How to Turn Linen Tea Towels into Provençal-style Cushion Covers
Learn how to make stylish cushion covers by hacking Ikea’s Vardagen tea towels
During a stroll through Ikea’s kitchen department, I found some wonderful linen tea towels with a grain-sack texture that inspired me. I immediately imagined them transformed into cushion covers with a Provençal look, nice on either a sofa or a bed.
These cushion covers are easy to make with just a few basic sewing skills. Their fresh-looking fabric suits any season.
Materials
- Ikea’s Vardagen tea towels (or similar; these are 50 x 70cm)
- Straight or dressmaker pins
- Sewing machine or hand-sewing needle
- Sewing thread
- Tailor’s tape measure
- Scissors
- Grosgrain ribbon
- Wooden buttons
- Iron
Tip To create these cushion covers, I used a sewing machine, but you can sew them by hand if you prefer.
1 Fold the towel in half lengthwise, creasing it slightly to mark the centre. Then spread it out again, face up, on the table. Fold the two long edges to the centre, so the wrong sides are facing up and the edges meet, as shown.
2 Pin the edges of the towel together. It’s important that the pins are parallel to the long edges.
3 Sew the short ends about 1cm in from the edge. Don’t worry about the pins if you’re sewing by hand; they can easily be removed after the sewing is done. If you’re using a machine, be sure to pull out the pins before the needle reaches them so you don’t risk hitting a pin and breaking your needle.
4 Using the measuring tape, find the halfway point across the line where the two edges of the towel meet. Mark this halfway point with a pin. Then mark each of the midway points between this pin and the outer edges of the fabric. When you’ve finished marking, you should have three pins equally spread across the fabric.
5 Using scissors, cut three grosgrain ribbon pieces, each about 8cm long, and fold each piece into a loop. Adjust so the loops will fit your buttons, then pin them along one side of the towel where you put the pins in step 4.
6 Sew the three grosgrain ribbon loops on one of the edges, being careful to not catch the other edge of the fabric.
7 Turn the towel right side out and sew on the wooden buttons, lining them up with the grosgrain ribbon loops.
Done! The button placket is so pretty that you may sometimes choose to display the cushion with the big wooden buttons visible on the front.
Check out these tricks for the perfect cushion arrangement
Are you tempted to try this hack? Or have you already made your own cushion covers? Share your thoughts and photos in the Comments below.
Check out these tricks for the perfect cushion arrangement
Are you tempted to try this hack? Or have you already made your own cushion covers? Share your thoughts and photos in the Comments below.