Midgins'

Ukulele cushions were one of the first things I designed when preparing to launch Midgins’ on Etsy and continue to be one of my favourite items to make. I haven’t shared many photos on the blog before so decided to dedicate a post to the whole collection of ukulele cushions, including current made-to-order designs and some older one-off creations too.

It all started with this retro style, guitar print cotton which I spotted when fabric shopping and couldn’t leave the store without. The print features electric guitars, banjos and ukuleles, in browns, blues and creams. It was love at first sight and I knew it would be perfect for the cute, folk ukulele I had in my head. This cushion continues to be one of our best sellers. I love how the print placement is completely different on each one, so no two ever look the same.

This crimson polka dot ukulele is the most recent addition to the shop. Instead of the usual corduroy backing, I used a light brown, super soft chenille upholstery fabric (also used for the fox cushion) with a striped texture to give a lovely wooden effect. The neutral colour also means it will compliment almost any other fabric, so I could continue to use it as a backing on other ukulele designs.

As well as all the made-to-order items in the shop, I also enjoy the process of upcycling. This means creating one-of-a-kind pieces from second hand or unwanted clothing. If you’ve been following for a while, you may have seen some of my upcycled products before. The pair of ukuleles above were crafted from a vintage shirt that I found in a charity shop and are probably my favourite upcycled cushions so far. The one with the olive green back has now sold, but the mustard option is still available to purchase on Etsy. You can also read the original blog post right here.

This adorable star print denim ukulele was made from a pair of jeans, which was the very first item of clothing I re-purposed for Etsy. You can check out this blog post to see the other products I made with the same jeans. The ukulele cushion and denim monster were firm favourites and sold quite quickly!

I thought I would also include this AC/DC guitar cushion that I made for my brother using one of his old t-shirts. This one was super fun to make and again is totally unique. I tweaked some of the details to make it look more like a guitar than a ukulele, by stitching two more strings and using brass buttons instead of wooden toggles on the head stock.

George and I also want to introduce guitar cushions alongside the ukuleles and are currently in the prototype stage, trying out different shapes and sizes so that we have a distinctive guitar shape, rather than just a copy of the ukulele with slight alterations.

Some more ukulele colours will be revealed shortly but for now, which ukulele is your favourite? Would you also like to see some guitar cushions?