Or pillows in the U.S.
A pad or bag filled with soft stuffing, used as a comfortable support, generally for back, head or for seating; it is a most essential home accessory for comfort and decoration.
Cushions can be bought in many standard shapes and sizes and made in any shape or size; they are present in most rooms in one capacity or another – a single architectural cushion for effect, an assorted a pile for comfort, or a collection just because…
The cover can made from very simple fabric in a very simple manner or made from exquisite fabric embellished as elaborately as a couture gown. Perhaps one of the attractions to cushions is the making and the size of them: they are both useful and manageable. They take so little fabric that an extravagant stunning design becomes an affordable investment; stunning hand worked pieces or worn antique cloths bought from markets across the globe find a home; fat quarters and ends of rolls; remnants don’t break the bank; every scrap can be used in, say patchwork or applique ; the limited space allows time for elaborate works of quilting or embroidery; cushions make great presents.
Cushion covers might be a simple square or it could be piped, frilled, bordered, fringed, or more, and the closures too can be decorative or left plain – as you wish.
The fillings are as important as the cover, perhaps more so in some cases, especially for sofa seats and backs where the fabric use matters rather less than a comfortable evening. It you want to sit comfortably, you need to make sure the fillings are comfortable. And while this might seem to be the most obvious thing to say, there are far too many uncomfortable seats out there. Our core project on box cushions deals with this more fully, but suffice it to say that slabs of hard foam covered in polyester wadding are not the same as an engineered three core foam with a cotton, feather and down, or wool wrap. Of that an over stuffed curled feather filling ( crammed in until it’s solid as a rock ) is not the same as a well proportioned feather and down filling that allows space for the air pockets to do their work.
Our sofa seats matter as much as our mattresses, perhaps we ned to re-c0nsider the costs.
Other entries: sofa, Palliase, pailasse, feather and down, foam, mattress.