Zafu

Hi Cindy,

A zafu is a cushion used in meditation. In the picture it is the round one in the center. The large square one is a zabuton. I bought DH the zafu for our anniversary here but the zabuton he bought here as part of a starter package. He actually has two zafus This one is filled with kapok, a cotton-like fiber that is actually hydrofillic, and the other is filled with buckwheat hulls. The plan is to fill the new one with kapok if we can find a source for it that isn't too expensive.

Here is the initial stages of sewing together the new one. I used 2 felted sweaters, one in brown-gray-blue stripes and the other with black and gray blocks of color. It is a little hard to distinguish the two colors in this picture but the striped portion is the side and the blocks of color are the top and bottom. I used the width of the sweater as the main body of the side but then had a slit covered on the inside and outside by a 8 inch wide piece cut from the sleeves. I'll probably end up stitching the internal one down on one side so it doesn't pook out as much.

Here is the finished piece stuffed temporarily with recycled fiber fill from an old pillow. I ended up hand sewing it all together because I wasn't sure if my old Kenmore would go through all the layers. While most of it was only 2 layers thick, it was 4 layers over the slit with a little section of 5 layers in the very middle. I have one small (1/2 inch) section of the 4 layers where I missed the outermost layer. I'll have to tack that down when I finish it up. Right now it is a bit tall but it will squish down when it is filled and sat upon. I'm pretty happy with it at this stage although I may press the seams out before we do the final filling. and I may add some kind of internal tie under the carry strap on the side. It gets the stamp of approval from the spinnin' kitten but she hasn't attacked it like I thought she would.

Take care, A

ps: Think good thoughts tomorrow (Thursday) as DH has an interview.