpy and crunchy. You can also buy pillow stuffing, or just open up an old cushion you have lying around. Just make sure that whatever you use to stuff your cushion will need to be fully washable, as we are not making a removable cushion cover.
- Fabric marking pen or tailors chalk
- The usual sewing supplies - sewing machine, shears, pins, hand needle and matching thread.
Step 1
Mark out your heart shape directly onto the fabric. If you're planning to make a bunch of these - and they do make excellent gifts! - it would be wise to make a paper pattern to reuse again and again.
This is not an exact science by any means, so simply draw out a heart shape that looks good to you, and the size that you want. Bear in mind that you'll need to allow for seam allowance, and try not to make the V-dip of the heart too acute as this will make it harder to turn out to the right side once it's been stitched.
Cut out two identical hearts.
Step 2
With right sides together, pin your hearts around the edges ready to be stitched.
Step 3
Stitch your two hearts into place, leaving an unstitched gap about 2" wide. This is where we'll be inserting the stuffing.
Trim away any excess seam allowance, and snip a notch into the seam allowance at the V of the heart.
Turn your cushion cover out to the right side and press. Also press in the seam allowance at the opening.
Step 4
Time to stuff! How much you stuff is up to you, but generally speaking, avoid the temptation to over-stuff. You want your cushion to be soft and comfy, not bursting at the seams.
When you're done stuffing, pin the opening closed.
Step 5
Thread up a hand sewing needle and close the opening by hand with a blind slip stitch.
Now over to you - what would you make with Eloise??
-
Elisalex de Castro Peake
Comments on this post (108)
I would love to sew two blouses for my twin girls in this wonderful fabric!
— Crafty Albumine
I would love to make my husband a shirt out of this fabric. I’m pretty sure he’d wear it too!
— Corrine
Hi,
Sorry this is a repeat of a previous entry but I can’t see my previous post listed above and am worried that my entry didn’t arrive ( although perhaps you have stopped posting entries online after May 29th??). Anyway please ignore if you already have an entry from me.
We didn’t have sleepovers for under tens when I was a girl and I’ve been reluctant to let my daughter go on one ; however the time has come for her primary school’s overnight stay in Whitby as well as a sleepover at Brownies. I would use the Eloise fabric to make her some pyjamas to wear to keep her safe….she’s not into pink and would love the idea of flowers that are monsters close up ( I think I’m raising a Goth!) .
— Rosie
I think I would make a loose kimono esque jacket. I’ve been dying to make a lightweight layer for the summer, this would be perfect!
— Shelley C
I would LOVE to win some of that fabric! I think I would make the Anna dress…I haven’t got the pattern (yet!) but I think the fabric and pattern would be great together, and I love the shape of the Anna!
— Kieran
My daughter is getting married in September, Eloise would make a special Flora dress for the occasion
— Carol Henderson
I would make some slim fitting trousers for smart-casual days at work. Hopefully they would look as good in real life as they do in my imagination :)
— Robyn
Ooh I’d probably make a shirt dress with a mash-up of the Archer shirt and your Flora skirt. That fabric would take it to a whole new level of awesomeness!
— Cammie
I’m thinking perhaps a lovely cropped blazer and a wee skirt to match! I heard ‘co-ords’ are in this season ;)
— Rona
If I win, I would make matching summerdresses for my daughter and stephdaughter. My stephdaughter doesn’t always feels like she’s home with us. I hope that I can change this feeling a bit by making matching dresses for the girls to show that they really are sisters and that they both are very beloved!
— Liezel
I’d make the Lilou dress from Love at First Stitch and with any left I’d sneak in some shortie PJ as I always use my fave and best fabrics for nightwear.
— Eliza-sew-little
Eloise is the shade of pink that I completely adore, and I would take the opportunity to make a dress from her. Something with pleats in the skirt to add fullness without bulk at the waist, a high neckline and no sleeves.
— Rebekah
I would make a kimono jacket! This fabric is as made for it
— maia
We didn’t have school sleepovers when I was a girl and , being a over-protective-ish parent I’ve managed to put them off for my daughter…. until now…..it’s the school overnight trip to Whitby at the end of June ( just before her tenth birthday) and then the brownie sleepover in the City Museum . I’ve just got time to make her truly unique, one of a kind Eloise pyjamas….to keep her safe!
— Rosie Richmond
Thank you for the giveaway! I would make a blouse or a dress with that beautiful fabric. An Anna dress would be really nice!
— Elena Knits
I haven’t sewn much before but I love your flora dress pattern, so I would use the Eloise fabric to sew up my first handmade dress.
— Emma
Oh Eloise!… Surely you’ve noticed me drooling at you several times, and I’ve had the kinkiest dreams with you ;) Among all the things I dream of making with (to?) you – from a maxi-thigh-high-split-naughty anna, to a laid back victoria with matching shorts, and a flowy hi-lo flora – I think I would turn you into some lazy comfy pj pants I could wear shamelessly outside too! And your remains would be lovingly turned into a sleepsack and matching romper to one lucky baby girl to-be :)
— Laura
The only obvious use for this sweetly terrifying fabric is a sweetly terrifying get up — some kind of Stevie Nicks meets Maleficent meets Alice post-Wonderland. Some combination of revealing and girlish, maybe with some surgary pink leather thrown in for good measure…! A 3/4 sleeved Georgia crop top, perhaps? And either a sweetly pleated skirt, or shorty-shorts like Papercut’s Rite of Spring? Hmmm….
— Diana
I would make a dress for my mother. And with the leftover bits, I’d make something for my new little niece. Then I would convince them that as a thank you gesture, they should buy the Anna dress pattern for me
— Annie
I am turning 40 this fall, and to celebrate(??) we are going to Hawaii…I would make a Flora skirt and pair it with a stripey Nettie bodysuit for a perfect I-can’t-believe-I’m-turning-40 outfit. My thoughts are; it would be impossible to be depressed in that outfit, in Hawaii :)
— Kelly
I’d love to make a Flora dress from this fabric!
— Teri
If I won this fabric I would use it to make a couple cute summer dresses for a needy little girl for a new charity I have recently joined. I’m so excited!!
Cheryl
— Cheryl Hovey
It just so happens that my middle name is Eloise and it also happens that my first name is Georgia. I’ve been lusting after the gorgeous Georgia dress pattern and I think a few metres of Eloise fabric would be the perfect excuse to stitch myself a Georgia Eloise dress!
— Georgia
I would totally make a dress for a wedding I’m attending later this summer! I’d love to get a few double-takes because of this gorgeous fabric ;)
— Claire
Honesty… I would give the fabric to my sewing genius friend Melinda who has inspired me more than most to take a needle and thread and begin creating, she has helped to ignite a long buried passion. She is a woman with impeccable sewing standards, flare and vision and I’m trying to get her to enter the Sewing Bee programme on telly. Remember the name Melinda Warren. You heard it here first!
— caron gasper