We Have Throw Pillows!

Happy Friday, friends! It’s the end of a highly unproductive week for this girl: with the three of us at home in between summer camps, dog sitting a pup we absolutely adore (and have a hard time keeping our hands off of), and temperatures high enough to fry eggs on the driveway, working through my to-do list this week has been an exercise in futility. But that’s okay. With all the fun we’ve been having, it’s a miracle I managed to get anything done. But there’s one thing I did get to do, and it is a big one for me – a chore that has been on my list for months now… Is it entirely wrong that I want to brag about it? 🙂

Remember these fabrics I showed you a few weeks ago, fabrics I was considering for throw pillows and an old chair upholstery project?

Well, while the upholstery project is on hold due to my indecision, I did manage to sneak in a few hours of sewing in the mornings, and the throw pillows are finally done. They are not perfect or anything, but they are exactly what I had in mind for this room. Sewing has been a very relaxing hobby of mine for a couple of years now. I am not very good at it but I do have relatively low standards when it comes to the outcome, and that has definitely helped. I’m getting better though and sewing these pillows has forced me to learn a couple of new tricks I wanna share with all of you ladies (and gents) who occasionally like to break out the sewing machine. I didn’t know them so maybe there’s a chance some of you don’t know these either.

1) Prewash your fabric. Very important.  With most items you’re going to wash on a regular basis, like throw pillow covers, it is best to prewash your fabric multiple times before cutting. Twice at least, three times if you want to be safe, more if you’re superstitious. Washing fabric is necessary because the process of washing and drying tightens the fibers and moves  the grain around quite a bit. So, for instance, you can start with a yard and end up after washing with just enough to make a handkerchief. Each fabric behaves differently so, if you want to avoid a nasty surprise the first time you throw that beautiful pillow cover in the washer, make sure to wash the fabric a couple of times before cutting and sewing.

2) Straighten the fabric grain. After pre-washing, a good steam and ironing will relax the fibers but you might notice that the grain is no longer in place. This Youtube video is a great source of tips on how to straighten the fabric grains after pre-washing. 

3) And last, my favorite new discovery – finishing the raw edges of your pillow cover. For the longest time I thought this can only be done with a serger – and if you’ve ever seen one in JoAnn, you know how intimidating they can look (especially to amateurs like me), but then my mom suggested a zigzag stitch to finish the raw edges of my pillow covers and it works. What this does is it keeps the fabric from unraveling so all your hard work won’t be undone the minute you put a pillow cover in the washer. 

Another thing to note: to get a good fit and a throw pillow that feels soft, yet plump, I have found that inserts must be slightly larger than the actual pillow cover; for these pillows chose 22” x 22” inserts and cut the fabric into 20” squares. After leaving 1/2” seam allowances, the finished pillow covers were 19” x 19” and by using the larger 22″x22″ inserts, I got a super plump-looking pillow that still feels great when you lean against it. I found these inserts on Amazon, ordered four and they have been great. They come in a bunch of different sizes, too.

Anyway, that’s enough sewing wisdom for a Friday afternoon! Please do let us know if you love sewing, or are intimidated by it. And if you happen to know any tips or tricks for making professional-looking pillow covers, please do share them with the rest of us. Thanks!

You can read all about our family room makeover HERE, HERE and HERE.

Happy weekend!