Spring Pillow w/ The Silhouette

I’ve always admired the bloggers who make a pillow for every holiday. To be honest I’ve never made a pillow. There… I said it. It’s always been on my list to do… they just somehow always get knocked to the bottom of the list. Poor pillows!

Considering I didn’t have a pattern, and this was my first pillow I think it turned out pretty well ( just don’t look to close).  Thanks to my Silhouette! If you don’t have a Silhouette, you can always print images off your computer and use an exacto knife to cut your image out… just might be a little more time consuming.

I used the Flocked heat transfer on this pillow and I have to say I LOVE this stuff! It definitely added the perfect touch to my spring pillow.

So you want to make one? Let me show you how….

Materials needed:

• 1 1/2 yard fabric for pillow
• 1  yard fabric for ruffle
• matching thread
• iron
• heat transfer
• other sewing basics

First you’ll want to start with the ruffle. I cut my strips 6 inches wide. To figure out how long your ruffle will be, you’ll need to x’s the width of your pillow by 4 and then again by 3.  Make sense? So My pillow was 19x19 in. So… 19 x 4(sides) = 76. So then for the ruffle you’ll x’s 76 x 2 (or 3) depending how many ruffles you want.

• 76x3=228 in for lots of ruffles!
• 76x2= 152 in. for less ruffles

I made enough 6 in strips to equal 228 inches. I think it ended up being 4 strips. At this point you’ll sew them all together. Once they’re all sewn you’re going to press them in half with your iron. Then ruffle them with you’re sewing machine. If you don’t have a ruffle foot an easy way to do this is to use heavy duty thread, set your tension as high as it will go and set your stitch length to a seven. It should ruffle on it’s own. Then you can pull one of the threads to create more ruffles. You can also do a zig zag stitch over a piece of string to create ruffles.

I love sewing ruffles!

Next up is the slipcover. My pillow was 19 in x 19 in, so I based my measurement on 20 in so it gave me room for a 1/2 in hem on each side. I cut one piece in a square (20 in x 20 in). Then I cut another piece 20in x 12 in. And the last piece 20 in x 14 in.

We’re creating a slipcover, so we need to make a hem on the 20 in side of the 20x12 and 20x14 pieces. Make sense? I folded it in 1/4 in and pressed.

Then I folded it in another 2 inches and pressed. I wanted to create a thick fold, so if you didn’t want is as think fold it in one inch. Just make sure the end result of one piece is 10 in and the other is 11 in after it’s pressed. That extra inch will give the pillow a little extra room once it’s in the slipcover.

This is what it will look like once the pillow is in. Slipcovers are nice because you can switch them out and WASH them. :)

Now you’ll take your ruffle and pin them (on the right side of the fabric) all the way around, curving it at the corners. Once pinned sew around the entire square.

On the bottom corner you’ll need to remember to sew the ruffled edge together.  There may be a better way to do this, however this is just what I came up with. Please tell me if you know a better way. ;)

Once your ruffles are all sewn on you will pin the remaining two pieces.

Then you’ll sew around the entire pillow, and flip it inside out.  Now comes the fun part… creating your design.

So we all know one of the latest trends is BIRDS! I love them, and I know you probably do too! So I downloaded a branch with bird (for .99 cents!!) and started there. I ungrouped the image and deleted a few of the leaves. I also deleted the bird. He wasn’t floating my boat. Then I added the bird cage and a  few different birds. I usually arrange it how I want it on the page first and then re-arrange it before I print to maximize my space.

Make sure to mirror your image before printing!! That way when you iron it on it will look right.

Also make sure to use your pink cutting blade and set it to a thickness of 28. I tried 30 at first and it ruined my projects. Just trust me and stick to 28. ;)

Images used (.99 cents each… can’t beat that!)

bird_cage_C20091008220031_20509 ( I ungrouped these two and used this bird as well)

1_bird_cage_C00868_20509

bird_on_branch_C00044_23067 ( deleted bird and a few leaves)

Once it’s done printing I usually cut it into pieces and SLOWLY peel away the excess paper. Once it’s all cut, place it on your new pillow case. Put a piece of fabric over your design and iron it on. Let the iron sit on each piece for about 30 seconds. Let the piece cool and then slowly peel away the clear backing.

Then turn your ugly pillow into spring art!!

The ruffles and birds make all the difference!

Hello little love birds!

Happy Spring!

***

Take advantage of the awesome Silhouette deal going on now through Sunday (March 27th). You’ll get: Silhouette SD Machine 2 packages of fabric interfacing White flock heat transfer All for $229 Also you can get the fabric interfacing 25% off! Make sure to use code NAPTIME at checkout to get this deal.

 

(Disclaimer: I was not compensated to write this post, however I did receive the fabric products to review and keep.)