Monday, January 16, 2012

Simple Pillow Tutorial

When I make a pillow cover, I like to make it as a pillow sham. This way the stuffing is easily removed for cleaning.

The first thing is to make two panels for the back of the pillow. I cut each two-thirds of the width of the pillow and the same height of the pillow.
back pieces overlap to match top
fold back edge and stitch
Then, I hem the exposed center edges of the back panels. I fold the edge back once or twice (depending on the heaviness of the fabric and its end use). In this case, this fabric is a quilted ticking. The pillow will be used on the back porch swing...it is not precious! For a fancier finish, I would fold the fabric twice and stitch with a fancy decorative stitch.

Pin Pin Pin
With right sides together, overlap the two back pieces (with the hemmed edges in the center of the pillow)and lay them onto the front. Pin, pin, pin.

Old Lady Pin Cushion
TANGEANT ALERT!
I knew you were admiring my "Old Lady" pin cushion. This pin cushion began with a soap dish. I cut a piece of practice quilting to fit. I stuffed the soap dish with wool roving, glued the quilted piece to the edges of the dish, then finished it with gluing three windings of wool yarn. My sister, Mary Ann, gave me the little old lady (flea market find!) and I slipped her over the ornamental metal piece of the soap dish.

Back to the pillow tutorial:
Use a Sturdy Stitch
  Stitch all around the the pillow edge with a sturdy stitch. I like this one in the photo. It is a slanted zig-zag stitch, sometimes called a lightning stitch. This stitch will be very hard to pull out. I use regular Dual Duty sewing thread for stitching the pillow together.

turn right side out

 Now, turn the pillow right side out.
back of completed pillow cover
Now, Stuff It! I use a pillow form that is one size bigger than the pillow cover. This gives a nice full pillow. Sometimes, I make my own pillow form with leftover quilt batting and insert that into the pillow sham.
showing back of stuffed pillow
If you want, at this point, you can slip stitch the pillow closed.
pillow on back porch swing