The summer holidays for kids in the Gulf have already begun. The kids have a lot of time on their hands and instead of wasting time watching TV or playing games on the computer, here is an easy-to-do activity, which is guaranteed to keep them occupied and engrossed for 3-4 days. It will also give them a sense of pride at having their work displayed prominently on the Sofa or Baitak, where they lounge most of the time.
In order to compliment the ethnic wall hanging that I had, have made headrest covers for our Majlees/Baitak with a motif of red elephants. Affixed the motif of the elephant to the headrest covers with a chain stitch with white thread.
For the how-to-do it, refer instructions below.
Materials needed :
Cotton, silk or jute cloth, preferably in beige or light pastel colours
Cloth ? dark shade (to contrast with the beige cloth) ? ? Meter
Outliner tube (made of glue and glitter, available in art and craft shops. You get this in black, gold, silver or brown)
Scissors
Cardboard
Needle and thread
Cut the cardboard in the shape of the Headrest cover that you need. Instead of making it a plain rectangle, square or circle, have three scallops at the bottom end. Keep the cardboard on the cotton/jute cloth and trace the outline with pencil. Decide how many Headrest covers you need and trace that many numbers accordingly.
Put a thick coating of the glue outliner on all the outlines drawn and let it dry for 24 hours. When completely dry, cut just outside the glue outlines. The glue outliner ensures that the cloth threads do not jut out after cutting the shapes of the headrests.
Starch the darker shade cloth. Draw the shape of the motif/pattern on the cloth and cut it out. Affix to the headrest cover either with a running stitch or a chain stitch. First stitch up the outer side of the motif and then do the lines inside the motif.
When complete, iron the opposite side with a hot iron…and your Patchwork ?Sofa Head Rest Covers are ready!
Author: Judith Serrao- UAE
