Embroidered Bow Pillows

Back to blogging! I could say that the reason for my lack of posts is because I have been unusually busy. However, it is mostly due to the massive amount of Shiba Inu videos on the internet (Read: I want a puppy). 

If I muster up the motivation to make my room pretty for blog pictures, I can crank out these "Master Bedroom" posts in the next couple weeks. If you have seen my apartment, you'll understand why master bedroom is in quotes. Our apartment is pretty much a glorified studio. 

The story of these pillows starts here. Don't they just look sad? They've been through a lot. Started in my bedroom at home, and then survived 4 years of college dorm life. They were well beyond a good fluffing session. It was time for a transplant. 

Enter: the fabric. Yes, that is a bed-sheet. Long story short – We already had pillow cases in this pattern. I wanted more pillow cases in this pattern. Target was out of the pillow cases, so I bought the twin sheet set. Which came with one pre-made pillow case, and gave me more than enough fabric to make one more and cover these sad throws. The pillow case set was $12.99. I paid $15.99 for the twin set, added a few seams here and there, and got 3 times the use out of it. Suckers. 

I made the actual pillow cases first. Since those were my first priority, and I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric for them. Then I cut the parts for the throw pillows. 

4 - 15"x15" (the front and back of the pillows)

4 - 10"x24" (Bow & Bow Back)

2 - 3"x5" (Middle of bow)

You can see how the bow is formed by taking the 10"x24" (Bow) piece, putting a seam in hot-dog style (you follow?), and then another seam hamburger style (I hope I don't sound crazy). I have [poorly] demonstrated this in the picture below with the piece that has been folded into the bow shape.

Bottom left: You can see how I folded the Bow piece and pinned together the edges, with the wrong-side facing the outside. I then ran it through the sewing machine. Then, I took the tube and flipped it insideout - so the right-side of the fabric was facing out (Bottom right). I pressed it with an iron with the seem in the center on the back. 

I picked out some bright embroidery floss for a pop of color. Then, I got to work on this crossed-blanket stitch. I toiled over this stitch. I ended up having to cut it out of the fabric and start over...three times! Finally, I got the hang of it. This site offers some great instructions on this stitch, and many other stitches (simple and decorative). I definitely plan on referencing it in the future. 

I stitched all of the 'bow' pieces and the 'bow back' pieces. This was a rather lengthy step, but that's what Netflix is for! and it is what makes these bows special.

You can see I have prepped the 'bow' pieces for their next stitch. I folded them in half with the seam from the previous step on the outside. I will then put a seam where I have them pinned below.

The picture below shows the 'bow' piece after I added the seam, flipped the seam to the inside, and pressed it with a iron.

Now, I will poorly demonstrate how this becomes the bow. A for effort Cait.

After folding the fabric into the bow shape, I tied a piece of scrap fabric around the middle to keep the shape. 

I got this bow shape by folding the fabric in half, and adding a fold on either side. 

Next, I took those 3"x5" pieces to make the center of the bow. And I am just realizing now that I don't have any pictures depicting that process. Basically, I used the same process as on the bow. Folding in half, adding a seam, folding in half again, adding a seam. It will leave you with this small tube. 

Then, you stick the whole bow and bow-back through the tube. This is when that little scrap we tied around the bow comes in real handy, as the perfect bow shape doesn't get messed up. I let the bow-back fold organically, jut making sure to keep the trim showing.

I repeated that process with the second bow. You can see that I added a lot of pins. This is to keep everything is place while I sew the bow pieces to the front of the pillow, and the front of the pillow to the back of the pillow. 

I placed the bow piece on the front of the pillow, right in the middle and pinned it in place. I made sure to have the stripes running in the opposite directions.

After I stitched these bad boys into place, I trimmed off the overhang.

After this, I pinned the back of the pillow onto the front, and ran a seam all the way around. I left an opening just large enough to flip it inside out and to insert the stuffing of the pillow. 

I hand sewed shut the small opening. Boom. Done. Bow pillows.

 Okay, maybe not quite done. I did reinforce the bow with some hot glue. Usually, I am 110% against gluing. Because it is usually offered as a short cut, doesn't wear as well, and isn't professional.  However, for this part, I saw it as the best option. I simply added some glue underneath the bow to hold it in the center and keep it from shifting. This will ensure the bow stays exactly where I want it.

Yay, all done. I am in love with these pillows. I like to think they are something you could see at West Elm or Anthropologie. They have the trendiness of the stripes and neon pop of color, but they also have that hand-made feel because of the embroidered detail.

Also, for a little fun, I added ruffles to our regular pillow cases. I'm sure Tom loves that I add ruffles and bows to everything.

I also sewed in a little flap to hug the pillow, so the pillow doest slide out. I did my best to take a picture of this. It didn't turn out that great, but I think it gets the point across.

Okay. I think that's it.

Thanks for tuning in. Laterbug Caiterbug.