Cushions, three years late

While waiting for my first little tyrant baby to arrive, I made a lot of cushions.  I also bought the fabric, piping cord, sponge etc. for several more which never got done.  Until now, because Mr B made encouraged me finish them.

For baby Button's room (which is now occupied by a different baby than the original), there is a big square cushion.

Check out the awesome piping made from leftover fabric from this dress.  I am very excited to say that I can now wear it again (the dress, not the cushion, ha ha), because DIET.

There is a button back, so I can wash the baby sick out.   If the cushion was not so plump and bulging, I'll have you know that the bunting pattern actually matches perfectly!  If you want to know the pattern for this cover, you can find my tutorials here.

I also made a foam seat pad for the Lloyd loom chair in baby's room, with a box cover.  Mr B cut the foam with a kitchen knife because I'm too chicken.

There is a lapped zipper, again for baby sick washing purposes.  I went back and forward about how to place the pattern around the pad edges, and ended up going for a bunting string at the top, with the tips of boat masts pointing into it.

I have to show you this shot of the edge, because you HAVE to know how well the pattern matching went across the zip insertion!  LOOK I BISECTED THE WIND-VANE ON THE LIGHTHOUSE PERFECTLY!  LOOK!  It totally calls for capslock because, let's be honest, this pattern win doesn't happen much.  Mostly my pattern matching is poor on a good day, even when I'm trying super hard.  This happened when I wasn't even caring too much!  Maybe that is the key?!

There's also another seat cushion for the downstairs Lloyd loom chair, which would look more lovely if the chair was not usually covered in blanket-fort blankets and used to prop up 200 plastic play balls and a lurid play pit.  Don't look too close at the stripe matching at the front edge of the seat because the fabric crept and now it doesn't-quite-match which I think we can all agree is the worst sort of matching.  Now you can understand why I needed capslock about the above wind-vane.

I'll be honest, I had a pretty bad attitude about doing these, but I'm pretty happy with my job in the end.  Too bad I didn't do them 3 years ago.

Bobble cushion

This cushion is a knock-off of a similar one I saw for sale in John Lewis:

John Lewis cushion

The cushion is 20.5" x 14" finished size, which meant I could just lop a bit off one side of the template I used for all the others.

The main part of the cushion is grey wool suiting that I had lying around.  Not ideal as it has a bit of stretch, so I had to be careful to use fusible interfacing on the button back.  For a tutorial on the button back, see here.  I reduced the number of buttons to two and used the same pink contrast fabric as the front.

There was an old man of the Hague, whose ideas were excessively vague; he built a balloon to examine the moon, that deluded old man of the Hague.

The front design is an Edward Lear illustration traced onto cream cotton and embroidered with back-stitch in two strands of dark grey floss.  After stitching it, I trimmed it down and pressed the edges under so that it finished as a 6.25" square.  I mounted this on pink fabric which had been pressed into a neat 7" square.  I then stitched this to the cushion front.  Each time I added a fabric layer, I secured it with machine top-stitching in matching thread.

Basting the bobbles to the front fabric before attaching to the back of the cushion.

The bobbles come on a woven strip; I had to use a double thickness to get the bobbles spaced so close.  I basted the tape along the short edges of the front piece on the right side with the bobbles facing inward toward the centre, making sure the tape did not extend further than the 1/2" seam allowance.  This meant that when I stitched the front and back together, the seam would run over the bobble-stalks.  When the cushion is turned right-way-out, the bobbles are sticking out of the seam, while the tape is concealed inside.

This tutorial is part of a series:

Chrysanthemum cushion

 

I made this cushion using the tutorial at sewing.org, clicky here.

Not much to say, except a few variations I made:

• I probably did more than 61 half-circle petals.  I just kept going until it looked right.
• I made my cushion 16" in diameter, and put a zip in the side panel so I could use a circular removable cushion pad.  To read how I did it, see this earlier post where I did the same thing.
• I finished the centre off with a covered button because my centre petals looked messy.
• I didn't hand-stitch petals to the surface because I'm lazy.  I used my machine on a zig-zag stitch to baste them on.

Button centre

Cheating machine basting for lazy people

Side zipper

This post is part of a series:

Sprocket cushion

This cushion is from the amazing tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew.

