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How Pil-low Can you Go?

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Man, my post titles just keep getting better and better.

Seriously…I could open up shop and pay some serious bills with genius like that.  I could call it Katie’s Barrel of Puns.  Or Play on My Words.  Of course, I’d have to turn moms & toddlers away every day because they would think it’s a Bouncy House, or Bouncerama….or whatever they’re called…I have no idea…because I live in the middle of nowhere.  all alone.  with my puns.

 

Did I just make that awkward?

 

Sorry.  Let’s forget that happened and just move on.

Earlier last week, I revealed my little living room switcheroo (oh don’t worry – if you didn’t like the original plan or the final result – it’s bound to change again soon)….but more importantly, I showed ya some new homemade pillow covers.

First let’s just get it out of the way – the two fabrics that I was talking about using for this space were as follows:  The orange one is Metro Living Tile Orange and the navy is Michael Miller Secret Garden Vintage Ironwork Midnite .  When they arrived in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised.  For one – the orange was smaller than my little scale-in-my-head imagined but I needed a smaller scale pattern so it all worked out.  The blue one was fantastic – so fantastic that it made the other fabrics look not-so-fantastic…so I am planning on using it in a different space…a fantastic one.  How’s that for overplaying a word.

The bolster pillow insert was from an old Walmart pillow I had in our new luxurous sleeping bag closet (to get on the inside of that joke – watch the video at the end of this post)….but I know they sell them at Ikea for cheap too…and the other chevron pillow insert is just a standard 16″ square pillow…nothing fancy here at Casa de la Bower.

At bat is the chevron pillow.  Whenever I make pillow covers, my easiest and fastest way is to make a pocket pillow – it’s three pieces…the front and then two back pieces that overlap…creating a pocket for the pillow to slip into.

I looked online for a couple chevron pillows…but they were all $20 plus…which isn’t really that bad.  But I had this old navy & white striped fabric (it’s way old – I even used it on a chair ages ago…but Ikea sells something exactly like it now)

I cut the strips at an angle so that I could get those zigzags…it’s important to do it in opposite angles…

So now that I have my strips (if I was a good seamstress they would have been even 3″ but I am not a good seamstress so I just eyeballed it).

Okay – line up the faces together with the stripes together and then seam.

If I was a good seamstress now I would have ironed it.  But like I said…not a good seamstress…and I have no idea where the iron is in this house.  I’m thankful that I can find toilet paper.  And when I say ‘find’ – I mean, shimmyshake over the potty till I can waddle to it with my drawers around my ankles.

TMI, huh?

After they are all sewn together, you will have something like this.  This pieces was actually long enough to make either one long lumbar pillow or two throw pillows.

Then I made the backs – they were just made from simple navy fabric.  See how I folded and hemmed one end?  Those are the overlapping edges….I overlap them at least 5 inches just to be sure that it covers the entire back of the pillow insert.

So you put all three pieces right side in….and sew all around the perimeter.  Turn right side out and your done!

Next up is the bolster pillow….the little orange one….

Here are some instructions….

This is what your fabric looks like after step 2….

And this is what it looks like close up –

And here is the hole that you are gonna put your ribbon through…

After you have done step 4, it’s time to thread your ribbon through….I use an extra long hair bobby pin to thread stuff through tight holes…

that sounds gross…sorry for the gutter-brain.

And there it is – two easy pillows tutorials.

Have you guys been pillow-crafting lately?  Any fabric.com shoppers?  Bolster lovahs?  How bout chevron?  What is your current fabric affair?  I’m just glad that I can make cheap pillow covers because I have somewhat of a problem with collecting them.  Of course, that isn’t my only problem.  Of course, you already know that 🙂

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  2. I’ve been browsing the selection from fabric.com and hoping to find something nice so I can make some curtains for the living room. Any extra fabric we have will be used on pillows so this tutorial is awesome! Thanks, Katie!

  7. Katie– I love the tutorial! I was looking at the original post of the chevron pillow the other day trying to figure out how you did that, but my brain turned to jello and I had to give up. I love that you just eyeballed it — that’s the way I sew too!

  8. Thanks for the tutorial! I have purchased fabric to make pillows for our living room couch but haven’t had time to tackle them yet. I bought zippers thinking I would try to make zippered covers (have you ever made those?) My mom tells me it’s really hard and I should try the overlapping pleat at the back like your chevron pillow so thanks for the tips!

  10. I got some samples from fabric.com a while back when I was trying to get brave and have slipcovers made for our sofas. Big $$$ equlas a nervous me! Still. Haven’t pulled the trigger on it. The selection there is awesome though!

  11. Love your pillows!! And tutorial makes the bolster pillow see easy enough. I’ve got a couple pretty pillows on my Christmas list but if we don’t appear under the tree I’ll probably be making a few of my own after the holidays!

  18. Oooooh … I didn’t notice last time that you’d made the chevron pattern with strips. Fancy! I love the touch the seams add. 🙂 Thanks for the tutorial!

  20. Oh wow! I didn’t realize you made the chevron pattern- I thought the fabric was already printed that way- so COOL! Stealing it! ;o)
    I just posted my sort-of-tutorial about making a bolster with piping.
    http://chictweaksalterations.com/2011/11/28/sewing-and-crafts-making-a-bolster-pillow-with-piping/
    But, I think I like your version better. I like how the ends are more rounded-plus the addition of the ribbon is too cute. I’m definitely going to try this version next time.
    Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing!

  21. Thanks for the tutorial! Seems a whole bunch easier than the pattern I picked up at JoAnn’s… that’s still sitting in a to-do bin. 🙂

  24. I cheated and bought some new pillows this weekend. Haha. I am awed that you made the chevron pillow from the stripes. Your such a creative girl!

    Oh and btw, I am lovin’ the new header!!!!

  28. Thanks for the tutorial. The pillows are so darn cute. Now if I can only get past my fear of sewing!

  29. I really love the texture on the chevron pillows… makes them way more unique than if you had just bought them! And I like your new header…I was wondering what was going on this weekend!

  30. Ohhh, LOVE! Thanks for the tutorial, it’s actually really easy isn’t it? I think I will be making some pillows soon! 😉

  32. Katie, I love your idea for the striped fabric turned chevron! The pillows turned out so cute. Now if I could just get my machine to cooperate…

  33. Great tutorials — Thanks!! I just ordered supplies to make some throw pillows in a meaningful print (my BF’s “family plaid” — they’re very Scottish on his mother’s side, but trust me, McIver plaid is hard to find!) and this is great inspiration. 🙂

  39. Thanks for the pocket pillow tutorial! I never realized how easy that could be! And I’m making new pillows for the couch right now. Great timing!

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