Stenciled Pillow Cover Part Deux

I finally got around to finishing the pillows that I started here. It's amazing what you can get done when you are procrastinating and putting off actual work.

I left off with the stenciled from square of the pillow. The next step is to cut out two more rectangles of fabric. The width of the rectangles should be the same as the pillow but the length should be about four inches shorter. This will create an overlapping opening that you can stuff the pillow into. Finish the top edge of the two rectangles by folding the edge over 1/4 inch, pressing it, folding down another 1/4 inch and sewing it in place with a straight stitch.

Now lay your stenciled square down in front of your, stenciled side facing up. Line the bottom of one of the rectangle flaps up with the bottom edge of the square. The finished hemmed edge will be on the top and you want the "good" side of the fabric facing down, against the stenciled square. Then lay the second rectangle on the the top of the square, so it overlaps the first rectangle.

Now pin all around the perimeter of the square. Sew a straight stitch around the square. This is why I love this kind of pillow. Not only can you remove the cover and wash it, but you also don't have a weird looking seam that needs to be sewn after you turn the pillow right side out. All of these seams will look clean. After you finish sewing around the edges, use your sewing scissors to clip off the points of fabric on the corners. Make sure you don't get too close to the stitching though. This will help the corners turn inside out.

After this, just turn the pillows covers right side out and stuff the pillows in. Do this carefully. I ripped one of my stitches when I tried to stuff one of the cases. So I ended up going back to the sewing machine and sewing back and forth over the little sections where the flaps overlapped. This reinforced it much better. Here are some pictures of the finished products:

So far, I like the look. I think the white breaks up the blah of the all-beige couch. And the pattern of the stencil works with the Target pillows. Tada!

Mandatory Introductions

I hate introductions, so here is what this bloggity blog will entail:

Arts and Crafts

I have been an arts and crafts junky since I first discovered pipe cleaners. I’m one of those people who looks at something in a store and thinks, “Twenty dollars for a throw pillow?! I could make this!” I’ll share my crafty successes and failures as well as some how-to tips.

Home Improvement/Design

My husband and I bought our first house about eight months ago and it’s still so exciting. I’d love to tell you that it’s a cute little cottage and that we have eco-friendly bamboo floors as well as rustic details left from the generations of people who have lived in it. But alas, it’s a two story townhouse in a planned community with a bunch of young families and yuppies. What makes it even sadder is that it is built on the top of a giant hill in a historic town that was ravaged by floods and never quite revived. So all the townspeople look up at us in disgust. They fought the development for years. But I don’t care. I have lived four different apartments in the last five years, so I was ready for walls that I could paint. My DIY attitude makes me believe that I can tackle any home improvement project. Sometimes they work.

Random

It’s inevitable that some of my daily life will creep into this blog. I’ll try to keep the “Dear Diary” entries to a minimum, but this is mainly for me to keep track of my life.

My Career

Not sure how much I’m going to delve into this topic. It would probably be boring to most readers. I quit my job as an accountant about a year and a half ago and have been trying to make it as a freelance writer. I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near there, but I have big dreams. And I’m making some progress. So I’ll probably use this space to gloat when I get new gigs or new articles published. That shit doesn’t fly on Facebook, but this place is all about ME.

Fitness

I’m trying to get in shape and just become generally stronger. Why should you care? Because looking at my progress will probably make you feel better about yourself. I was always the girl picked last in gym class. No, really. It always came down to me and the morbidly obese kid that smelled like hot dogs. And they always picked the fat kid first because he could at least come in handy defensively. I was the skinny, quiet shy kid until college, when I miraculously became the outgoing, newly formed beer gut kid. I blame most of this transgression on my boyfriend (now husband) and PBR Light. I hate working out and I hate the gym, so you should be able to get a few laughs out of my pathetic attempts.