Not the sort of thing I normally do, but I was asked to make this cushion back in March by one of my customers.
It was a Dolce & Gabanna shirt he'd had for over 20 years when he first met his partner, and it held some precious memories for them. They were both a bit sad that it had started to wear out and wasn't fit to go out in anymore. So, he decided to secretly have the shirt made into a cushion, as a birthday gift for his partner and a keepsake for them both.
What a fib he told...... said it had been ripped to shreds in the washer and he'd had to throw it away!
Anyway, the shirt was a bit on the thin side, so I backed it all with a soft cotton fabric, before stitching down the button stand, so that it didn't gape like a man with a bay window belly, ( we've all seen them, haven't we? ). I rescued the ends of the collar that weren't frayed, to make a faux neckline and made a mock Oxford pillowcase edging using the offcuts, as the shirt wasn't big enough to do it all in one, then fitted an invisible zip to the bottom edge.
As a finishing touch, I stitched the inside label onto the back along with a spare button.
When he came to pick it up, he was overwhelmed and gave me such a big, heartfelt hug, he almost had me welling up. His partners birthday was yesterday and he rang me today to say how much he'd loved it, and it was the best birthday present ever!!
Made my day 



Suzie 

Thanks for the new addition to the forum, Fran!
I'll kick off the chat with a quick introduction into what keeps me busy each day.
I set up a small alterations business 13 years ago, working from home and absolutely love it. I'd worked with my mum for the previous 20+ years sewing made to measure occasion and bridal wear! but didn't fancy carrying it on when she retired.
I know most people hate doing alterations, but I love unpicking and turning a baggy sack into something that fits. I do anything from sewing on a button, to resizing and reshaping expensive (and cheap) bridal wear. Everything is treated with the same careful attention to detail.
In the early days, I did a lot of freelance alterations for a local bridal shop too, but that was hectic and involved several trips out to the shop every week, so when they closed down, I wasn't really sorry. I had already built up plenty of local customers, and word of mouth has definitely paid off. I only run 1 tiny ad in the local church magazine and have a Facebook page to display some of my work. These 2 avenues of advertising bring in enough work to keep me busy all the time, and I love the variety of things I have to do.
Over the last few years I've had a lot more bridal and bridesmaid alteration work, which usually tends to be either from Internet purchases that ain't quite what they were expecting, or from the bridal outlets that seem to be springing up everywhere. Everyone has a budget, and even with the cost of having them altered, they generally represent value for money. There is the occasional 'OMG, what were you thinking?' moment, but hopefully it doesn't show on my face. I've always managed to turn it into something they're happy with.
So, today is a day off, but tomorrow I'll be finishing off a wedding dress alteration, shortening a pair of trousers, resizing a Condici wedding outfit and taking in a couple of shirts..... oh, and finishing off a bespoke jacket that I'm making someone in gorgeous Linton Tweed.
Enough about me, what does anyone else do?

Suzie 

Hi all, glad to have found this lovely new forum, with lots of familiar names, and a few changes of name. I've kept my original name as I'm not that inventive.
I wasn't very active on TSF over the last year or so, but was shocked to see it disappear. Hoping to get back into it here, and maybe make time to sew something for myself very soon.
Looking forward to catching up with all the sewing news and chat.

Suzie