Sewing Home Accent Pillows to Add Color and Splashst

This Fabric Square was Quilted and Added to Backing Fabric for a Pillow

Sewing Home Accent Pillows to Add Color and Splash


The new magazines show pillows as accents in nearly every room. The April 2012 Traditional Home has an article entitled "New + Next" subtitled "Patched for Perfection" with fabric ideas and fashionable colors. The April issue of Better Homes & Gardens shows pillows in the indoor-outdoor living area as well as pillow accents as color boosts for the bedroom.


Making a pillow is an easy task for anyone who likes to sew, as you can make the pillow as simple as you want. Let the fabric do the detailing, and purchase a pillow form. You don't even need a zipper. Start with a size that a pillow form will fit -- they usually come in 10 inch, 12 inch or 14 inch squares.


You'll need an extra inch of fabric for the front and 6 inches extra in one length of the back. For a simple fabric pillow in a 10 inch size, cut an 11-inch square for the front and use 1/2 inch seams all around. Cut the back 11 inches long and 16 inches wide. Cut that piece in half on the large side to make it 8 inches by 11 inches. Fold under (wrong side to wrong side of fabric) 1/4 inch and stitch near the edge for each of the center seams. Fold again at 1 inch and stitch close to the previous stitching.




Assemble pillow front to the back with straight pins, right sides together and working with the wrong side of the fabric up. Overlap the two back pieces where you've stitched so they fit the pillow front. The overlap should be about 2 1/2 inches. This overlap will allow you to place the pillow form in the cover and to remove the cover if you need to wash it.


Stitch around all four sides of the pillow edge and turn to the right side. Push the pillow form from the open center in the back into one side. Squeeze the pillow form into the other side.


Shopping thrift stores is a good way to find fabrics and even pillow tops that didn't get finished. I found some pieces that had batting and backing already stitched on a cotton fabric. It needed quilting to hold the batting in place, so I stitched around the design.


I was concerned that the edges weren't stabilized, so I stitched around the pinked edge with embroidery floss, using a lazy daisy stitch that looks like maybe a leaf or flower, or maybe chicken tracks. Here's the result, and it cost 25 cents and a pillow form. Use a complementary fabric for the back -- don't try to match the colors.

Stitched by Hand Around the Edge

Have a wonderful spring season with crafts and decorating projects. The season provides the inspiration and you are the designer.


Linda
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