Father’s Day DIY

Father’s Day is almost here, so I’m sharing something I made recently for my Dad. I gave him his present early (when I travelled down to the farm to see my new niece), as sadly we won’t be seeing each other on Father’s Day.

I found the oil drum pictured above at a recent antique fair held in Geraldton. I snapped it up, as I knew it would be something Dad would appreciate for his collection of oil and petrol paraphernalia. Once I got it home I started pondering how I could value add to the gift. I finally settled on the idea of making a cushion to sit on top, so Dad could use it as a seat when working in the shed on the farm.

Here it is in all its glory in the shed and here’s how I made it! I used some oilcloth I had at home for the cushion as I needed it to be durable and easily cleaned. I folded the oilcloth with right sides together and used a large circular object as a template (in this case a pizza stone) to cut out the cushion. Next, it was just a matter of sewing around the circle on my sewing machine (the oilcloth was surprisingly easy to sew through) and turning it right side out. The cushion was then stuffed with fibrefill and I hand stitched the opening closed. So easy, and I was really pleased with how it turned out! Most circular cushions need notches cutting into the seam allowances before turning the right way out. Not so here, as I was in too much danger of cutting right through the seam on the thick fabric.

I think Dad loved his present! In fact, a war erupted between Mum and Dad as to where it was going to be kept. Mum wanted it at the house as a stool at the front door for putting on boots, but hopefully Dad got to keep it in the shed. Looks like another is needed for Mother’s Day!