Why a scrap cushion is the perfect evening project

Most of us who sew end up with the same thing: a bag or box of leftover cotton pieces too small for a garment but too lovely to bin. A patchwork cushion is the ideal way to use them up. It is small enough to finish in a couple of evenings, it needs no specialist equipment beyond what you already own, and it turns oddments into something you will actually use on the sofa.

The project suits a nine-patch or simple grid design, which means no curved seams, no fiddly set-in corners. If you can sew a straight line and press a seam, you can make this. The cushion pad size I have based the measurements on is a 45cm (18in) square, the most common size you will find in shops.

Sorting your scraps by colour and weight

Before you cut anything, tip the whole bag out onto the table. Sorting is half the pleasure, and it stops you cutting fabric you will not use. Aim for roughly sixteen squares, which gives a four-by-four grid across the cushion front.

• By fibre: keep to cotton, cotton-linen and other woven, non-stretchy cloth. Jersey, fleece and anything with stretch will pull the panel out of shape.
• By colour: group into warm (reds, oranges, yellows), cool (blues, greens, purples), and neutrals (creams, greys, browns). A mix of light, medium and dark in each group gives depth.
• By scale: balance small ditsy prints with larger florals and the occasional plain. Too many busy prints in one cushion becomes a blur from across the room.

Wash anything that has not been pre-washed, then press every scrap flat. Wrinkled fabric cuts badly and seams wobble. This step takes ten minutes and saves considerably more than that later.

Cutting and laying out your squares

You need sixteen squares cut at 12.5cm (5in). With a 1cm (just under ½in) seam allowance, each finishes at 11cm, so four across gives 44cm, plus seam allowances, which sits nicely on a 45cm pad with a little wriggle room.

If you have a rotary cutter, mat and quilter's ruler, use them. Cut strips 12.5cm wide, then sub-cut into squares. It is far quicker and more accurate than scissors. If you are cutting with shears, draw round a card template and cut just inside the line.

Now lay the squares out on a flat surface in a four-by-four grid and step back. Photograph the layout on your phone so you can reassemble it after sewing. Shuffle squares until no two of the same print touch and the darks and lights are spread evenly. Resist the urge to overthink it; a slightly random arrangement usually looks better than a carefully balanced one.

Sewing the patchwork panel together

Sew in rows, not one square at a time. Take the four squares of the top row, place the first two right sides together and pin along the right-hand edge. Sew with a 1cm seam allowance, backstitching at each end. Join the third and fourth squares the same way, then sew the two pairs together to complete the row. Repeat for the remaining three rows.

Press each row as you finish it, pressing the seams to one side rather than open. Alternate the direction from row to row — row one to the right, row two to the left, and so on. When you sew the rows together, these opposing seams will nest against each other and lock into place, which keeps your corners sharp.

Join row one to row two, right sides together, matching seams with a pin through both layers at each junction. Sew, then add row three and row four. Give the whole panel a good press from the front as well as the back. Your front should measure roughly 45cm square; trim any edges that have grown or shrunk so it is truly square.

Making the envelope back

A plain cotton backing in a colour pulled from the patchwork keeps the cushion calm and gives you an easy closure — no zip, no buttons.

• Cut two rectangles of plain cotton, each 45cm wide and 32cm deep.
• On each piece, press a 1cm hem along one long edge, fold it over again and stitch, to make a neat finished edge.
• Place the patchwork front face up. Lay one backing piece face down on top with its hemmed edge towards the centre, then the second piece overlapping it by about 14cm.
• Pin all the way round and stitch the whole perimeter with a 1cm seam, going slowly over the bulky corners.
• Zigzag or overcast the raw edges if your fabric frays easily.

Finishing touches and variations

Clip the four corners diagonally, close to but not through the stitching, turn the cover right side out and poke the corners out gently with a knitting needle. Press, then insert the pad through the envelope opening.

Once you have made one, the same method scales up or down: use twenty-five smaller squares for a 50cm pad, or a nine-square grid for a 30cm bolster end. Try a border of plain fabric strips around the grid, or fussy-cut a favourite print for the centre square. Either way, you will have turned a bag of scraps into something worth keeping — and probably started planning the next one before the kettle has boiled.