Make it: Primark Style Heart Cushion

Happy Wednesday everyone, it's DIY day here and this is one that I have had a lot of requests for from friends of mine to make.  Every blogger and vlogger from here to eternity has been 'Primark hauling' the fluffy white heart cushion that is the seasons must have. When I told my girls how easy they were to make I was inundated with requests for these cushions in lots of different colour ways. They are so easy and you can even do what I did and use your old velour pyjama bottoms to make them.  I thought I would share this DIY Primark style Heart cushion with you so you can make your own too.

You will need: 1/2 metre of velour (short-pile fur, fleece fabric or an old pair of tracksuit or pyjama bottoms will also work), a cushion pad or loose stuffing, scissors, a sewing machine, fabric marker pen, pins, a needle and thread.

If you are using your tracksuit bottoms you will need to cut up the inside seam and open out the legs, place the legs with right-sides together.  Draw yourself a large heart shape with your fabric marker.  I just freehand drew mine, but you can make a simple template with newspaper if your unsure of the shape.  Then pop your pins around the edge of your shape in towards the centre with the heads of your pins on your pen line.

Cut around the edge of your heart leaving a 1.5cm seam allowance.  Hop over to your sewing machine and stitch, following your pen line as a guide, around your heart shape, leaving a 10-15cm gap at the end.  I usually start at the point, so that when I am stitching up the last bit it is easier than stitching on the curve.  Turn your cushion right side out and stuff with the loose fibre from inside your cushion pad.  Stitch the gap closed you left open at the end and you are all done.

I loved the first one I made so much that I made another one and kept these ones for myself. I have added them to my bed cushion collection.  They are so cosy and comfy to snuggle in on these chilly Autumn evenings and read my book. These are so sweet, and you could make them in any fabric, how cute would they look make in some ditsy floral fabric or Liberty prints, the possibility's are endless.

How cute do they look with my star cushion and my gorgeous 'Good Night' cloud cushion from the amazing Fox in the Attic. Who, by the way, are featured in our Who's Who later this month, so keep an eye out for that.

Which home furnishings are you loving at the moment, are you swapping up your décor for the Winter months to come? Let us know your Autumn favourites in the comments.

As usual let us know if you have a go #livelovemake

Sammy xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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How We Wear... Print Trousers

H and I have both been crushing hard on printed or patterned trousers lately, they are a great alternative to jeans if you want a relaxed day time outfit. We both love wearing ours with statement necklaces and comfy jersey tops. How do you wear yours?

H wears: Trousers by H&M, T-shirt by ASOS, Shoes £3 from Primark, Bracelets from Accessorize (Similar) and Forever 21 (Similar), Necklace by I am Acrylic.

Sammy wears: Neon kimono by BooHoo, Swing top by Asos (similar), Trousers by Yours, Sandals by Newlook (added ribbon), necklace from Forever 21.

How We Wear...Winter Coats

We are starting a new series for the new year. 'How we wear' will be H and I showing you a little peek into our wardrobes, we are by no means fashion bloggers, but we both have quite different styles when it comes to clothes, despite shopping in mostly the same places. We thought it would be interesting to see how each other styled a particular piece each month. 

For January it is winter coats. 

H says: I am so glad my friend Jen persuaded me to buy this coat on a recent shopping trip, Yellow is not normally a colour I would choose but I love the colour blue so it actually compliments a lot of my wardrobe. It is so cosy and adds a great pop of colour to any outfit.  I wear boots all the time in the winter and the studded straps on these give them a 'rock chick' feel which I love.

H wears: Coat by Miss Selfridge, Jeans and boots by Dorothy Perkins (similar here) , Black Jumper and scarf by H&M.

Sammy says: I bought this coat on the hottest day of the year back in August. I had been looking for a duffel style coat for ages and the colour of this one was perfect (It matches my hair!) It is so warm so I have to keep it for truly chilly days. I really struggle to find boots that will fit my calves so New Look's wide fit range are a blessing. I love the taupe colour of these, they go with everything!

 Sammy wears: Coat by Primark, Boots by New Look (wide fit) Dress by New Look Inspire (Similar here), Scarf by River Island, Nail Varnish by Essie 'It's Genius' Rings by Accessorize.

Live it: H's blue mad life

That's it, January is soon to be over! But wait this is not one of those beat the blues posts, this is all about my obsession with the colour blue!

As you may know by now I do love the colour blue, so much in fact that I have been known to buy notebooks, boxes or even seem rippers in the colour blue rather than any other colour.  Even saying 'oh well if it was in blue I would have it'.  I just love it as it makes me happy, there are lots of versions of it and as a very pale and blonde girl, it suits me.  So all round a good colour for me.

I am trying to move on, I buy green and purple things now too, but apparently that doesn't count as they are from the same side of the spectrum! Humph

So I thought it would be nice to show off some of my Blue to get everyone out of those January Blues and into well, just February!  I guess it would be red February with Valentines day and everything, but it just doesn't seem the same and anyway back to the blue.

So, first up is the flower you can see at the top of this post.  It was given to me by a friend way back at University as she knew how much I loved blue.  If that isn't special I don't know what is.  Throughout the different houses and different towns I have lived in since then, it has always come with me to cheer me up, so that really sums up the cheering up from the January blues hey!

Next is a new thing in my life, dresses!  It has been a few years now, but I still find it amazing that I wear them.  Even some of my friends who I don't see as often, still get a shock!  I used to be the girl ' most likely to me wearing jeans and trainers' and then I moved to London, lost a bit of weight and realised that no one cares if I wear a dress or not, its just ME who feels like they do!  So these are a couple of my current favourites.  The first one is from a shop in London which became one of my favourites, Joy.  Then the second dress is from a lovely shop in Reading called Frock & Roll which has been a recent purchase and I just had to have it after seeing it on their Facebook page!

Then of course I have to have a bag to match and a bit of green got in here!  It was a total bargain from Primark and just manages to get enough in it for a night away - I am the queen of packing the smallest amount I need, just so I don't have to carry much!  I love that its a bowling bag, but it also has a big old over the shoulder strap for free hands.

and of course, just like I was talking about it above, I have a pen that looks like a pencil, this was picked up in the shop at my work, The Lightbox.  I thought that it was such a cool idea and as a creative person, it was the best present I could give myself and so I had to have it in Blue!

One more thing before I go is that even my duvet covers have to have blue, all of them have blue in them, this one is the only one that has other colours in it! 

I get the feeling after seeing all these things that I do need to buy other colours, but it does help me with shopping as I can focus on colour and shape rather than all the colours and shapes.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it I guess!  I hope you have enjoyed a little bit of my blue mad life and it has cheered you up if you have the blues.  What's your favourite colour?  Does it make you happy?  Comment below and I can find out if I am the only mad one out there!

Love it

H