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 Create a Floral Arrangement on the Cheap

I love arranging flowers.  They are never perfect, but the process -- perfect relaxation on my day off.  In need of an arrangement I could use through Thanksgiving, I went about the yard looking for some greenery (free!) to mix with $7 worth of flowers I picked up at the market.  I thought you might like to learn how to make a Fall arrangement on a tight budget.

First, the materials.  I cut some evergreen branches off my weeping shrub (don't know the name), some king's gold cypress (mine's more green-gold since it gets no sun), azalea branches, pachysandra, and a bit of catmint.

You can see here I have my mums, some cinnamon scented pine cones (clearance at Michael's right now for $.99), some long cinnamon stick (another clearance for $1.99), and my $20 tin that was reduced to $3.99.  Woo-hoo!!

Step one is always soaking your floral foam in water (at least 10 minutes) to keep everybody in the group drinking.  If I'd remembered to buy it, I would have used florist's tape to keep the foam in place.  Oh, and make sure to line the container so it doesn't leak.  I used foil as I didn't have a plastic liner.

Make sure to put the foam in snug.

An arrangement should have a high, middle and low rhythm, which florists sometimes call the sun, moon, and earth.   To build support for these three elements, you need to start with the greenery.  (I have a floral designer friend, Charlene, who recently told me to work from the greens up -- I had always started with my sun, moon, and earth and filled in around them.  Who knew?  Thanks, Charlene!)

Here, I want a longer, oval arrangement, and I've decided I want it a bit asymmetrical so that it doesn't look too contrived.  I start with my weeping evergreen...

I put the branches in almost horizontal to the container to keep them low and droopy.  I'm also showing you how I propped my container up to make it easier to work with.  Next, I add in the king's gold and the azalea to start to beef things up.

Here's a look from the top-down to give you a sense of what your framework should start to look like...

Adding in some pachysandra and some catmint...

Catmint is very soft and wimpy.  To get a bunch to go into the foam together, I wrap them with some floral tape that is made for this purpose...

 

Make sure as you assemble your arrangement that it looks good from all sides, especially if it's going in the center of your table.  Next, I'm adding my sun, or the height...

As with decorating, remember to use odd numbered elements when you can.  Now, I'll fill in with smaller mums (again, like decorating, vary your scale).  It's important to carry a bit of the color over to the other side, which I did with the red mums.  It provides balance.

For my moon, or mid-height, I'm adding some fresh fruit.  Here, I'm taking a floral stake and putting it in a pear. (I like the freshness and autumn color it provides).

Now for some apples...

The asymmetry continues with cinnamon sticks added on the right...

To add pine cones, I tie them to a stake with floral wire, first wrapping the wire around the stake, then the pine cone to the stake.  Make sure to hide the wire by pulling it in to the center of the pine cone as you wrap around.

The pinecones are added, and wha-la!  The arrangement is done.  Oh, I did add one sprig of orange "lanterns" from Michaels ($1.99) for a little extra height.

So, not all that hard, right?  You can use anything you have in your yard, and hopefully, if you follow this simple construction, you'll have something fresh and great smelling to add to your home, like I did, here...

In my "buffet-scape" I added a background picture of my husband's quaint hometown, as my guests will be from the same area.  Just a little personal touch when Thanksgiving comes...

I hope this inspires you!  If you make your own, please send me a picture and perhaps I'll do a follow-up post!  Email me at SofasandSage@gmail.com

Talk to you soon,

Carol

Creating Inexpensive Artwork

When you can't find what you want for artwork, either because the subject matter isn't readily available or it doesn't fit your budget when you do find it...create it!  It really is pretty easy.  Here's the story behind the super inexpensive artwork I have in my living room...

I have really grown fond of using birds in my own decorating (I know, I know, some people are totally freaked out by the very thought of birds in a house, but I love it.)  Why?  Because when we took our girls on vacation at age 4, they were totally enamored by these little sparrow-like birds that hung around the pool area of our hotel.  Everywhere we went on that vacation, the girls would think the same birds followed them because they saw them everywhere (any place that served food outside, that is). The point?  Having reminders of that sweet time makes me happy.  So I have a few birds in my decor. 

Anyway, I wanted 6 pieces of artwork to flank my sofa, 3 on each side.  This was my inspiration, at $229 a pop -- a little beyond my budget for 6 of them.  (Available here.)

So, being a make-it-yourself-er from way back in the day, I went on a hunt to find a book that would provide me with some "prints" that I could frame.  The heavens parted and a light shone down on this baby, for $3.99 at a discount store, one day when I actually wasn't looking for it.  (Much like love, don't you think -- you find it when you're not looking?)  I digress (again).  Here's the book...

The pages had no copy, save the text notes by Audubon, so they looked very similar to my inspiration.  Next came the sagey-olivey double mats at $5 each from Michael's craft store, along with $5 clearance frames.  Can you say "making mamma's day?"  I love the frames because they are sort of branchy looking, and I thought that added the perfect texture.  They also add balance to the darker wood pieces on the opposite side of the room.

I chose the bird "prints", or pages, which worked the best with my colors.  Here is one of them close up...

Ok, maybe not quite as rich looking as the inspiration, but I'm really happy with the outcome.  When a few changes are made to the living room in the coming months, I'll photograph the whole wall so you can appreciate the symmetry they provide.  (Sorry for the lack of accurate colors in the images in this post today!)

The very best part?  My grand total was a mere $63.99, as compared to $1,374 for my inspiration!  Can't beat that.  Ok, the caveat?  Beautifully executed artwork, be they prints or originals, always trumps an imitation.  But, there's always something for every budget!

What's your best artwork creation?

Oh, and don't forget to check out Window Wednesday this week for the first reader dilemma! (Please feel free to submit your challenges and photos to me any time at SofasandSage@gmail.com).

Talk to you soon,
Carol

One more thing!  Vignette Design is celebrating one year today with a giveaway -- check out her GORGEOUS blog :)!  I also linked today's post to Colour Me Happy -- check that out, too!

Christmas Tree Ideas

On my recent trip to Cary, North Carolina, I was suprised and thrilled to find some gorgeous Christmas trees, ready for me to blog about!  It seems that purple may be the color of the season this year, and I'll start with that.  However, it's all about what you love.  Most of the pictures are from sections of the trees as it's hard to capture a tree in a store without all the other background stuff.  Maybe something will inspire your look this year!

First, some trees and looks from Family Home & Garden...

I loved this candy tree...

All the images below come from Carolina Pottery USA, a wharehouse-type discount store with fantastic accessories for your home.  I was amazed by the number of gorgeous trees they had on display, along with all the available decorations.

 

For a little peace on earth...

So, do you feel inspired and delighted?  I hope so!  Leave a comment and tell me which is your favorite.

Have a great weekend, and,

Talk too you soon,

Carol