The pattern comes for two sizes, but actually you can choose any size and any number of segments by making your own pattern.  You can either draw by hand, or follow my steps (outline at the bottom of this post) in Inkscape, a free vector graphics editor which is a very useful tool (in my opinion).

I made a couple of changes to the pattern.  One was to made the cushion thicker: I went for 5" finished depth.  The other changes were to add a concealed zipper (to make cover removal easier), and to create the final shaping by sewing between two covered buttons (not just one).  I also use a 1/4" seam allowance throughout (the original tutorial uses 1/2").

The zipped side panel

Although you'll still have to snip the buttons off to remove the pad, a zip makes the whole cover-changing process easier (no stitches to unpick).  I've not seen concealed zips on commercial cushions before (only in dressmaking) but I think it's a good thing in this pillow because I wouldn't want to spoil the look with a lapped zip.  Nevertheless, I've done one with a lapped zip before and it was okay.

Concealed zipper.  Behold the pattern matching: woo hoo!

To make inserting the cushion pad easy, ideally the zipper length should be half the circumference of the cushion.  For a 16" diameter cushion this is: 3.14 * 16" = 50.24" circumference, so a 25" zip would be nice.  The longest concealed zip I could find in the right colour was 22" so that had to do.

The cushion side bits consist of three parts.  Two are 3.25" x 23.5" and one is 5.5" x 27.74".  Where did this come from?  The two parts go either side of the zipper and need to be 5/2 + 0.25 + 0.5" = 3.25" wide by 22 - 1 + 2 + 2* 0.25 = 23.5" long.  The width is chosen to be half of the finished width, plus a 1/4" seam allowance on the outer edge and a 1/2" seam allowance at the zip edge.  The length is the nominal zipper length, minus 1" (the working part of the zip always seems a little shorter), plus 1" at either end to join the fabric pieces together at the zip ends. plus 1/4" seam allowance at each end.  The third fabric piece is 5 + 2*0.25 = 5.5" wide by 50.24 - 23 + 2*0.25  = 27.74" long.  This piece completes the circumference (what remains after the 23" length section with the zipper in), and has a width of 5", but we add a 0.25" seam allowance all the way around, hence the 2*0.25 parts we added to width and length.

The concealed zipper is inserted between the two narrow fabric pieces: centre the zipper along the long edge.  We've allowed 1/2" seam allowance to insert the zip; see The Coletterie for a tutorial on inserting this sort of zip.  Finish sewing the seam between the two fabric bits at either end of the zip, so you wind up with a 23.5" strip of fabric which is 5.5" wide and has a zip in the middle.

Join the zipped-piece to the third fabric piece using a 1/4" seam at along the short edges.  You should end up with a loop of fabric which is 5.5" wide and 50.24" around the circumference.  You can now continue making your cushion as described in the original tutorial.

The covered buttons

The cushion is given shape by stitching through the whole pad with a button on the front.  I used another smaller covered button on the back too, so that the stitches didn't pull through the fabric.  To strengthen the areas where the thread passes through, I used several layers of fusible medium weight interfacing (vilene).  I ironed lots of small (2cm square) scraps on in the centre of the back cushion piece.  On the front piece, I stabilised the centre by basting a small circle of cotton on the wrong size of the fabric where the spokes meet, adding scraps of fusible too for good measure.  The basting stitches come through to the front but will be hidden by the button.

Back of cushion

After I had put the cushion pad inside, I added the buttons as follows:

1. Thread a straight upholstery or bookbinders' needle with a double thickness of button-thread (this stuff is thick!) and pull it well through the eye.  You'll end up with four thicknesses of thread passing through the pillow in one go.
2. Start on the outside of the centre back, passing through the centre of the cushion and up through the front piece.  Leave the tail of the thread hanging out behind the cushion.
3. Thread the front button onto the needle and then dive back through the cushion and come out at the back, where you started.
4. Thread the back button onto the threads.  You can now snip the threads to remove your needle and tie the 8 threads tightly.  Knot them well and trim them short: the knot will disappear under the back button.

A circular cushion pad

None of the ready-made circular ones were to my taste (too small and flat), so I started with a 24" square feather pillow.  If I were sensible (and loved mess) then I'd open it up, empty the feathers somewhere for safekeeping and sew it into a 24" diameter circle before re-stuffing.  Instead, I just sewed over the cushion pad on the outside to knock the corners off.  I didn't even chop off the empty corners of fabric, I just folded them over as I inserted the cushion.  Okay, it's still a little square, but I saved filling my house with duck-down.

