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    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

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Eccentric Pillow-making

November 19, 2014

Some year+ after purchasing what the salesperson told me was “the ugliest fabric [she] ever saw,” I figured out the magic recipe for getting things done, and that recipe is a late night peppermint mocha (thx, SB BOGO).

New pillows in the living room.

I bought the fabric in the dirt cheap clearance clear-out, and allow me to segue for a second while I comment on how I always find weird, odd fabrics in that sale section – patterns and textures that I’ve never seen in amongst even the most eccentric clothing-making or quilting fabrics. Where do they come from – some other region of the country? A second quality supplier looking to clear discount inventory? I don’t know, but it ain’t normal. And this fabric is nothing normal, but at the same time, it’s really wonderful.

El cheap fabric that I loved from JoAnn Fabrics.

As sure as I was that I’d never have found this fabric anywhere but the clearance rack, I was obsessed with it right from the get-go because it’s insanely soft like a cashmere sweater (rub-my-face-all-over-it soft), and patterned in a way reminiscent of something a little more exotic, moroccan meets ikat meets aztec or something that I’m not really sure how else to describe. At the time I bought it, we had just painted everything white and bought a fairly neutral gray couch, so adding color in accessories was one thing I had been focused on.

I always intended to make a few pillowcases out of it; I had guesstimated how much I’d need to cover 3 random 16″ square down inserts that had been squashed in a closet, and it turned out to be just enough.

Very colorful pillowcase, late night crafting.

I’ve made pillow cases in the past which have turned out pretty nicely, but I’m neither a seamstress, nor one to be able to teach you exactly how I whipped them together with correct sewing grammar. It involves a bit of trial +  error + the ability to maintain your end vision of the thing as you sew every detail. Also, make the squares a little smaller than you think you need to, and your pillows will automatically be poofy, since they’ll be squashed into their cases. No chopping necessary, thank goodness, because chopping is annoying. I admittedly don’t follow any formal pattern, but I’ve toyed around with adding zippers to pillows enough now that it usually doesn’t turn out too badly. These zippers, actually, were ones that I salvaged from three felt pillowcases I made a few years ago, but later “retired” and disassembled at some point after they got irreversibly matted with dog fur. Short version: No tutorial, but they’re basic pillowcases with recycled zips.

In a room that demands a serious amount of furnishing, a few extra pillows do seem to go a long way. Make anything ugly lately?

They'll always be known as the Ugly pillowcases.

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Decor  / DIY  / Living Room

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

3 Comments


Gina
November 19, 2014 at 6:32 pm
Reply

I LOVE them. I would’ve have smiled very sweetly at her and said that it made me love it even more. And I really do – what an interesting fabric!



Harper
November 20, 2014 at 10:21 am
Reply

They are a great addition. You’ve got a good eye to be able to tell that the fabric on the bolt was going to make great pillow covers. Pillow covers are on my to-do list though I’ve never actually used my sewing machine. I’m hoping they are basic enough that I’ll be able to do it. How much fabric did you use for the covers?

And do tell me more about this SB BOGO!



    Emily
    November 20, 2014 at 10:02 pm

    First of all – oh no, you missed SB BOGO on holiday drinks last week! Very sad, Harper! I have a Gold Card and get emails with different promotions week-to-week and highly recommend the program (psst. I like the promos that offer 3x the stars, and SB runs those from time to time. I don’t drink their coffee often, but I admit to being a total sucker for a the opportunity to nab a few free stars bring me up to more free drinks faster.)

    Secondly – how nice of you! Once you get the hang of your machine you’ll be able to do a lot. And by a lot, you’ll be able to make a lot of pillow covers. It’s pretty much all I use it for these days, though I have much higher ambitions of quilt-making and such… maybe some day when my patience is higher. Anyways, I think my squares were about 15″x15″ with a 1/4″-1/2″ seam from the edge, but, you know what, I wasn’t really measuring closely because we were watching a movie at the same time. I was just guesstimating and trying to evenly chop the fabric I had. Well, I don’t know if that was helpful, but good luck when you get started and holler if you get stuck anywhere in the process!

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    Emily Fazio

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