5.31.2011
Beautiful bohemian pillows: Tutorial!
I've shared inspiration and ideas before from Anthropologie and other places for beautiful work-of-art pillows--so small, but they have such an effect on a room!
When I was in a productive, scrap-busting mood the other day I made a couple of Anthro-ey pillows from my pile of pretty-colored scraps. I did a tutorial for the Orimono pillow a while ago, and am happy to share another tutorial for a pretty appliqué one!
Here's the inspiration:
And here's a tutorial to do this yourself!
As I said, tutorial for the back side (and for other super cool pillow styles) coming up soon!
7 comments
When I was in a productive, scrap-busting mood the other day I made a couple of Anthro-ey pillows from my pile of pretty-colored scraps. I did a tutorial for the Orimono pillow a while ago, and am happy to share another tutorial for a pretty appliqué one!
Here's the inspiration:
And here's a tutorial to do this yourself!
- Collect your pretty fabric scraps and leftover pieces...
- Cut a square 1" bigger than your pillow in both width and length. I like my pillow covers to fit snugly, so for my 18" pillow I cut a 19" square.
- Cut out shapes that you want to appliqué on. This rose print was a lovely home dec silk that my mom made a dress for me out of years ago. I still have the scraps and was able to put them to good use! I didn't have enough full roses to do more than one or two big stems, but I framed the pillow using the edge pieces and made a nice border out of it. Arrange the shapes as you like.
- Pin your shapes down. Lots of pins! You could use spray adhesive on the back of the fabric first in lieu of pins, but I didn't feel like going outside to spray...
- Note: My pillow fabric, that woven stripe, was rather thin, so I reinforced it with a layer of quilting fabric I didn't want. You can use muslin or whatever you like, but this extra layer will make your pillow last much longer.
- To the machine! Sew your shapes down. I recommend a zigzag stitch. Go all the way around your appliqués.
- Great! Now, you'll be ready to put on the zipper and attach to the back side of the pillow, if you have it done. Again you'll need a square 1" bigger than your pillow form, and you can choose to make it plain or fancy. I wanted to maximize my pillow stylings since I don't have room for lots of pillows but I did want to try out multiple Anthro pillow looks, so I did a fancy back. I'll show you a tutorial for it soon!
- Attach your zipper. I'm using an invisible zipper.
- Open the zipper a few inches so you can reach your hand through, and sew the other three sides of the pillow.
- Clip your corners...
- Press the three side seams flat, as much as you can.
- Turn right side out, and put on pillow!
As I said, tutorial for the back side (and for other super cool pillow styles) coming up soon!