Spring is here! Hooray! The days are getting a little longer and the spring flowers are out in full effect. If you are in the southern hemisphere then apologies , spring is quite some way off for you of course!

Here in the UK we’ve definitely been enjoying some brighter and slightly warmer days so thoughts are turning to the garden and what needs to be done out there after a winter of neglect.

Today I’ve got a super quick sewing project to share to make your spring (or all year round actually) gardening just a little more comfortable; a gardening kneeling pad.

How to sew a garden kneeling pad

These kneeling pads make all the difference to your comfort level when working on garden borders and the best thing is they are so easy to make. Around 30 minutes from start to finish, that includes cutting out, and sewing up. They make great gifts for your gardening friends too.

To make a simple garden kneeling pad you will need:

• Waterproof fabric 20” x 22” (50cm x 56cm)

• Some sort of webbing strap, I used an old lanyard

• An old pillow or cushion (not pictured)

My fabric was a little I had left over from making my lovely waterproof picnic bag , it’s Ottertex waterproof canvas from Fabric Wholesale Direct and the sunny yellow makes it perfect for a gardening kneeler for spring.

How to sew a garden kneeling pad

Cut the lanyard or nylon webbing into 2 pieces, one 4” (10cm) and one 15” (38cm) seal the ends carefully with a flame if it’s very unravelly (possibly a made up word but you know what I mean!)

Place the fabric right side up and position the webbing as shown in the photo below.

Each piece of webbing is folded in half and the pinned so the point where the 2 ends of webbing touch is just a fraction more than 5 inches from the bottom edge of the fabric. That sounds like a complicated way to describe it but it really depends how wide your webbing is! Use the photo to guide you.

Fold the fabric in half, ie fold the top half down and the stitch around the 3 open sides leaving a 6 inch gap on the long side. Don’t be tempted to leave a smaller gap, this kind of fabric is a b**ger to turn out so give yourself plenty of room! Use a nice generous 1/2” seam allowance and always start and finish each line of stitching with a few back stitches to make it secure.

Clip the corners and then turn the kneeler right side out through the gap. It is tricky and the fabric is stiff but go gently and you’ll be able to ease it through gradually. Remember there will be pins inside holding the webbing in place to make sure you don’t stab yourself with them, remove the pins as you come across them. Use something pointy but not sharp to poke the corners out, like a wooden chopstick or scissors as long as they are closed and not a sharp point. Or you could just use your fingers.

It should look something like this.

Take the stuffing from an old cushion or pillow and half fill the kneeling pad, then pin and stitch up the half way point.

Stuff the other half of the garden kneeling pad and then top stitch the gap closed.

That’s it! Finished!

You can hang the kneeler up from either loop or fold it in half and thread the long loop through the small loop to secure it and hang it up in your shed or greenhouse by the long loop.

If you use a waterproof fabric then any dirt marks can just wipe away. This Ottertex fabric is actually really great for that, makes it worth the slight tussle it is to sew with as it really does just wipe clean.

Make one for yourself and then once you find out how easy it is you can make them for all your gardening friends too. I used about half of the padding from an old cushion pad for this gardening kneeling pad, it’s a great way to use up a synthetic pillow or cushion pad once it goes a bit lumpy or clumped together as that doesn’t matter at all for this project.

I love that this bright yellow kneeling pad matches with the spring daffodils so nicely. And by picking a bright colour I’m never going to lose this kneeling pad in the garden either!

Julie

I’ll be sharing this project at these link ups