I Made it Monday
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Removable St. Patrick's Throw Pillow Covers
First of all, I must say, these pillow covers were inspired by a cute kids craft project that I pinned some time ago, http://www.funonadime.net/cute-st-patricks-day-home-decor-craft-guest-post/. The black and white stripes and the green contrast really caught me eye and I thought they would make for cute pillows.
Both the black and white canopy stripe fabric and the green denim fabric that I used came from Fabric.com. Sometimes I can get a little worked up about ordering fabric online. Call me crazy, but I really like to touch and feel my fabric. Unfortunately, I just wasn't finding what I wanted locally so I had to order it. I wish I could tell you just how wonderfully lucky I was. Both fabrics turned out to be exactly what I hoped they would.
A few weeks ago I shared how I make removable throw pillow covers. This week I'm riding along the pillow wave and sharing my St.Patrick's throw pillow covers. I told you, I like pillows, and I like decorating for the seasons and holidays. Please try not to be shocked, like my husband was, that I like making pillows for the seasons and holidays. It is deep within me. No amount of shame or over decorating judgement will take it away.
Now, if this tutorial seems familiar it's because it is. There are only a few extra steps involved to add the shamrock applique. If you weren't scared by the original then don't let this one scare you.
Supplies
- Pillow forms. I got mine at IKEA for $3.99 each.
- 1 ½ yards of 54” home décor fabric of choice to make 2 twenty inch square pillow covers.
- Basic sewing supplies, machine, needle, thread, scissors, iron, ruler, you know, the basics.
- Fabric for your applique of choice. This is really going to depend on what size you are making your applique. If you're following along as close as possible you'll need about 3/8 yd. If your fabric shop will cut fat quarters you could get by with 1 fat quarter instead.
- Heat n Bond Lite Iron On Sewable Adhesive. This can usually be found near the notions aisle with the other stabilizers.
Measure pillows. Mine were labeled 20” x 20” but they were really more like 19 ½” x 19 ½”.
Determine your width and length and cut your fabric. I suggest using the same width measurement as your pillow. I know what you’re thinking, “There’s no seam allowance. It won’t fit.” But it will. It will fit snug and your pillow will look full and plump, not half empty and limp. For the length you are going to double the length of the pillow and add 8”. For me this means my fabric will need to be 19 ½” x 47” (19 ½ + 19 ½ + 8).
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| For large cuts of fabric I find that it is often easier to fold the fabric in half then cut it. Just be sure to think about the orientation of the pattern of the fabric. |
Now you should have a rectangle of fabric. On the short ends you will need to fold over 3/8”, iron, then fold it over itself, and iron it again. After you have ironed both ends go ahead and sew the seam down on each end.
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| Fold over 3/8", fold over again, and iron. |
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| Sew your seam. I used the side of the presser foot as a guide. |
This is where things take a slight detour from the original tutorial.
Now it's time to deal with the applique. For my shamrock I simply Googled shamrock clip art line drawing, looked around a little, and selected one. If you click on the image it will take you to a Google Doc I have hosted where you can download from there.
When I printed it a few of the petals/leaves (what are they anyway?) were cut off. I cut out the shamrock as it was then taped a little extra paper to the cut off edges, drew them in, then cut out the rest of the edges to complete the shamrock. I wanted it to be essentially the size of a full piece of paper. Mine ended up being around 11" x 10".
Next comes the Heat n Bond Lite (HNBL) and your shamrock fabric. I think of HNBL as paper fabric glue. I know that's not really what it is but that's how it starts, as paper, and ends, as glue, so it's paper fabric glue to me. In the interest of staying on topic, and not making this tutorial 18 pages long, I'll just say follow the directions on the package for the proper use of HNBL. You'll want to adhere it to the shamrock fabric first, cut out your shamrock, then adhere the shamrock to the pillow fabric.
