Thursday, January 2, 2014

Felt Throw Pillows


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My future sister-in-law Julia has a new apartment and I had her for our family secret Santa this year. She had been telling me about her decorating theme at Thanksgiving and I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her; throw pillows! Throw pillows are not cheap to buy – even at Homegoods or Marshalls they will run $20 – $40 for one. Making them only cost me about $5 per pillow, if that. After making these pillows for Julia, I’m a little jealous… I need to make some for my couch!

What you need: (for 4 throw pillows)
2.5 yards of felt – look for a stiff but soft one, you don’t want it to be scratchy
2 yards of muslin
1 bag of polyfill
4 zippers 12”
The Usual Suspects: sewing machine, thread, scissors

1. Start by making your filler pillows – you can skip this step if you just want to make the felt pillow covers.

Using the muslin, cut 16x16” squares and sew all four sides together, leaving a small opening (6 inches is good). Turn pillow right side out. Stuff with polyfill until desired firmness is reached. Topstitch opening closed.

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2. Pillow cover time! Start by cutting 8 18x18” squares for 4 pillows.

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3. Add a zipper. Take one of your 2 felt squares and cut 4 inches off the top.
Top stitch zipper onto the big half of your cut square, using a zipper foot.

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Take your 4” strip and overlap the zipper by 1”. Flip the square over, pin your zipper into place and stitch

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4. Top stitch your 2 squares together, leaving a 2 inch seam from the edge (for frills!). If your 2 squares are not the same size (because you added a zipper to one), you can trim them to match. I just left them as is and you can hardly tell once they are done.

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5. Stuff your filler pillow into your felt pillow cover.

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These pillow covers look so cute and they’re so easy to make. Let me know how yours turn out!

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Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Bridget XOXO

5 comments:

  1. Hi Bridget, saw this at the Pinworthy Projects party. What a great idea to use felt for pillow covers. I love that you don't have to finish the edges and the final cover still looks great. Thanks for sharing :)

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  2. Your pillow looks very professional, love the style you made.I love how you put the seam around inside more to leave a ruffle like. You must be a good sewer to know how to make your pillow cover. Glad you shared this, I'm going to pin.
    I tend to reuse pillow forms I have and change my pillow covers as I tire of them or for a season or holiday. Love making pillow covers, I usually make mine with an envelope closure in back. You are much more ambitious than me. I avoid zippers like the plaque, lol I used to put zippers in clothes but haven't done that in years, too lazy. Rarely make clothes, just pillow covers, table runners,curtains things like that for my home. Happy new year

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    Replies
    1. To be honest, it took me forever to get the guts to start using zippers! This is my first time making a pillow cover that is not an envelope closure... I was surprised at how well it turned out! Envelope closures are my go-to for a quick room booster.
      I want to start making table runners soon! Thanks for checking out my post, Happy New Year!

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  3. I love that simple and easy DIY feat! Throw pillows have never been so accessible, now that you've shared that with us. I've never really thought of using felt, though. How are they faring on your living room now, anyway? I really hope to see more creations like that from you! Thanks for sharing that! Kudos and all the best! :)

    Melissa Robinson @ Pillow Perfect

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