Shake Your Shwe Shwe

A couple years back... maybe three years back, a good friend gave me some lovely shwe shwe. Its gorgeous, and I love it: it is the traditional fabric but instead of the usual designs its got paisley and proteas. Lovely.

I have a bench at my desk (why? Well... I have a beagle-basset hound who is like velcro. When I work he has to keep me company. Which is hard to do on a small chair. So I have a bench. It keeps us all happy), and it needed a nice soft cushion on it for the longest time. So I decided a shwe shwe cushion would be perfect.

Here's my sad bench before (with Urban Outfitter table cloth as a seat and some random cushions for back support).



How did I do it? First, I read Amy Butler's In Stitches for a rough idea on what I should be doing. Then I put together a rough pattern, marked and measured the inside cushion for stuffing. Cut. Sewed together and then stuffed. (The images are a little small... if you click on them you can see them bigger).



Then, checked and double checked that I had enough shwe shwe. Then emailed said good friend to tell her how nervous I was that I was going to cut it wrong and ruin it. Said a prayer, and cut it. Sewed it together. Put in ribbons. Realized I've done the closing incorrectly... unpicked. Tried again.



Put inner cushion inside and tried... it... out. *sigh*. Lovely! I also then oiled the wood to care for it, and to see the grain better.





I haven't quite finished the back. I closed it with a kind of fold (like I've seen on small cushions) but think I need to add some press studs, a la duvet style. Are any of you sewing pros? Could you let me know what you'd do? I haven't sewn in a long time so I'm open to ideas.