How a Picture Frame Pillow is Made

A picture frame pillow?  Yea, you know, when the center of a pillow is "framed" by fabric, like this baby, which will go in the shop right after this post...

Check out 6 Wilson for all my pillows!

I combined the linen F. Schumacher center, with wool crewel, and a super heavyweight Highland Court light gray linen for this one.  I thought you might like to see what goes into making a quality, professional pillow.

So here it goes, in a picture-story...

sorry about the weird lighting -- it was under the light of the ironing board in my work space

So, that's how a custom, picture-frame pillow is made.  It takes a ton of time (and I know how to do it.  Back in the day, well, let's just say it took two tons of time).  Just sayin.

Please visit this new guy, and all his pillow friends, at 6 Wilson on Etsy.  I'm sure he'd like the attention!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

How to Turn a Gummy Bear into a Reindeer

Maybe necessity is the mother of invention, or maybe it's just the creative mind at play.  Whichever, my daughter Sam claims to have invented the gummy reindeer (though her sister will argue that fact.  Ah, twins...).

At the annual Gingerbread House extravaganza, Sam showed me the way to creating this lovely creature...

When I told here I was going to post her reindeer tonight, she offered to sketch some instructions...

Truth be told, Sam bites the head off, licks it, and sticks it on the reindeer's shoulders.  Not to worry, no one else but her will eat it.  If you prefer the more refined method, you can attach the head with a smidge of frosting. :)

I have to say,  I found this to be a pretty darn clever way to  get a herd of reindeer to hang outside a gingerbread house!

(See the red guy in the center?  Gummy Bears make decent Santas, too.)

It was pretty cool that my niece was able to skype in for the afternoon and do her own house at the same time.  Traditions live on in new ways.

Enjoy the rest of the week,
Carol

How To: Knife-Edge Pillow with Mitered Trim, Part II

In Part I, here, I showed you how to make a knife-edge pillow.  Knife-edge corners take the homemade look out of your pillows, by taking away the "dog ears" that happen when you sew a pillow in a perfect square.  Amazingly, sewing a perfect square does not give you a square pillow. 

Moving on to more fun stuff -- learning the skill of making mitered corners on trim.  Once you learn how to do this, you can use it in a hundred applications, from pillows to banding on drapes, and more. I figured this out myself as I am a bit obsessive when it comes to teaching myself how to make things, and I don't quit until I've figured out the best way for me to do something.  I hope you benefit from it.. If you are a novice sewer, try this with non-slippery trims and fabrics; it will save you a lot of aggravation (in other words, don't use velvet or silk).

On my 19" pillow, I wanted the box I was creating with the trim to be very visible on the front, so I attached it 3" in from the straight edge, which, with a 1/2" seam all around when the front is sewn to the back, makes the finished trim 2 1/2" in on all four sides.  There is no rule to how close to the edge you put your trim, or how close to the center you choose to put it -- that's the creative fun part!

Remember, before you start, attaching the trim comes before sewing the front to the back :).  Once the trim is applied, that's when you can assemble the pillow itself.



Supplies Needed:

Pillow front and back
Scissors
Long pins
Small ruler
Needle
Trim

1.  Lay your trim out from left to right.  Work with all your trim in one long strip  Do not cut it.  Place the trim 3" in along the straight section of  one side of the pillow front (remember, the entire length of the sides are not straight since we trimmed them in Part I).  As you lay it out, put a few pins in as I have, in that direction.  The beginning edge of the first section should be 3 1/2" inches in  from the corners when you measure with a ruler at a 45 degree angle.

2.   End the first strip by pinning the top of the trim to the fabric at the 3 1/2" point from the corner.  Now,  to make sure your mitered trim will be placed correctly and make a nice miter, fold the trim back on itself,  going left back towards the start of the trim.  This is how you are going to double check that you have the correct length of trim for the first strip and that your second strip will be 3" in down the next side.  Gently finger-press a vertical fold.

3.  Take the trim and bring it back on itself to the right and bring it down the next side,  forming the corner crease at a 45 degree angle.

4.  Double check your measurements, 3" in on the next side and 3 1/2" at the corner.  You have to do this to the second strip before you sew down the first strip so that you can achieve as perfect a square as possible.  When you are confident that your corner is placed properly, insert a pin on the bottom edge of the trim at the miter (where I put the yellow pin in the second image below).

5. With the pins in place on the first strip, start sewing on the top (the edge closest to the side of the pillow) about  a 1/2" in from the beginning edge (to allow for some adjustments, if necessary, when that raw edge becomes the final corner).  Sew the trim down close to it's edge, in a place that makes sense with the pattern of the trim.  Stop about 1/4" or less from the top pin and back stitch to secure.

6.  Do the same again on the bottom of the trim (the edge closest to the middle of the pillow).  Stitch right up to the yellow pin. Back stitch to secure.

7.  To make the first mitered corner, again fold the tape back on itself.  You will unfold it back to the right and down, just as you did in step 4 to make the corner. (I left the threads long from the stitches to show you where the stitching is, and on the lower left, the thread shows you where the inside edge of the new mitered corner will be.)

