Family Room Pillow Project

It’s been a looooonnnnng time, but I’m still working on the family room. This project is taking longer than I expected. My goal si to have it ready by Christmas.  I’m having a difficult time finding the right size and color bamboo blinds at a reasonable price, but I have moved forward on accessorizing.  I have to do something.

For starters, I made these pillows for my sofa.  I think the 24×24 size looks a little more professional and it feels like they’re hugging you when you sit down.  I’ve been looking for the right fabric for a couple of months.  Well, we went to Grand Rapids, Michigan last month for a softball tournament.  While my husband coach an all day tournament, my son and I explored the town. Especially since I’ve never been there.  This time I took my son to see Sesame Street Live and on the way back to the tournament, I noticed this fabric store Fields Fabric,.  The windows was filled with neon signs, so I had to see what was going on.

I found this fabric and others for $12 per yard.  I wanted to take my time and look, but my son was with me and he was getting restless.  I grabbed two yards and hesitantly walked out the door.

Well back to the pillow project.  I wanted to make a pillow I could wash because this sofa is used all the time, so I decided to make a cover with a zipper.  Ok, this is the first time I sewed a zipper onto a pillow, and it was a little difficult because I did not have a zipper foot for my machine.  A zipper foot is highly recommended.

 

I line up my fabric with the desired pattern in the center.  The size pillow is 24×24″ and I added a half inch seam allowance to all sides.

Then I used chalk and my ruler to make a cutting line because I can not cut straight to save my life.

 

With two pieces right side facing each other, I stitched two inches on both ends of the bottom of the pillow.  This is where your zipper will go.  Fold the seams down and iron flat.  This will make is easier to align your zipper.

 

Place the zipper in the opening face down and secure with painter’s tape.  Ok, I know this looks crazy, but the tape holds the zipper in place and the needle perforate the tape when sewing.  This makes it easy to remove.  Place your foot as close to the zipper as possible, again this is tricky without a zipper foot and stitch the zipper in place. Please make sure you unzip the zipper before you stitch the other sides. After sewing the entire pillow cover, turn right side out and insert pillow form.