New Pillows

You know those bonus points programs many places have??? I decided to take advantage of them a couple of weeks ago. Our local grocer, Save On Foods took over from Safeway about 3 years ago. At the beginning we were getting tons of points, the staff were mistakenly giving double points, so my points grew exponentially. And thank you for that. Now it’s a slower accumulation, but I still have my eye on a couple more items with my points. ;o)

I cashed in enough points to buy three items. One of those items was this what I’m calling my new Winter White coverlet and pillow shams.

Once the bed was made, it looked pretty impressive, all bright and fresh. But it was missing something. So I quickly ran through my mind to my fabric stash and remembered I had some upholstery style fabric that would be pretty much perfect for new pillows, and it’s more of an antique white with a tiny pink flower here and there, and embossed with a floral print the colour of the fabric, a good contrast to the leaf pattern in the coverlet and the bright white of the coverlet and shams.

If you’re not a sewer, pillows are probably on the list of the easiest possible projects you can make. How do you make them:

1: Measure your pillow along one side, they are generally square. These ones are 16” square.

2: Cut your fabric 1” larger on all sides to allow for seam allowance. In this case, I was able to cut two long strips 17” X 34”, otherwise, just double you fabric right sides together and cut them out. Remember: Measure twice, cut once. I serged around the edges as this kind of fabric can easily fray. Use a zig zag on a regular machine.

3. Pin the sides together and sew around three sides. Decide what you are going to do along the 4th edge. You can add snaps, fancy closures or just whatever suits you. If you don’t want to add anything, then just leave the center open on the last side approx. half the length of side, tuck in the pillow and stitch closed.

I chose to just sew buttons along the top edge. Easy to remove for washing and reapply. Sew a 1/2” seam if using this type of fabric, cottons won’t fray so 1/4” seams will work. Adjust the size you cut your fabric if using cotton, it will be slightly smaller.

4. Pillows done. The edge is folded in 1/2”. I pulled out stash buttons and found 2 each of 4 different styles. What do you think???  I made two of these.

I also had a big bolster pillow that needed a refresh and I had enough fabric for that too. For non sewers, just measure the length and diameter. Add 1” to diameter for 1/2” seam allowance. On the ends of the bolster, I allowed an extra 2 1/2” so I could gather the end and draw it into the center. I finished the edges with my serger, but again, a zig zag stitch will work just as well.

After sewing the long seam, tuck the pillow in. Make sure it’s centered in the tube. Take some button thread and do a running stitch and begin pulling the gathers into the center. I went around twice so the gathers come right to the center with only a small opening remaining. Fasten off securely.

I found two wooden coasters just the right size ( i really enjoy my stash ;o~ …treasures that always get used at some time). The fabric is cut at least 1” larger than the wooden coasters. With button thread, gather the excess fabric to the underside, stitch around a couple of times. It won’t come to the center, but make sure it’s a tight fit as you will be sewing it to the pillow. Once they were gathered, I pinned them onto the ends catching in the fabric.

To finish attaching them, I just used a ladder stitch and went around a couple of times, sewing along the edge of the circle and catching just the fabric, and making sure to only catch the fabric and not the pillow. The final touch was to pull out some tassels I got at the dollar store ages ago. The cord is glued on. Wrap it first to see what look you want. You might prefer to put the tassels on the ends but in the center.

Do whatever suits you. Mine is wrapped around the wooden coasters a couple of times, glued on and finished by wrapping the remaining cord around itself. If you do this. let it dry well overnight and use a sturdy glue like FabriTac or similar. If I do need to wash this, I can just open the center seam halfway, pull out the bolster and give the cover a quick gentle wash, being sure not to dunk the ends in the water, and just gently wipe the ends with a damp cloth. Stuff the bolster back into the cover when fully dry and stitch the seam closed.

Here’s the finished project. Love them, they look so girly. Hubby is very accepting…;o) I am now working on a DYI project for the garden, post to come very soon… Enjoy.