I know last time I posted I harped on about being unable to finish loads of projects, but here's one that I have completed time and again. It fast became a favourite because it's el cheapo to make, pretty and useful too. I'm all for useful as well as decorative.

Again, I have to thank my mum for helping me out on this one: together we figured it out a few years back and since then I have sewn loads of them, several for myself but mostly as housewarming gifts and for last year's School Fete.

Once you have cut out the pattern, I recommend labelling it and keeping it somewhere so that next time you come to do it, you can skip the pattern-cutting stage.

Materials

Some cardboard (I made good use of a Weet-Bix box)

Cotton fabric, ideally heavyweight. If you don't use heavyweight you will need to interface your medium-weight cotton to prevent it from stretching when filled. You need enough to cut four triangular sides and a bottom (dimensions below).

A length of ribbon, about 15cm should do

Filling - I have used rice but any dried legumes or even kitty litter will do. Sand will also do the job but I would place it in a bag before filling the doorstop to stop it leaking out through the fabric.

Step One

First things first. You need to make the template for cutting your fabric. I measured a 16cm by 16cm square for the base and a triangle which was 16cm along the base and 16cm high. It's important to measure and cut this exactly.

 

 

 

 

Step Two

Turn your fabric right side down and use a pen or tailor's chalk to mark out four side pieces and a base. If you want to match your fabric pattern, be sure to do so before you mark it. Cut out all pieces and iron them.

 

 

 

 

Step Three

Taking into account how you'd like them to appear alongside each other, pin two triangles with sides together. Sew along this side using a 1cm seam allowance. Be sure to backstitch at the start and beginning to give extra strength. Iron your seams open and repeat with the other two pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Four

Place one of your sets of two sides on your work surface right side up. Fold your ribbon in half, and pin in place so that the loop of your ribbon is sitting on top of your fabric and the ends of the ribbon and jutting out over on to your workbench. Be sure to pin so that a couple of centimetres of ribbon will remain inside the doorstop once it is turned out the right way. If look at the photo you can see the ends of mine sticking out.

 

 

Step Five

Sew along the two seams, securing all four sides together. Take a peek inside, you'll be thrilled to see that the finished product isn't too far away. Don't turn it out the right way just yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Six

Take the base piece and line up one side of it with one side of your pyramid. Be sure and pin it in exactly the right place. Do the same for the remaining sides. Start sewing from one corner, remember to backstitch, and sew along to the next. Sew into the corner itself before making the turn to the next. Stop sewing about 6cm from where you started. Iron out the seams.

NB In my photo, the doorstop is lying on its side and the hole you can see is what I left to let me fill it.

 

 

Step Seven

Turn the doorstop out the right way. Fill with your chosen filling, using a funnel if it makes life easier. Be sure to fill it as much as you can as the filling can sometimes settle and you don't really want empty space at the top later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Eight

Use ladder stitch (how's that MJ?) to close your seam. I recently took this tutorial and learned how to do it properly.

And that's it, fait accompli.