Inspiration:
Sari Silk Patchwork Box
ArtAsiaOnline.com

Round, pink box decorated with sari patches with tassel. Delicate gold and silver embroidery, embellished with sequins… 9 cm x 10 cm.

I’m reminded of a Victorian-era crazy quilt in scraps of silk, satin, velvet, and brocade. The embellishment is key — no plain quilting, for example, but a line of fancy embroidery stitches along the seam between patchwork pieces…

DIY Ideas and Resources:

There are instructions for creating a cylindrical box in the book Creating Books & Boxes: Fun and Unique Approaches to Handmade Structures by Benjamin Rinehart, published in 2007 by Quarry Press.

No time to build from scratch? Paper mache craft boxes might be a good starting point… but recycling is even better. I understand that Quaker Oats come in a cylindrical box that’s suitable for making pinhole cameras, too, not to mention a good excuse for making a batch of oatmeal cookies…

You’d want to be careful with any padding, and the thickness of the fabric scraps used, to make sure that the lid would still fit. I’m inclined to think that making a round box out of heavy cardboard would be just as easy in the long run.

A neutral-colored sofa is the “little black dress,” says Carmen the Decorating Diva, and the decorative pillows are “the jewelry to add the oomph”! … so true!

As we in the northern countries move toward Autumn, Zengirl’s hand-screened copper silk Dandelion pillow fits my definition of “sofa bling” just perfectly.

Just slipping on a new cushion cover is such a quick and pretty way to change up your decor along with the change of the seasons.

For our friends Down Under, who are just welcoming Spring, what could be more refreshing than a pair of bright Summertime Plaid pillows backed with a soft denim shade, handmade of recycled fabric by Darling Company.

I’ve got a piece of deep-rose woven fabric from Guatemala hanging over a chair in front of me right now, in fact. It’s shot through with subtle threads of silver and shadowed with black, really quite unusual. The fabric started out life as a skirt, but I’m thinking that it’s destined to cover a few throw pillows for my own couch…


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