How to fill a Thai triangle cushion 3 fold ~ Tutorial
If you aren't aware of what these are, it's a cushion with a triangle shape at one end and square cushions extending out from it. It's essentially like a mattress with a built-in triangle pillow and they are a very popular sell in Thailand.
As luck may have it I currently have the final cushion in my care so I'm able to show you how I went about filling these cushions...
1. Get the lay of the land.
Familiarise yourself with what you're working with. Google the cushions so you can see their shape and what the goal is.
This tip is mostly for readers that find themselves with a Thai cushion to fill without having bought it from Thailand themselves. But is useful for refreshing your memory.
2. Source Kapok to fill the cushion (or another filling).
Kapok filling is a natural fibre harvested from a Kapok tree. This is traditionally used to fill the Thai cushions and is eco-friendly where it's naturally sourced and biodegradable.
I ended up mixing what was left of the kapok filling and cotton filling as requested. They've got different textures and thicknesses, with the cotton feeling lighter and softer. The kapok is lumpier and thicker which means that you can fill the cushion quicker with the kapok. The traditional cotton filling took way longer and required 3 times the amount.
3. Stuff the bed sections of the cushion
For the bed parts of the cushion, I simply filled these by pulling apart the cotton into pieces and stuffing it in.
There are tunnels separated by netting to create the grooves on the outside of the cushions. Make sure to fill these tunnels as much as possible to the top of where the grooves end, but not overflow as this will get in the way of your sewing.
Now you should have a flap of fabric which will create the final tunnel.
Before sewing the end flap down, pin this in place. Hand sew all the way up to the short edge (no hemming needed, just place together).
Stuff into this gap, pushing the stuffing down and filling this end tunnel as much as possible. To secure this in, hand sew the short edge closed.
Tip: The flap can be machine stitched down but is very fiddly. I found it best to hand sew.
4. Triangle section. Work with what you've got; create a template and source materials.
This section had a 3D triangle pattern where every inner triangle reveals a white design; depending on your cushion.
Many of the triangles that had been stitched onto the cushion were hanging on by a thread so I unpicked them very carefully and used these to create a paper template for a new triangle.
Fold a 1cm seam allowance around the paper triangle template.
Tip: only cut off 1 triangle for this as the others will be your guide with where to put the stuffing.
I picked a similar material to the cushion which is cotton, in red to match.
Iron interfacing onto the back of the fabric triangles. There should be 10 full triangles on each side of the cushion head, cut the amount you need.
Iron a seam allowance of roughly 1 cm on each side of the fabric triangle pieces. the paper template should help you with this.
Fill each tunnel with stuffing, making sure to check that you're filling the correct tunnel- refer to the image.
Leave a gap between the stuffing and the very top of the tunnel.
Slot in the ironed triangle and pin in place, matching point to point. Hand sew using an overcast stitch.
When you get to the 3rd side of the individual triangle, fill in the gap with stuffing and continue to sew.
Finito! Enjoy your new cushion!
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Thank you for reading this tutorial! I hope it served you well. Please excuse the photography. When the weather's not great it's hard to get good pictures. The blogging community know what I'm saying!
Thank you!
Big love,
Bud xx
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