I always put on more warp than I need for a project. That end of the warp is where I play, experiment, and try out crazy ideas, not to mention try to use up the thread from as many quills as possible. Or, for rag rugs, I try to use up as much of the weft fabric strips as I can. I have containers for those odd pieces (remnants). That is where I look when I want to make something.
Rag rug “scrap” became a seat cushion last year for me to use in the car.Two cut-to-fit kneeling pads go in the cushion cover. I added handwoven bands for ties. The ties don’t stay tied, and they aren’t really needed. I let them hang as if they are chunky fringe.
The seat cushion I made for myself last year works great. Now I want to make a seat cushion for me to use in the other car. Time to get out that container of “scraps.”
I find four potential “scraps” to use for another cushion cover. The rag rug pieces aren’t quite big enough, but would work if I added some fabric to them. The colorful magenta and stripes piece would work as a top, with some other fabric for the bottom.Blue striped eight-shafttwill in 8/2 cotton is just right! This is fabric I wove a few years ago for chair covers for my mother-in-law. It has a good weight to it, with quite a bit of give. And the blues are very pretty!I am folding the piece in half lengthwise. This fabric has a pretty strong bias pull, so it makes sense to pin the seam before sewing.Walking foot on my sewing machine makes all the difference, especially with this bias-strong fabric. The walking foot helps keep the two layers of fabric together, instead of the top layer stretching ahead of the bottom layer.Two simple seams, and I’m finished with sewing! I am leaving the end open so it is super easy to add or subtract the fillers for the cushion. No ties this time.Press the seams open.Press the seams from the right side. Nothing matches at the seams because this long piece was made with intentionally irregular stripes.Two kneeling pads are cut to fit. They will go inside the cushion cover. This gives me a good firm cushion to elevate my sitting position in the car. There is enough room in the cusion cover that I can add a little more height, or I can remove one of the kneeling pads for a lower sitting position.Two kneeling pads go in.Ready to Go!
Less than thirty minutes for this project, from selecting the fabric to inserting the pads. That’s exactly why I always put on extra warp! You never know when you will need an odd piece of handwoven something…
