Mandala cushion

I was recently commissioned to make a gift for a couple's 40th wedding anniversary. That all sounds a bit posh really. Actually my Mum asked me to make her friend a cushion - that's more like the truth! She was looking through some of my crochet magaznes and found a mandala design that she loved. 

I thought a mandala made the perfect gift for a wedding anniversary - especially a 40th! - because the mandala symbolises unity and love. (altogether now - ahhhhhh)

Only problem was it was too small to be a useful cushion... So - infinitely confident of my abilities - I was asked by Mum to make it substantially bigger.

I used the pattern in the magazine, which seemed rather familiar... Turns out it is pretty similar to Made in K-Town's Little Spring Mandala. I had to ad-lib the colour repeats, which took a bit of fiddling to ensure it was more or less flat - too many stitch increases and you have something that resembles the skirt of a whirling dervish! Actually it ended up being a bit frilly, but I think I pulled it off with the fat cushion inner.

I backed the cushion with a plain round back in stripes that repeat the colours on the front.

The cushion got a bright pink liner - chosen so that it shows through the rather open design on the front - and some pink buttons to make it a removeable cover (the lady this was destined for has a dog!),added a scalloped edge and hey presto the cushion is complete.

I'd like to say it was a doddle... well the bit where I had a pattern was, the rest of it was rather frustrating as I kept having to unpick it and do less stitches. I think I need some more practice before I launch myself into the world of pattern deisgn!

Pip would dearly have liked to have this cushion for himself, but had to make do with the old manky one on the sofa, much to his chagrin. Yes, that's Pips chagrinned face.

The really great part of this project (other than finally finishing it) was to hear the response from Mum's friend - she loved it. Her husband, said that he's not allowed to touch the cushion and can no longer sit in his favourite chair, because that's the cushion's chair! I had to laugh at that.


For the cushion I used a pattern from Simply Crochet (issue 7), DROPS Paris cotton yarn and a 4mm hook. The feather cushion inner was from Design-A-Cushions. And lots of patience ;-)