Fringetastic

On a whim, and because I desperately needed to do something that was for ME since I've been so busy sewing/reupholstering for everyone else, I decided to get the sewing machine BACK out of the closet and make a pillow for our bedroom. (poor sewing machine only saw the closet for about 16 hours, so don't feel too bad for it)

I waffled a bit on whether I wanted to reuse the 20" fills that I had to rip the seams of pillows I had custom made before the dawn of my machine or to use the 16x24" fills I got last weekend at IKEA that were "supposed" to be for our armchairs in the living room.

At some point I decided I wanted to reuse the fringe trim on the original pillows. I think seeing how it was sewn in originally made the whole process a little less scary to try. And then I guess I thought I didn't have enough of the cream fabric I wanted to use to make the 20x20" - I actually thought wrong - but decided to make the 16x24 and the measurement on the trim would work perfectly.

the original pillow made for our guest bedroom at the dream house

Or so I thought - I think I didn't stretch it enough as I went, and truthfully, some of the fringe fell off when it's stitching came a bit undone - but I ended up having to borrow fringe from the other pillow and now I'm to making just one pillow. That's fine. I wanted to be done by the time my parents dropped pepito off anyhow. Easy cheesey.

And now for my first pseudo how to. I think I took enough pictures - well I forgot the ones of just the fabric pieces.. oh well - those would be boring pictures anyhow.

For a 16x24 pillows I cut one piece at 16x24 and one at 16x 28. (the finished pillows hold their shape and fluff better if the cover is just a touch smaller) I want about a 3" overlap in the back. Then I cut the 28" piece in half. Fold over 1/2" and straight stitch on both 16x14" pieces. You could do a double fold hem - but I'm lazy and this particular fabric wasn't laying flat after pressing.

Then - pin the trim on the right side of the fabric with the fringe towards the middle. Sew all the around about 1/4" in - or where the stitching on the trim is. You don't want any of the loop stitch parts showing - so keep it close. I used an upholstery needle - it seems to handle the thicker things better.

Next up - pin one of your shorter 16x14 pieces, right side down, and sew its three sides. Repeat with other short piece. Cut the corners diagonally but don't hit the trim - it may not matter - but I imagined a huge fringe flying disaster. My corners turned out just fine just trimming the fabric a bit.

Turn inside out, stuff in the fill, fluff and you're done. I forgot to iron the seams, and it may have been relatively difficult with the trim sewn in, but it doesn't seem to matter with the finished product.

please ignore the lack of shams - Target has been out -

they must be psychic for more people than just us.

I was formerly terrified of sewing trim. Avoided like the plague, even though several pillows I've made would be more adorable with some kind of fun edge. Turns out it is super easy and I had absolutely no reason to be scared of it. So jump in and have fun - worst case scenario - you have to rip the seams and start over. And seriously, I don't think I've sewn anything to date that I haven't had to rip atleast a little bit. It's not so bad...

OK - Moral of the story - I am tickled pink with how the pillow turned out and proud of myself for conquering something that "scared" me.