DIY WORLD MAP CUSHION / OH THE PLACES I'VE BEEN

This post is a little bit different to my usual content but I stand by it. As I mentioned in my mammoth homesickness hacks post, I have been enjoying embroidery recently. I get the impression this hobby has increased my soul's age to about 90 years old, but that's okay.

Embroidery is very fun and is actually incredibly easy to do. My first venture was a quote on a cushion cover. Once the template is done and drawn on all you have to do is stitch over it using backstitch - it's a piece of cake. 

I started a new embroidery recently to document my travels, sort of like a scratch map equivalent on fabric with thread. I decided to embroider the world map and I will be adding a little French knot to the places I've been. Not only does this cushion look beautiful, and like it would cost you a lot of money if you bought it, but you can keep adding the places you've been so it will change with you as you travel more. 

Here's how I did it:

To start this project, I gathered all of the equipment I needed. Luckily, it's not very many: 

A 30x50 cushion cover 

A square cushion cover will not work for this, it needs to be rectangular. My cushion cover was a lovely white linen one from La Redoute

A needle

An embroidery needle with a bigger eye is the kind you need

A needle threader 

Absolutely essential - this will save you

Embroidery thread in the colour of your choice 

I chose charcoal grey for the outline and pink for the knots. I separated out two threads to do the embroidered outline, I found this was the perfect thickness for a bold outline but not too bulky that it ruined the detail. 

Embroidery hoop 

Any size will do

Just as the equipment list is simple, the method is laughably easy too. 

Step one

Get your template onto paper. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a printer here of I would have printed it out. Instead, I zoomed Microsoft Word to scale with a piece of paper and traced over the outline from my computer screen until I had my world map template. 

This is my template. 

Step two

Put your template - aka pattern - inside the cushion cover, and trace over the lines with a pencil. If you have a dressmaker's pencil then use that, but if not a normal pencil works perfectly. Do this neatly, and you will never see the pencil lines anyway. You definitely do not need pins to do this, but if you have them then it's even simpler.

Step Three

Start embroidering! It really is as simple as that. Take two threads at a time from your outline thread colour and knot the ends. Stretch your cushion cover (only the one side with the pattern on) over the embroidery hoop and secure it in place by twisting the screw.  Poke the needle up and through the fabric following the pattern and draw it back down to a point a little further down on the pattern. Repeat with a point further up and then sew back down to go through the original stitch. I found that doing very small stitches was the most effective way to get the bumpy edge of the land which looks a little more realistic. 

Youtube tutorials are excellent if you are just starting out with embroidery  - I like this one and this one. 

Step four

Once you have finished the outline you can 'guesstimate' where the countries you've been to are (Europe is especially hard, but it's a cushion so it doesn't have to be accurate) and make a French knot to mark the place. This is a great tutorial on how to do them. 

Step five 

Make your bed and place your cushion front and centre - you're all done. 

This really is one of the easiest projects I've ever done. It took a little bit of time to find a good template but once I did, it all went smoothly. Embroidering the outline was something I enjoyed doing whilst watching the TV in the evening, and it's relaxing too. 

Plus, you end up with a cushion that Urban Outfitters would definitely sell for $50.