Gettin' My Craft On - Pillow Style

My amazing mother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me a sewing machine for a bridal present. (I am so grateful!!).  I had never even touched one before. I had to have Brandon teach me how to use it! That is right. Brandon can sew. And he is really good at it!  I have used it here and there, but this was my biggest challenge for sure.  The first pillow took me probably 6 hours. Pathetic.  I had to figure out all the measurements and figure out exactly how to make it work.  Since it took me so long, I decided to track it and include a tutorial in this post for those that would like to try it for themselves!

My inspiration was this pillow I saw at a boutique store in Lindon. (on the right).

I fell in love with the pillow, but was completely turned off by the price (over $100 each!!!!!). So I took a picture, searched for fabric, and decided to make my own. With my own twist.

First: Here is my final product.

I knew I wanted 3/4 of the pillow to be damask, and 1/4 of the pillow a different fabric. I couldn't find one that went well with the damask, so I stuck with plain black. It has a zipper at the top of the pillow so I can wash the pillow anytime.

This pillow completed is 17 inches x 17 inches.  

Step 1. Cut 2 pieces of the damask (patterned) fabric. Width: 12 1/2 in. Length 18 in.  (This will leave room for sewing edges together).

*Watch what way your damask fabric(or other patterned fabric) goes. I specifically wanted the damask fabric on the right side of the pillow when finished, so I made sure the damask was running up and down before I started cutting.

Step 2. Cut 2 pieces of black fabric. Width: 6 1/2 in. Length: 18 in. 

Step 3. Sew black and damask (patterned) fabrics together with a 1/2 inch seem.

*It is really important here that you make these two pieces opposite.  By opposite I mean having the damask fabric, with pattern running up and down, on the right for one piece, and the second piece having the damask pattern on the left. When the pillow is completed, the black parts will be aligned and the damask parts will be aligned. 

(One piece with damask on the left)

 

 (One piece with damask on the right)

  

 *I ironed these after I sewed them together to make sure the seem was sitting flat.

 Step 4. Line up the two completed sides with the front of the fabric facing in towards each other. At the top, in each corner, mark 2 inches in from each edge. Also mark 1/2 of an inch down from the top. Sew these together, stopping at the edge of the 2 inches. This will leave a gap in the middle at the top where the zipper will go.

  

 Step 5. Pin down (or you can use basting tape) the 1/2 inch seem at the top for each side. Sew each edge down from end to end.

  

Step 6. Sew the zipper to the newly sewn 1/2 inch seem. Pin the zipper to each edge and sew the zipper to the seem. Sew as close to the zipper as possible.

*I got a 14 inch "separating sport zipper."  This seemed to work perfectly for me.

Step 7. Sew a 1/2 inch seem all the way around the rest of the pillow (3 sides).

 

Step 8. Flip the pillow to be right side out. Push the corners out to give it the square shape. And stuff with your favorite type of  stuffing!

*I used stuffing from two other pillows that we had. The cats used them as their scratching posts when we had our old couches, so they were ruined.  We were going to throw them away, but I decided to keep the stuffing!

Here are the final products! 2 pillows for our couch, to match our new rug, and the curtains and curtain holders I have made previously.  Can you tell I LOVE damask?!

 

I hope you enjoy! And I hope these instructions make sense. Let me know if you have questions!