This tutorial is part of a series:

[Pattern making steps below the jump!]

Button cushion

This cushion was inspired by one I saw here.

The front is ever so simple to make.  I cut the cream fabric out as a 21.5" sided square.  I used thick curtain lining, I think: it's certainly considerably heavier than quilting cotton.  Then I folded it corner-to-corner and finger-pressed along the diagonals; this helps to find the centre of the cushion.  Don't iron these creases like I did, or you may never get them completely out again!

Cut 11.5" square piece of contrast fabric.  I used pink raw silk (which might just be polyester masquerading as fancy silk).  Place a 11" square piece of card in the centre of the fabric on the wrong side, and fold the edges around the card.  This helps you get the 1/4 turn neat.  See this tutorial (from Hyena in Petticoats) on how to deal with the corners in this method.  (The tutorial is unrelated, but there is a step in there on folding around a 9" square in the manner I am suggesting.)  You now have a neat 11" square.

Place your front-fabric right-side upwards on a flat surface, then place the contrast square right-side upwards on top.  Use those diagonal creases to help align the 11" contrast square in the centre of your cushion front.  Pin in place, then neatly top-stitch through all layers around the contrast square to attach it to the front.  For this, I'd stitch around close to the edge in a matching thread using a short stitch-length.  Then press the whole lot: it's your last chance to press the contrast fabric.

Securing the contrast fabric

Next comes the button placement.  I went for 100 buttons arranged in a 10x10 grid, spaced by 1".  Buttons can be bought cheaply online by weight, so if you don't mind pot-luck then it's the way to go!  Sometimes it looks like you get left-overs from clothing manufacturers.  I used a combination of these, and buttons taken from my husband's shirts (not the ones still in his wardrobe, I hasten to add!).  My average button diameter was 10mm.

I used my 11" card template and drew the 1" grid on it.  (Note that the first and last rows/columns of buttons start 1/2" from the edge.)  Next I transferred the markings to my cushion front.  There are probably much better ways to do this, but I aligned the template on the cushion front then stuck pins through the template where each button would go.  I then made a dot where the pin struck the fabric below using a dressmaker's pencil.  The world of quilting might have better ideas: perhaps you can puncture the card template at each button position, align with the cushion front, then shake chalk-powder over the template such that it marks the fabric where the holes are.

Once the holes are marked, I tediously stitched each button on by machine.  I tried to alternate the way I stitched the four-hole buttons from "x" to "+" across the cushion.  To machine stitch the button, I set my machine to zig-zag with a stitch length of 0.  I removed the very base of my presser-foot, leaving just the foot shank.  I then lowered the shank so that it held the button down onto the fabric, and carefully stitched between two holes about 7 times.  Next, I lifted the needle and presser-foot-shank, rotated the fabric, lowered the shank and stitched through the other two holes.  After removing the work from the machine, I pulled all the threads through to the back of the work and tied them off before trimming them short.

Varying the stitch pattern between "+" and "x".

This method requires you to hold the button with your fingers as the shank only presses on the back edge of the button (at least on my machine).  Watch you don't stitch your fingers!  When moving to the other set of holes, be careful not to move the fabric sideways while you rotate it, else you'll get knotty loops beneath the fabric.  You must also be careful in choosing your zig-zag stitch width.  On my machine, the needle always goes down on the extreme left for one side of the zig-zag, and it's just the right-hand position (for the other side of the zig-zag) that changes.  That means it's easy to stitch the left hole first, then tune the stitch width so the needle goes down the right hole.  You must stitch very slowly to avoid hitting the button and shattering it or breaking your needle.  Good times, but I think it's faster than by hand.

Piping: oops!  You can see the braid texture through my flimsy fabric choice!

Button back

The back of the cushion is a button-back (see here) made with upholstery weight stripy fabric.  I also used some piping I made myself using the same pink silk-stuff as the front.  I like piping, even though my sewing machine is very bad at attaching it - I need to do a post about my work-around for that.

This post is part of a series:

Pleated/tucked cushion

My inspiration was this "pintuck pillow" at the Long Thread.  I hesitate to call mine pintucks because they are quite wide really.  Hooray for maths, which helps you to make the cushion right first time, in any size!

Tucks are 1/4" and spaced by G as shown.

