Michele Made Me

One birdie's attempt to figure things out. Oh, and crafts.

Corked Cushion “Safe To Dance”

by

 

Eight months in the making and it’s finally here. Yay, me! Why eight months? Heaven knows… I got distracted or something.

Slow though it was, this cushion was inspired by Men Without Hats “Safety Dance”, so I’m calling it my “Safe To Dance” corked cushion. Corked because I made the knitted tubing embellishment with my own two hands using a new-to-me method called spool-knitting or corking. I’m doing a little jig right now in celebration of this pillow’s completion! Dance with me now… Come come, let’s see your moves.

Nice.

This is my first attempt at doing the “invisible-zipper thing” too. I installed it without the fancy-special invisible zipper foot and it turned out pretty well. I may invest in the fancy-special foot because, from what I’ve read, they are quite inexpensive. But yes, it can be done without it. Amy’s got some helpful installation hints, and there are countless YouTube videos and tutorials on the subject. I googled “how to install an invisible zipper” and was inundated by the 34 600 results. It seems I’m not alone in my quest for zippy stealth.

Oh, and find out how to cork or spool-knit HERE. The resulting tubes are just nifty and can be used in a plethora of ways. Have you ever made anything corked? Do tell.

♥M

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Michele Pacey says

      Well that takes the cake! Thanks for the link Purl Buttons. I had no idea. So cool that you made your own big yarn. I can only imagine what fun you must be having with that.

  6. deanna7trees says

    love what you did with your spool knitting. i did that as a child. my dad made me one with an old wooden spool and nails. now they have a gizmo, as 'purl buttons' just indicated above, that does the same thing in seconds.

  9. Andaira says

    Hola! He estado toda la tarde viendo tus tutoriales. Enhorabuena por estas manualidades tan fantásticas.Me han encantado
    I've been all afternoon watching your tutorials. Congratulations for beautiful crafts. I love it

  10. felicity says

    I'll have you know that Men Without Hats was the very first concert I attended. Grade 10. I looked awesome in my special pink rugby pants and a white polo shirt with the collar up.

  11. Glo says

    We used to spool knit when we were little. We used a plastic curler with 4 bobby pins on it. My sister and I made lots of colorful tubes which we used mostly for our hair

  12. Michele says

    Hi Michele,

    You're already cool in my book cause we're both Michele's with one 'L'.

    I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for including the link to my spool knitting tutorial. It's always so nice to hear when someone finds one of my tutorials useful.

    I absolutely love the pillow. You didn't go the traditional flowers of straight band routine but instead when with something really fun and different.

    Will definitely be checking out the rest of your blog to see what other great things you've made.

    Warmest Regards,

    Michele

  14. Michelle L. says

    That may be the COOLEST thing ever on this blog! Just the most fun, spirited, makes me want to dance a jig idea. And I love the colors! And I am in awe of your invisible zipper.

  16. SisterDG says

    This is just about the coolest use of spool knitting I've seen! I love how, no matter what media you pick up, you bring such wonderful design originality to it.

  17. Melissa says

    Super cool…I appliqued corked yarn onto t-shirts in the shape of ladybugs for my youngest daughter's first birthday many moons ago.