Sunday, February 13, 2011

Easy Throw Pillows

Easy Indoor/Outdoor fabric Turqoiuse Pillows

My son is sick again.  Once I was sure that I was going to be in the house for a few days, I launched into 2 new projects: easy throw pillows and recovering/reupholstering our ottoman.  Thank goodness I stopped by U-Fab on Friday and purchased indoor/outdoor turquoise fabric for two throw pillows, a funky yellow floral print with a bird on it for another piped throw pillow and fabric to recover my ottoman!  (BTW, U-Fab's selection is far more extensive than what is presented as its "Feature Fabrics."

Here is how I made this a thrifty DIY project.  I was browsing Target--always a dangerous venture--on Friday morning and found their bargain bin with 2 pillows for $10.  Pillow inserts from somewhere like Joann's are pricey.  I've found--if you don't have old throw pillows at home that you'd like to recover--buying pillows on the discount rack somewhere like Target, Marshall's or Walmart is the way to go.
Here are my not-so-pretty pillows:

First, I measured my pillows.  They were 18 inches x 18 inches.  I added 1 inch to each measurement for my seams (this is called the "seam allowance.")  So, I cut two squares of fabric 19 inches x 19 inches.

Next I pinned the right sides together and sewed 1/2 inch all the way around the pillow but on the fourth side, I left about 4-5 inches that I did not sew.  Don't do this on a corner.  Leave the un-sewn part smack in the middle of one of the sides.


Next, clip the edges of your pillow.  If you want your pillows corners to be square, you'll need to do this before turning the pillows right side out.

Turn the pillows right side out.  Then take a pencil and stick it inside of the pillow and push the corners out so they are square.

Stuff your pillow into the opening.  This may take some time and patience, but believe me, you can get a big pillow into a small opening if you work at it!

Finally stitch the un-sewn section closed.



Voila!  Your very own throw pillows.  Depending on your DIY abilities, you should be able to do this in under an hour.  I also made the yellow bird pillow, but forgot to take pictures--sorry!

xo-
Carson

7 comments:

Brooke said...

Love this tutorial, I am posting a link on my blog to yours! Thanks!

Westhampton DIY said...

Thanks Brooke! BTW, I really like your blog!--Carson

the*P*queen said...

Wow, you made the yellow one, too? Would have loved a tutorial for that, with the piping.....also, whe sewing the last little opening shut, how do you get it not to show?

Westhampton DIY said...

Yes, made the yellow one too:-) I dislike making piping--I'm not very good at it--and didn't want to create a tutorial! Here's a You tube video that I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cy82Ga64Ys

I hand stitched the blue pillows closed. It shows a little bit, but I bought thread that matched the color of the pillow. Another option is to do what I did for the yellow pillow which is called an envelope cover. Here's a tutorial on that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhZnHhbcN-Q

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bryen mattew said...

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