First, choose your finished cushion size, X.  Mine was 20.5" each side.  Then choose how many 1/4" tucks you want, Y.  I went for 16 tucks on my cushion.  For Y tucks, you'll have Y gaps between rows of stitching, and we want to work out how big these gaps will be by calculating G = X/Y.  For me, G = 20.5"/16 = 1 9/32", or 1 1/4", close enough.  When we make the tucks, we'll centre them on the cushion, so that there's a gap of G/2 at each side of the cushion before the tucks start.

How big should the fabric be?

Each 1/4" tuck uses 1/2" of fabric, and we also need to add 1/2" all round for the seam allowance when we cut the cushion back.  So approximately I'll need a piece X + Y*1/2" + 1" wide by X + 1" high.   For me this is 20.5" + 16*1/2" + 1" = 29.5" wide, by 20.5" + 1" = 21.5" high.  If you can, it's better to cut out a piece a few inches larger than this all round.  This is because it's easy for your tucks to pull light fabric off-square or for the piece to end smaller than you intended.  Just a 1mm error on each seam makes over 1/2" error by the time you have tucked the whole 16!  So do all the tucks in a bigger piece and cut it back to size at the end.

Making the tucks

You'll be making tucks parallel to the short edge of your fabric.  Each tuck is made by ironing the fabric wrong-sides together, then stitching a scant 1/4" from the fold.  This is quilter-speak for slightly smaller than 1/4", so that by the time the fabric is opened out and pressed then you have used 1/4" exactly.  This is because the stitching line never presses perfectly open (the fabric is not infinitely thin!).  After each tuck, I like to open the fabric out and press the fold toward one side.  I think it's satisfying to watch it come together, plus I love to iron.  But not laundry, that would be boring.  :-)

The first crease should be at least 1/2" + G/2 + 1/4" from one end.  This is the seam allowance, plus half-a-gap, plus the 1/4" tuck size.  I ironed my first crease more than 1/2" + (1.25"/2) + 1/4" = 1 3/8" from one end.   Actually, I probably did it 2" from the end because I'd given myself the wiggle-room discussed above.  Then, with the piece still folded wrong-sides together, I stitched the 1/4" seam as discussed.

It's then just a matter of pressing and stitching and pressing again for each tuck.  The next tuck should be made by pressing the fold in at a distance of G + 1/4" from the last stitching line, which for me was 1.5".  Then once you've stitched and pressed you'll find the stitching lines are separated by G.

A word on picking threads, as the stitch line is visible in this project.  Always take your fabric with you and look at a length of the thread unwound from the spool and lying over the fabric.  You're unlikely to get a good match without doing this, as the thread can look very different on the spool!  If in doubt, go a shade darker than the fabric, not lighter, as this will blend better.

Making up the cushion

Cut your front back to the intended size, for me this was 21.5" square (for a 20.5" cushion with 1/2" seam allowance all round).  I find a quilters' square, self-healing mat and rotary cutter are good for this job.  Make sure your tucks are central on the cushion front as you do this!

I added a button back to my cushion.  Details on how to do this (and fabric amounts) are here.

You can just stitch the front directly to the back, but I prefer the look of piping.  I made my own covered piping using strips of fabric and piping cord.  One is supposed to cut bias-strips at 45 degrees to the grain, as the fabric flexes and bends better, and I'd imagine wears better too.  However, I am cheap and ignored this as it leaves you with either (a) two very large annoying triangles of fabric left and an empty wallet, or (b) nearly used-up fabric, but piping with many seams in it, or else yards and yards of piping.  Anyway, more on piping in the aforementioned post on button backs.

This post is part of a series:

Tree cushion

The design for this cushion front is entirely due to the very talented Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew.  Check out her amazing quilts!  She posted this tutorial here: clicky.  I have copied her tree design exactly as it's awesome.

A couple of changes I made:

• I ironed small scraps of double-sided fusible to slightly larger scraps of fabric in a bid to save on both materials and minimize glue accidentally getting on my iron sole-plate.
• The cream fabric behind the tree is a heavier weight fabric from the curtains and upholstery department, rather than a thin quilting cotton.  I thought this would hold the tree flatter and get less distorted by the layers of fabric and stitches.