8.  Take a warm iron and press that corner down.  Make sure that the outer right side of the corner is parallel to the edge of the fabric.

9.  Once again, fold the trim back on itself, and you will see that the pressed crease is now the seam line guide for the miter.  (Fun, huh?)

 10.  If it's easier for you to see, draw over that crease with a colored pencil (be careful not to use something that will bleed through).  Stitch along the line, back stitching at the start and the end to secure.

11.  Pull the trim back and trim along the seam within 1/4".  This will help your corner lie flat.

12.  Press down the new mitered corner.  Congratulations!  Your first corner is done!

13.  Line up this new trim side 3" in from the side and pin down.  Repeat steps 2 - 4.

14.  After you have pinned down the second strip and you are ready to stitch it down, begin the stitching on the top of the trim before the first corner and continue down to the pins you've placed at the end of the second strip.  This is how you secure that corner.  Do the same on the bottom side of the trim.

15.  Repeat steps 2-4 again, and then complete the third strip.  When you get to the point where you have pressed down the third corner and you are ready to make the fourth strip to complete the square, lay the fourth  trim strip down along the last side, letting the trim overlap the beginning strip.  Cut the trim about 3 inches past that overlap.  This will leave you enough trim to complete the last corner.  Stitch the top and the bottom edges of the trim, ending both of them at the same points right to the edge of the original strip (I think you can see this pretty well in image 16).

16.  To make the fourth corner, take the remaining loose trim in your right hand, and fold the end of the fourth strip as below, making a 45 degree angle, and having the wrong side of the trim facing up at you hanging out to the right of the corner.  Press in place.  Trim the excess that's hanging off  to the right about 1/2" from the pressed edge as you did in step 11.  Machine stich around the top and the bottom of the corner.

As there is no mitered seam on this one, after you have machine stitched around the corner as in step 14, use a hand slip-stitch to sew down the seam of that miter.

17.  After a bit of work and a job well done, you are finished!  All you have to do is sew your pillow together and sit back and admire your work!

 

 I hope you can follow these directions!  While fabricating things is a strong point for me, teaching by written description is not.  Hopefully, you can make enough sense out of these steps to make it work for you.  Making mitered corners like this is not easy, so give it some patience and practice.  You'll be so happy that you did.

If you give this a go and get stuck, please send me an email at SofasandSage@gmail.com and I'll do my best to help.  If you have a question that you think others will benefit from, please post it in the comments and I will respond.

Good luck and happy sewing.

Talk to you soon,

Carol

PS  Carla at Design in the Woods has a fantastic post on pillows today.  Check it out!  And thanks, Carla, for mentioning Sofas & Sage :)

How To: Knife Edge Pillow with Trim Part I

Wanting to "spring up" my living room while it is in transition, I decided to make some new, bright pillows for the sofa.  So, here's my tutorial on making knife-edge pillows (I have a thing about dog-eared pillows, where the corners are very exaggerated -- don't like them!).  Here's the finished pillow...

I haven't sewn the bottom seam yet, so that's why it's a bit rumply.  I only have so much time in my house for good lighting without using a flash, and the clock was ticking. :)

Supplies Needed:

Pillow insert (I always use down-blend)
Two fabric squares, cut the same size as the pillow insert
pencil
ruler
fabric scissors



1.  Always trim off the selvage edge to avoid any chance of puckering, especially if you have your covers dry cleaned in the future.

2.  My inserts are 20", so to get a plump pillow in the end, I cut my front and back exactly 20", to give me a 19" finished product.  Always decide what you want the finished size to be, then purchase larger inserts.
(The angle of this shot is weird -- it really is a square).

3.  To eliminate dog ears, first, carefully fold the front in fours.

4.  Now, fold your square in four, to make another square.  Mark the halfway point on the two sides that are not part of the fold.

5.  At the corner between the two marked points, measure in and mark the 1/2" point.

6.  Using a ruler, connect the dots.

7.  Cut along the lines.  When you open up the square, you'll see that the corners now angle down.  This is what helps to soften the corners of your pillow.

8.  To sew the front and back together, put right sides together, and pin along the edges.  Leave an opening on one side, set in from the corners, so that all corners are machine-sewn.  Your seams should be a consistent 1/2".

9.  After sewing the side seams, clip across each corner and turn right-side out.  Stuff with the insert, and slip stitch the opening closed. (I normally insert a zipper, but time was of the essence today!)

So,  there it sits, waiting for its mate...

Truth be told, I don't ever mark my pillows like this anymore, as I've been making them for years.  I just eyeball it, and actually come further in from the edge than 1/2", I think.  I memorized these instructions from a Singer sewing book years ago.  It's a place for you to start and tweak to find what works best for you.

Part II of this tutorial will be the mitered-edge box trim on the face of the pillow.  Once you know how to do this, you can create great things!

Hope you find this useful.  If you try it, let me know!

Talk to you soon,
Carol