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| Unfortunately I failed to get a picture of the back side with the HNBL attached. Just be sure to follow the directions on the package and you'll be fine. |
When your shamrock is ready to be placed lay the pillow fabric rectangle out and find the center vertically and horizontally. I folded the fabric over vertically, ran my finger on the fold to make a crease, unfolded the fabric, then folded it horizontally, ran my finger on the fold to make a crease, and unfolded it again. This gave me an x/y axis and the center. I used painter's tape to help mark the center so it wouldn't get lost in the stripes of my fabric.
I placed my shamrock in the center trying to keep it even on all sides. Since I was making two pillows I wanted them to be as close to the same as possible. You could always rotate the shamrock or even put it off to the side. Have fun playing with the look. They are your pillows after all. Once you have the shamrock where you want it you'll need to do something to keep it in place so you can move it to your ironing board. I used painter's tape again. You could also pin it down. Iron the top of the shamrock in place really well. I know the HNBL directions say a silk setting but I didn't feel like this was working so I bumped the temp on my iron up a little. You want to be really sure to iron well around all of the edges.
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| I used painter's tape to help hold it in place while I moved over to the ironing board. |
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| Iron and iron well. Iron some more. Did I mention that you really have to iron it? |
This next step is optional. I can understand why you might not want to do it but I highly suggest it. If you're not going to do this then please iron the shamrock down some more. And maybe even some more after that. You don't want it to start to peel up.
I sewed a simple line around the edge of the shamrock to help it stay adhered. If the thought of all of those curves and turns scares you try this ... don't look at the needle. If you're watching where the needle is going you can't be watching what is coming so you're probably sewing to close or turning to sharp or backing up a lot. Instead of watching the needle, try watching just outside of it. My standard presser foot has three red lines. I keep my needle set to center and watch the far right line. If I keep the right line of the presser foot lined up with the edge of the fabric I can sew a fairly neat little edge stitch. Since I'm not watching the needle and am watching the guide line I'm looking just ahead and can anticipate curves and edges. For the "v" part of the curves I sewed two straight stitches across then continued into the next turn. Hopefully the pictures help explain it a little better.
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| See how the edge of the fabric is lined up with the red line to the right? I only glance occasionally at the needle and focus most of my attention at keeping the red line in line with the edge of the fabric. |
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| If you look at the "v" of the curves you can see where I stitched two straight stitches then continued back with the curve. |
Once your shamrock is secure it's time to fold the fabric to form the actual pillow case. With your fabric right side up, lay it out on a flat surface. I found the center of the long length and marked mine with painter's tape again. Since I knew that my pillow cover needed to be 19 1/2" long when finished I decided to go with some simple math this time to find out how much to fold each side in. This ensured that my shamrock was going to be in the middle of my finished product. I divided my desired length, 19 1/2", by 2, which equaled 9 3/4". This meant that I needed to fold up my fabric from each side until I had 9 3/4" on each side of center. If you're not so worried about your shamrock being in the middle or think you want to eye it, go for it! I'm not going to stop you. Once you have your sides adjusted, pin them together, then sew the side seams.
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| Are you starting to see the magic of painter's tape? |
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| I folded each side so that the length on each side of center was 9 3/4" then checked to make sure that I had the desired 19 1/2". |
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| Yes, that's not the same fabric. I failed to take a picture of the pinned and ready to sew stripes. Thankfully I had this from the last tutorial. This is what it will look like when you're ready to sew the side seams. |
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| Sew your side seams with an approximately 5/8 inch seam. |
You're almost there. Next, trim the corners of your seams to allow for easy turning, then turn the pillow cover right side out. I like to use the tip of a small paint brush to push out the corners. Give a quick press with your iron then turn your pillow cover, stuff your pillow form inside, and fluff. That’s it. You’re finished!
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| Trim the corners for easy turning. |
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| This is what the back looks like. |
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| Don't you love them? |
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| And finally, the obligatory outside, on a dining room chair, in the bright Florida sun picture. |
Do you decorate for St.Patrick's? How about cook for it? I haven't got into that yet but if you have a good recipe feel free to share it. I'm always up for something new.
Be sure to follow me on Pinterest, as well as Facebook, and find my designs at Applique Time. Check back next week to see my next I Made it Monday post.
Regards,
Bridgette
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