What Laura Did: Turning Dresses into Cushions!

I love a bit of arts and crafts. When I was living at home, in college two days a week and a weekend part-time job, I had lots of disposable income and, more importantly, lots of free time, which I spent altering clothes and making things. Favourite projects include sewing pink ribbons onto pink satin pumps to make them look like ballerina shoes, sewing pearls onto a plain white dress to make it more unique, and handcrafting a skirt which still get me compliments today.

But since moving out, moving in with my boyfriend and being at uni, income and time has been a lot sparser, and I've found my crafty skills falling by the wayside. But I've decided to rectify this, and to use free afternoons like today in a more productive way. So I decided to turn an old dress into a brand new cushion!

I've had this dress from New Look for three years or so. It was quite ill-fitting at the time, but I loved the print so much I bought it anyway. It's not been worn too often, and after putting it on yesterday, I decided that it really has had its day. But I still love the soft grey and the mellowed neon floral print, and I wanted to recycle it in a way that it still could be admired. And what's better than a pretty cushion for your bed or chair?

Basically, you'll need an old dress, preferably one with a flaring skirt, or lots of material. You'll also need a cushion, needle and thread, dressmakers pins and some sharp scissors. If your dress doesn't have a zip, you may want some buttons too. Here we go...

Cut along the waistline of the dress, following the line as much as possible to avoid scraggy ends. If it's a curved shape at the top, no worries, as this will be disguised later. Discard the top half, as you won't be needing it anymore.

Cut along one of the sides to create one strip of material. If there is a zip, cut this away as neatly as possible, as you will need this.

Turn the fabric so that it's the wrong side up, and place your cushion towards the edge of the fabric. Fold the excess over the edge of the cushion and pin into place. This will mean you can turn it inside out when it's done and all the stitching will be nicely disguised.

Wrap the fabric as neatly and tightly as possible around the cushion, and pin into place as you go to keep it taut.

Now we begin sewing! Tuck any longer edges in (there probably will be longer bits, as your dress will have been cut into a circular pattern. Fold the ends into each other to form a tidy line. Knot your thread and stitch so that the knot goes inside the fold. Stitch along the bottom, being careful not to sew the material to the cushion. Remove the pins as you go. Sew along one other loose side, keeping one open.

Now you have one side unstitched, remove the cushion. Turn the material inside out, so the printed side is facing out. Now it's time to sew on the zip.

Trim any excess material from the zip, and place about a quarter of the way into the top side, so that the zip sits centrally. Pin into place.

Sew each side of the zip separately, making sure that you secure it with a few solid stitches at either end. Keep the threads well clear of the zipper so it opens and closes smoothly.