Pillows galore

Hey friends! I'm back!  Work has been crazy busy lately.  Those of you who work at colleges/universities should understand that August is a terrible time to have a social life.  Therefore, I've had no time to craft.  Until I have time to take up crafting again, I thought I'd post about an old project.

I love decorating my apartment.  I love the idea of taking a plain, white, modern style space and transforming it into something entirely me.  One inexpensive way to decorate is by using cute throw pillows.  Now, if you look at any home decor store, a pillow will run you $20 and up.  This is ridiculous!  I bought a comforter set last year that came with 2 pale blue quilted throw pillows.  They were rather plain, so I decided to jazz them up a bit.

Pillow 1:

Materials:
Sewing machine
Felt
Scissors
Matching thread

For my first pillow, I removed the inside (most pre-made pillows have zippered case so you can remove the pillow form.) and then cut out flower shapes from felt and pinned them to the front of the pillowcase.  I then topstiched the flowers onto the pillow in matching thread.  Be careful to use the sleeve arm for your sewing machine to keep the two layers of the pillowcase separate!  If you don't have a sleeve arm, fold the back of the pillowcase away from the front as much as possible and keep shifting as you sew. This was easy and took me less than an hour total for the project.  The results are way better than a plain pillow!

Love it!

Pillow 2:

Materials:

Cute fabric

Paper

Computer

Pen

Scissors

Fusible bonding

Iron

Coordinating thread

Sewing machine

For the other pillow, I got a little fancier.  I found a clipart picture online and enlarged it on my computer screen until it was the size I needed.  I then laid a piece of paper ontop of the screen and traced the image.  This is a great way to make templates! I cut out the shape and then traced it onto a piece of fabric.  After I cut the shape from my fabric I was all set to attach it to the pillow.

Remove the inside of the pillow again.  Cut small pieces of the fusible bonding to fit the shape.  On the right side of the pillowcase, lay the fabric shape, rightside up, on top where you want it to be.  Slide the pieces of fusible bonding inbetween the pillowcase and the shape so the shape completely covers the fusible bonding.  It's important that the bonding isn't coming out from under the shape as this could mess up your iron.  Follow the package directions and iron the shape to the pillowcase (most likely using medium, dry, heat.)

Now your shape should be completely attached to the pillow.  If it's loose, iron it again until it's attached.  In order to finish the edges, stitch around the shape with a satin stitch on your sewing machine in a coordinating thread color.  Check your machine owner's manual to learn how to create a satin stitch. This is a fun stitch to use, but takes a little practice.  I made a few mistakes on my pillow but I don't care.  It looks so cute!

The finished product

Close up of the satin stitch edging

Sewing takes practice so if you're not used to it, then test stitches out on scrap fabric.  Old sets of sheets are great test pieces for things until you're ready to use that fun fabric.

I also love to build up my fabric collection so I have something on hand when I get a new idea.  The remnants bin at the fabric store always has great finds.  I also try to look in more obscure places.  The above fabric came from a vintage baby doll dress I bought at a garage sale for a quarter.  Look at thrift stores for ugly clothes or table cloths that might have great fabric to cut up.  Tea towels are especially fun too.  Buy fabric simply because you love the color or design.  You'll use it eventually!