Shabby Chic Pillows (Simple Sewing)

Shabby Chic Pillows (Simple Sewing)

17 comments

decorating, fabric, flowers, pillows, sewing

Share It:

I made pillows!  I needed to do some simple sewing projects so I whipped up some shabby chic, cottage style pillows with envelope closures. It was like therapy. Why did I need therapy?

This week has been a nightmare!  Ellie got sick and it was ugly, ugly, ugly. She woke up a jillion times during the nights and was crying, clingy, and miserable all day. Poor thing, you're thinking. Poor us is more like it.  Jim and I ended up crying, clingy, and miserable as well. But she has turned a corner and her fever has stayed away.  She is slowly returning to the crazy, sweet-n-sour child that is my Ellie.

I have basically been housebound all week. All week. ALL WEEK!!!!!  So what did I do besides watch Little Einsteins and urge Ellie to blow?  Sew!  I made a bunch of stuff so I'll show you in the next couple of days. I'm on a jag, you could say.

You know that center ruffle on that pillow?  Want to see how I made it so that you don't have to hem the edges or leave them frayed. It's so easy.  My pillows were 16 inches square, by the way.

1. Cut a length of fabric twice as long as you want your finished ruffle and twice as wide as you'd like your finished ruffle.  Mine was 45 inches long and 6 inches wide.

Just in case you thought I was lying.

2. Fold it in half length wise (cut edge to cut edge). Don't press.

 3. Sew your cut sides with a very narrow seam allowance.

4. Turn your tube so that the seam you just sewed is sitting in the middle of the tube instead of the side. How do I explain this better....um, look at the picture I guess.

5. Press it down so the seam is in the middle and you have two nice sharp folds on each side.

6. Turn it over and you're done!  Now you can ruffle it as you normally would. Run a long basting stitch down the middle and pull the bottom thread to achieve the ruffle tightness you need.

Sometimes a fray is a good thing. Sometimes you want your pillows to be more shabby than chic. But sometimes you don't and this is good alternative.

Remember to sew your embellishments, such as the ribbon on the above pillow, before you sew the the front to the back. Then your embellishments will be neatly sewn into the side seams.  You think this is obvious right?  Well, this novice sewer didn't know. Now she does.

So what else is new? Have you sewn anything recently?

Cheers!
Jenny