• The cushion back is made from a sandwich of quilting cotton and the same cream fabric as the front.  This makes it more robust (see my tutorial here).
• The cushion is large, about 20.5" each side.
• I went for machine satin-stitching (close zig-zags) around the applique to stop the fabric fraying with repeated wear.

 

This tutorial is part of a series:

Cathedral window cushion

I'm going to be rubbish here, and I won't write my own tutorial.  Rather, I'll link to some people who have written very good ones: click here for PatchworkDelights, and click here for Hyena in Petticoats.

I have a few things to say about sizing the blocks.  I wanted about a 20" cushion cover, with 4 windows to stretch across each side.  I wanted to get a good number of fabrics in there, and my lovely mother-in-law (hello there!) helped me choose the right size.

Using the magic of maths (20/4, wow), that means each coloured diamond is 5" tip-to-tip (measurement X on the picture below).

No charts are necessary to help you cut your fabric when you have the power of trigonometry, my friends.  The cream fabric squares should have side 2*X once the edges have been folded in by 1/4", so you should cut squares of side (2*X + 1/2").  That means I had to cut the cream fabric into squares of side (2*5" + 1/2"), which is 10.5".  To do this, I recommend a quilter's square, a rotary cutter and a self-healing mat.  I'm linking to Jaycotts when I can because they've got a really good selection of tools, in my opinion!

To help press those 1/4" seams in, I made a 10"x10" card template.  I could then just fold the fabric around this, press with an iron, then remove the card.  Hyena in Petticoats has a good description of this method.

Each intersection of coloured windows (where the 4 corners touch) is the centre of a cream square, so I used 16 cream squares of fabric.

The coloured windows are made from squares which have side Y when the edges have been folded in by 1/4".  The magic of trig tells us that Y = X/sqroot(2), or approximately  Y = X/1.41.  Again, you need to add 1/2" when you cut out, so you can fold the edges in later.  I cut out squares of 4"x4", and folded them round a card template of 3.5"x3.5".  This cushion used 24 whole coloured squares, and 12 partial squares (missing a corner) for the edges.  The edge windows ended up with unfinished coloured bits sticking out, but they are taken care of when you attach the pillow back.

I top-stitched the curved folds because I am lazy and I don't trust my hand stitching to stand the rigours of my sofa.

I made the back from upholstery weight fabric to try and match the weight of the thick patchwork front.  When I sewed the two together, I stitched as close as possible to the edge of the patchwork piece, as there is no seam allowance on the front as such.  For a tutorial on the cushion back, clicky clicky!

This post is part of a series.

Cushions: making a button back

Most of the cushions I made recently have a button back.  I like the button look and I'd never tried it before.  It turns out a zip would have been easier and used less fabric, but hey ho.  Buttons are awesome!

Choosing the back fabric

If you are not using the same fabric for the back and front of the cushion then I'd recommend choosing fabric for the back of the same weight, or even slightly heavier than the front fabric.  I feel this makes the front look more soft and squishy in comparison, and puffier.  You probably don't want the comfy-looking bit to be the back!

I prefer stiffer cushions that hold their shape in a living room, so I mainly chose fabric that was upholstery weight (or at least heavier than quilting cotton).  It's not always possible, and I did do some with quilting cotton for both back and front. 

In one instance, where the front was in heavy fabric and I wanted the print from some quilting cotton on the back, I used a trick to ensure the back was thick and heavy enough.  I placed the quilting cotton on top of cream curtain lining and sewed the two fabrics as if they were one.  This is the plaid cushion pictured at the top of this post.

For some fabrics, it makes sense to stabilise the areas around the buttons and button-holes that will be taking some strain.  I recommend fusible interfacing these areas.  I did this for the silk-effect fabric, but didn't think it necessary when I used the heavier upholstery fabric.  I'd certainly make the effort with fabrics that are easy to fray or crease, including quilting cottons.  I'll describe this step, but feel free to omit it.

Silk-effect fabric, stabilised around the button-holes.

Making a template

The following diagram shows a template suitable for cutting the front and back pieces for a 24" cushion pad.  I prefer firm puffy pillows, which is why the finished side is 20.5".  I found this acceptable, even if the pad measures a little smaller (e.g. 23") than the advertised size.

Template: click for larger image

You could use any large sheet of paper (or taped together sheets) for this, but I find it handy to keep a roll of lining wallpaper for these sorts of tasks.  It also comes in handy for pattern drafting and making templates that are more hard-wearing.  I used a piece of A4 paper to ensure my corners were right-angled.

