This bolster, made from a very striking Chinese-style fabric, would be an attractive and useful cushion for a bed. The main panel of fabric is twinned with a striped fabric in the same colours, while a coordinating ribbon in a bold contemporary polka-dot design adds a smart finishing touch. Simple fabric ties hold the bolster cover closed; with no complicated fastenings to worry about, this is a really speedy project to create! To speed things up even further, you could replace the ties with wide, plain-coloured ribbons.
Take 1.5-cm/½-in. seam allowances throughout unless otherwise stated.
2 hours
1. Cut one 41 x 57-cm/16 x 22½-in. piece of patterned fabric and two 65 x 57-cm/25½ x 221½-in. pieces of striped fabric. With right sides together, machine stitch one piece of striped fabric along each long edge of the patterned fabric. Press the seams open. On the right side of the fabric, machine stitch a length of ribbon over each seam. Press.
2. With right sides together, fold the fabric in half lengthways, aligning the raw edges. Pin and machine stitch along the raw edge. Press the seam open.
3. At each short end of the bolster cover, fold over 1.5 cm/½ in. of fabric and press. Fold the striped fabric back level with the seam between the striped and patterned fabrics and hand stitch the folded edges to the seam. Turn the cover right side out and press.
4. For the ties, cut two 52 x 9-cm/20½ x 3½-in. pieces of patterned fabric. Fold over 1.5 cm/½ in. to the wrong side along each short edge and press. Do the same along each long edge and press. Fold in half lengthways, aligning the folded edges, and press. Machine stitch, stitching as close to the edge as possible, and press. Pull the cover over the bolster and tie one tie neatly around each end.
