Hello again! I have been doing a lot of guest posting lately, which has come in handy since my computer charger died this week and my kids and I got the stomach flu. Boo. It has been really amazing to be able to just repost my guest posts and not stress! I do have MANY things in the wings, however, so stay tuned, because I am about to get into a Christmas-crafting frenzy! As for today, I am excited to share with you my fall ruffle pillows, which I shared last week on The Ribbon Retreat’s blog.
You may remember that in October I made some extremely Halloweeny pillows for our kid-friendly family room as a guest post for Riley Blake’s site. You can find those HERE. However, I wanted something a bit more elegant for our formal living room. The couch is beige and the pillows are cream and brown, except for a couple of blue pillows, so I decided to make new covers for the blue pillows that I will be able to use each fall. Let’s take a look at how I did it.
For this project I used the following fabrics:
* Moda Essential Dots in Chocolate, 1 yard
* Moda Posh Pumpkins, Little Fatties Set
Start by measuring your pillows. All of my measurement will fit MY pillows. Obviously you will need to adjust yours a bit to fit your own pillows. The pillow shown here is 17″ x 20″.
You will use these measurements to cut three pieces of fabric, one for the front panel and two for the back. These will be envelope pillow cases so that they will be easy to get on and off. For the front piece I added an inch on each side of the pillow measurement to allow for seams and so forth. That made my front panel 18″ x 21″. For the back two pieces you should divide your measurement in half and add 3 inches to each piece because they will need to overlap. For the back pieces I cut two pieces, each measuring 18″ x 13″.
Iron down a 1/2 inch hem on one side of each of your back pieces.
Sew down the hem, being sure to backstitch at the start and finish of the piece.
Time for ruffling! Cut your strips of fabric. I used a ruffle that was 1″, a ruffle that was 2″, and a ruffle that was 3″. I haven’t made the second pillow yet, in all honesty, so we will see what I “feel” tonight when I’m finishing it. I cut them the length of the fat quarters, although that meant I had to angle them on the pillow since they get shorter when they are gathered into ruffles.
To make ruffles you simply baste down the center of your strip (use a long stitch) and then hold onto one of the strings and scrunch it with your fingers. There are VERY detailed instructions for this on my Grinch Ruffle Dress tutorial that I did last year.
Once you have your ruffle gathered lay it out and pin it to your pillow.
Now sew slowly over the stitching to secure the ruffle into place. Try to be precise, but don’t stress over it if you aren’t. As my friend always tells me “No one will see that from a galloping horse!” Ummm….what does that even mean?! It’s a weird thing her grandma always said when she was teaching her to sew, and now I say it all of the time. It makes me smile.
Before the final sewing step I also pulled the strings a bit on my ruffles’ edges to rough them up a bit and give them that worn, shabby look.
At this point you will lay your front panel facing UP and lay the two back panels on top of it. They should have the “right sides” facing IN, and they will overlap, creating the envelope effect. Pin them into place well prior to sewing, and then sew all the way around the outside of the pillow. (There are very detailed pictures and instructions for this step in the process in THIS tutorial.)
Turn that puppy inside out and stuff your pillow inside of it and you are DONE! Pretty, right?
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and that you use this technique with any fabric that you would like to really customize your home decor!
If you liked this post you may also enjoy these posts:
Be sure to follow my Fall: My Favorite Seasonfollow Pinterest board for more autumn-loving inspiration.
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Crystal Nell says
November 22, 2013 at 8:02 amPillows are super cute!! I love the ruffles!! Thanks for the tutorial!! Hope your family and you feel better soon 🙂