Kimberley Dawn Cushions

You may have noticed lately a few needlepoint / tapestry appearing as cushions in the shop. Acquiring these works of  labour  ( not by myself  ) over time , I thought I would start to  make them into cushions , so that may be seen and loved once again.

Most are vintage wool needlepoint.Needlepoint is more often referred to as tapestry ,this is why I have used the term to describe some of my cushions, not knowing the difference until I did a bit of research.

However there is quite a difference.Needlepoint refers to a particular set of stitching techniques worked upon stiff openwork canvas, where as tapestry is woven on a vertical loom.So in actual fact all the tapestry cushions I have made up are needlepoint.Sometimes we use the words or phrases we have always done without ever questioning it,  as I have done only to find out that I was wrong.

Isn’t this just a wonderful atmospheric scene, with all those  blues and  greens.This Windmill Scene Cushion is worked in cotton threads ,  I have the most perfect fringe to match , a great finishing touch!

Why not brighten up a corner ,  Poppy Field Cushion  with its vibrant reds.Piped and finished with red raw silk.

Some of the cushions are more  vintage floral.

Vintage Pink Yellow Floral Needlepoint Cushion , top , shown with  Plain Pink Cushions . These are dupion and add a good tactile contrast to the wool of the needlepoint,I can make gingham cushions on request.

Vintage Wool Floral Tapestry Egg Yolk Yellow Cushion and Jane Churchill Yellow Country Rose Green Gingham Cushion .Why not try mix and match for a unique and personal addition.

Up-cycling do you do it? A piece of furniture painted and given a new lease of life ? What about linens, maybe you have some stashed away in a drawer your granny made…

Well , have you thought of making them into cushions?

Up-cycled Linen Embroidery Cushions

Aren’t  these just gorgeous! I can tell you that I was jealous when I received these 2 embroideries in the post for a make over. For the backs I used raw silk,this echoed the silks used for the hand embroidery. Red for the ‘ Tell me that you love me’ cushion and green for the ‘Daisies wont tell ‘ cushion. A bargain on eBay for my client and joy for me to be able to create a beautiful useful object.

That was easy I hear you say, square piece of fabric , square cushion, nothing to taxing.

Take look at these…Can you tell what they were?

They are hand embroidered linen tea-cosies!

These make stunning little cushions in an unusual shape. I make up a shaped pad to fit, a zip to the lower edge add some fringe or not if you prefer and viola! a unique heirloom or gift.

Last one for today , a pretty hand embroidery of  The Queens words immortalised in stitch.Once a picture in a frame now a cushion with a sumptuous blue velvet on the back.

Queen Elizabeth Hand Embroidery Cushion

I am often commissioned to make cushions any shape or size from a wide variety of fabrics.I really enjoy this  chance to make a totally unique cushion especially chosen by you!

I have made quite a few cushions from silk scarfs ,hankies and now a vintage Union Jack Flag.There so many beautiful scarves and vintage hankies out there ,search them out in charity shops and antiques fairs.

Lilac London Scarf Cushion

 This cushion is made from a gorgeous scarf with London scenes Buckingham Palace,St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster with Big Ben all in soft lilac shades.For the reverse I used a damask fabric as the scarf is quite large ,it has been ruched in the middle and a fabric covered button has been added ,shown here close up.

London Scarf,damask and fabric covered button.

 The next 2 cushions I would like to show you have been made from a Vintage Commemorative Flag from 1935, to celebrate King George V and Queen Mary Silver Jubilee , 25yrs and a vintage hankie.

Vintage Flag & Hankie Cushions

The flag had seen better days,it arrived well worn and torn.After removing the edges where the worst tears were,I laid onto a piece of linen fabric and stitched around each hole and tear with matching threads.There was no way to mend this piece ,so I tried not to cover the wear ,but to stabilize it.This added a great deal of charm.The reverse is a stunning red velvet slightly crushed in appearance reflecting the front perfectly.

Commemorative Union Flag

The hankie cushion, a cute 10″ square just perfect for making a sweet cushion.The added heart button adds the perfect finishing touch .

All these ideas have come via commission ,contact me with your ideas or if you have a gorgeous piece of fabric stashed away you want to have on display,I am sure I can make a cushion that you will love.

Next time I shall show you a couple of linen pieces that have a new use as cushions!

It is very wet and rainy here in Cornwall, yet strangely I am very happy about this as the garden really needs it. I cannot wait to see the grass growing again ,there  a few crocus and daffodils in the garden , so spring has arrived here!

Now onto the cushions.What do you think of this trio?

The Horse and Foal in this pretty tapestry under the blossom laden tree just cry out spring.

Another vintage floral linen from Sanderson and vintage appliqued doily cushion complete the set.I have more of the floral in different sizes.

What a beautiful spring morning the sun is flooding through my window here in Cornwall!

The lastest additions to the website are a mix of old and new.

The blue vintage floral fabric has been made into these delightful cushions.The collection shows another  pretty chintz fabric from Ramm , a vintage style print perfect for a shabby chic style.Big floral prints are coming in for this season.Theses have a gorgeous pink dupion slub reverse .

Also an appliqued doily cushion.The doily is crocheted in white cotton ,such exquisite work ,appliqued onto the blue linen .I have trimmed the cushion with white piping to compliment the doily.I have a few more of these in the pipeline.

I have recently purchased a couple of gorgeous vintage linen fabrics in wonderful floral designs.

The first today  is a Sanderson linen union called ‘ Malwood ‘ .This is a very good weight linen with a beautiful rose spray in duck egg blues , greys , pinks and lilac framed with a trail of vine leaves, ivy and flowers in pale taupe all on an off white very plae beige background.

Vintage Sanderson Malwood Fabric

Next up is a stunning blue floral slubby linen also from Sanderson .I do not know the name of this one but my guess it is 1950 / 60’s.It has a truly delightful floral arrangement in straw , taupe and slate grey with touches of bright red and green so very telling of the time.

Vintage Blue Floral Linen

And the last  today is a very shabby chic floral cotton sateen fabric.Absolutely gorgeous pink full blown roses and other cottage garden flowers all on a white background .Perfect!

Pink Rose Fabric

I have alot of fabrics in my stash …this one jumped out  ’make me ‘ today.

It is a beautiful vintage linen print fabric.I had enough to make a 40 cm  square cushion using the left over piece a co-ordinating bolster cushion was born.As I only had a small piece I used a different fabric on the reverse. The strong dark green background to the floral  made me choose a natural linen to create a good contrast this was also used on the piping of the bolster. More info on this cushion