Want to meditate and do more yoga in the new year? Learn how easy (and inexpensive) it is to make your own props, and get started!!, Just follow the easy-to-follow illustrated instructions here at http://www.FineCraftGuild.com. OM!!!!
A zafu is a cushion that is specially designed for seated meditation. Most of us simply call it meditation pillow, meditation seat or cushion, but the official term is ‘zafu’. Now you know…
It proofed quite difficult to find some half-decent instructions to make them, however, I found them! The information in this free how-to craft tutorial is from “To Forget the Self: An Illustrated Guide to Zen Meditation” by John Daishin Buksbazen, published by the Zen Center of Los Angeles, a book which is now out-of-print *.
Materials Needed
Fabric: Sturdy material like a cotton/polyester blend:
- Length of cloth 59 inches long, 6 inches to 9 inches wide (depending on how high you would like your cushion to be).
- Two circles of cloth, each with a diameter of 11 inches to 13 inches (depending on how large around you would like your cushion to be.)
Filling: Kapok fiber (or buckwheat hulls for a firmer seat)Free Step-by-step Tutorial
- STEP 1. Pleat the length of cloth. There should be fourteen 3/4 inch pleats, 3 inches apart.
How To Pleat
a) Beginning 6-1 /2 inches from the left edge of the length, make three marks, 3/4 inch apart, thus marking out the first pleat:
Three inches after the first set of pleat markings, make the second set, as indicated above. Continue doing this till you have 14 pleats. When you finish, the last pleat marking should be 3 inches from the right edge. (If you wish to have narrower pleats, of course, simply increase the number of pleats.)
b) Next, iron the pleats and pin them. They should all be folded and ironed in toward the left-hand side. For each set of pleat markings, fold the third in toward the first as shown, and then pin as shown at below:
- STEP 2. Now, having completed the first step, take the right edge of the pleated strip cloth and pin it to the left end of the strip, 3-1/4 inches from the left edge:
- STEP 3. Mark each circle of cloth at four equidistant points. Turn pleated length of cloth inside out. Pin each circle to the pleated strip, one circle to the top edge and one to the bottom edge, at each of the four points:
- STEP 4. Next, pin all pleats into the circles, top and bottom. Sew the circles to the length of cloth:
- STEP 5. Turn inside out and stuff with kapok or buckwheat hulls (through opening in the side that the zafu will have) It’s best to use a lot of stuffing material. Kapok will slowly compress with use and buckwheat hulls eventually breakdown:
Sew a zipper in the opening so you can easily refill it as and when needed.
- STEP 4. Next, pin all pleats into the circles, top and bottom. Sew the circles to the length of cloth:
Namaste! - STEP 1. Pleat the length of cloth. There should be fourteen 3/4 inch pleats, 3 inches apart.
Источник http://www.finecraftguild.com/how-to-zafu-meditation-pillow/