Sewing

A Girl Guide Sit-Upon

Girl Guides Sit-upon cushion for camp or jamboree - stitchremedy.com

My daughter – Lily, was looking at her Girl Guide camp gear list and pondering, what exactly is a Sit-Upon?  Sit-A-Pon?
I had assumed it was a cushion or mat to sit on the ground and the Guides leader confirmed it.  She then said, “Just put a cushion in a plastic bag.”

I had other ideas! 🙂

 

Girl Guides Sit-upon cushion for camp or jamboree - stitchremedy.com

I give you reusable, comfortable, named, water-resistant
Sit-Upons!

 

Made with the plastic from the bags new duvets and linen come in from the stores.  The slightly thicker plastic.  Furnishing fabric, felt for the name and flower and a zip to take the pillow out if it all needs washing.  They would make an awesome Girl Guide craft project for the girls (I realised this after I’d made them, though I did make them the day before camp!).  The girls could sew on their names and a design or picture in the felt before it gets sewn together on a sewing machine.  The sewing together may be a little tricky for the girls with the zip and the plastic layers.

 

Girl Guides Sit-upon Cushion for Camp or Jubilee - stitchremedy.com

 

Things needed –

  1. A square in the plastic 15″ x 15″ (38cm x 38cm)
  2. 2x squares in the fabric 15″ x 15″ (38cm x 38cm)
  3. 4x rectangles in the plastic 4″ x 15″ (10cm x 38cm)
  4. 4x rectangles in the fabric  4″ x 15″ (10cm x 38cm)
  5. A zip – preferably long enough to reach right along one side but a shorter one will do.
  6. Felt fabric for the name and pictures
  7. A pillow or stuffing for the inside!

 

Putting the Sit-Upon together –

The design and name need to be stitched or glued onto one of the fabric squares so they don’t move out of place once it’s all sewn together.  Then stitch the plastic square at the corners over the named square.  If you have a teflon (nonstick) sewing foot for your machine, this is definitely the time to use it, so the foot won’t stick to the plastic.  If you don’t have one, sew with the plastic facing down so the layers feed at the same time.  It can be tricky to sew together, I found lifting the presser foot every few stitches helped, helping the fabric feed through from the back and releasing the pressure of the presser foot if your machine can.

Then tack the plastic rectangles at the corners over the fabric rectangles.

Sew one side of the zip to one side of the large fabric square that isn’t covered with the plastic.

Sew one of the plastic covered rectangles to the other side of the zip.

Make sure to leave the zip open a little, so you can easily turn it through once you’re done.

Sew the short sides of the rectangles together, plastic facing in.  Use a 1cm seam allowance.  Then sew the long sides down to the remaining three sides of the square.  I didn’t sew right to the end of these seams, just up to the last cm or the seam of the sides.  this way it’s easier to get the corners more pointy.  And it’s easier to sew the next seam.

Lastly sew the plastic covered square onto the open long sides of the rectangles.

Try to use as few pins as possible, once the plastic has holes it’ll let in water.  Luckily the plastic kinda sticks to itself well.

 

Girl Guides Situpon cushion pillow for camp or jubilee - stitchremedy.com

 

Lastly – turn through and use a pencil or ruler to help push out the corners, don’t use a knitting needle or scissors incase it makes a hole in the corner.  Then stuff 🙂  A thin dacron pillow folded in half fits in perfectly.

Now you have a unique, comfortable cushion to sit on at camp or Jubilee.  If the ground is wet or dirty, the pillow can be wiped down or handwashed.  And the top is soft to sit on or be used as a spare pillow.  One of our Rangers said it looked like a Sit-A-Pillow!

The girls got great use from them as the tent had no bottom liner and it rained most of the time.  It’ll hopefully last for loads of camps to come 🙂