Cutting the fabric

Be sure to have the template square with the selvedge of the fabric.  Cutting out at another jaunty angle will result in a cushion that pulls in a very funny way.  I had a commercially made shirt cut from the fabric "on the bias" once - it was really uncomfortable and looked a mess.  Don't be tempted by the promise of diagonal stripes!

Cut from the fabric using the whole template for the front.  Fold the template along A to cut for the lower back piece, and fold along B to cut for the upper back piece.  Have the arrows pointing upward on your fabric to orient the pieces correctly if your fabric has a directional design or a nap (like velvet).

Careful cutting may be needed to match patterns or stripes at the opening.

If you need to interface around the button holes and button area, cut two lengths of medium-weight fusible interfacing.  One of dimension 21.75" x 4", and one of 21.75" x 2".

If you want to make a long and narrower cushion, remove some of your template long the sides X and Y before using it.

Long and narrow version: re-positioning the buttons may be necessary.

Sewing the back pieces

Take the lower back piece A.  Fold the top edge under (wrong sides together) by 1/2" and press.  Fold again in the same direction by 4" and press.  You should now have a neat 4" turn-under on the wrong side of your fabric with no raw edge showing.

If you are going to strengthen where the buttons will be, open the fold and iron the 4" strip of fusible interfacing between the fold lines on the wrong side of the fabric, following manufacturers instructions.  The interfacing is now fused to a part that will not be visible from outside the cushion, so that even if the interfacing goes bubbly with age you won't see it.  Then re-fold the fabric along those creases.

Interfacing location on turn-under

Make a straight line of machine stitching just less than 4" from the top of the back piece (or about 1/8" inside the first fold) so that the doubly-folded fabric is held in place.

Stitched turn-under viewed from wrong side of back piece

Take the upper back piece B.  Fold the bottom edge under (wrong sides together) by 1/2" and press.  Fold again in the same direction by 2" and press.  You should now have a neat 2" turn-under on the wrong side of your fabric with no raw edge showing.  Interface as before with the 2" strip if necessary, and machine stitch just less than 2" from the bottom of the piece to catch all the folds and hold them flat.

Press both pieces to "set" your stitches.

Assembling the back

Place the  pieces on a flat surface, right sides up, and align them as they will be in the cushion.  B should overlap A and together the edges should produce a square the same size as your front fabric piece.  Pin the overlapped edges together and machine-baste (sew with a long stitch) up the sides, 3/8" from the raw edge.  This will hold the two pieces as one while you assemble the cushion.

Aligning back pieces

Assembling the cushion

If you wish to add piping, fix it to the front fabric before you attach the cushion back.  A good tutorial is at Make it & Love it, and you'll need to switch to a zipper foot for the next bit, in order to stitch close enough to the piping.

Pin the cushion back to the front, right sides together.  Sew around the square with a 5/8" seam allowance.  I sew around twice to make extra sure, and add even more stitches around the corners which take strain as you turn the work the right way.

Trim the corner fabric off, leaving a mm or so around the stitches.  Neaten your seams: I trim to 3/8" and zig-zag stitch all layers together over the edge to stop fraying. Turn your work the right way out and poke the corners out using e.g. a blunt crochet hook.

Trimming corners

Mark the location of your button-holes on the fabric with a dressmaking chalk or pencil.  I spaced mine by 5" and placed them centrally on the 2" band on piece B (i.e. 1" from the edge).

Make your button-holes on piece B.  I used the one-step button-hole maker that came with my machine; 29mm is pretty much the largest button diameter it can handle.  I practised a bunch of times first to make sure I could start in the right place to get my button hole centrally about the chalk mark I'd made.  Slash a hole in the centre of your button-hole stitching.  Once all holes are made, align your cover neatly and use a pencil to mark through the holes where the buttons will be placed.

Cover your buttons according to the packet instructions; I used three 29mm diameter ones.  Buttons this large are easier to cover and more robust if you get the metal ones, as the plastic ones I got were quite flimsy when this big.  Oddly, I found that for tiny buttons (10mm or less), the plastic ones were better...!  Sew your buttons to piece A at the marks you made.

You're done!  Shoehorn that big fluffy cushion in and do up the buttons!  It'll be a tight fit for now, but will be looser with age and use.

This tutorial is part of a series