Today we are talking about these cute houndstooth numbers, and the struggle that was sewing them.
Well, first of all, let's talk fabric. UM...is this not the most perfect fabric ever? (Most of you know of my obsession with houndstooth. Houndstooth everything. Yes. I could make a whole post just about everything I own that is houndstooth. Interested?) I was thrilled to have found it in the remnents bin (surprise surprise) at Hobby Lobby. It matched my bedroom dressers perfectly, so I had to get it. It is a very thick fabric probably from their upholstry section, which didn't make it the easiest to sew. The only bad part about this fabric is that it shed EVERYWHERE. I made these pillows months ago, and I'm still cleaning up green fuzzies.
Why bolsters (neck roll)? Well, a hotel we stayed at a while back had bolster pillows, and I came to really appreciate them. They are perfect to prop your head or arms up to read a book in bed. I wanted to make mine really dense to maximize on the support. Some pillows are too squishy, and you have to use a million of them to sit up comfortably. Also, we had a body pillow that was taking up space. It was too floppy and made our bed look messy even when it was made up nice. And we hardly used it. I mean, there is barely enough room for the both us in our full size bed. The pillow itself was in pretty good shape, even after dorm life, so I felt like I couldn't throw it away. Obviously, I wasn't too attached since I cut it in half for this project. (For those interested: I got the body pillow for $9 at Target about 5 years ago.)
And when I say cut in half. I mean cut. in. half. I kinda felt a little like an explorer when cutting open this pillow. I wasn't sure what undiscovered country I was going to find in there.
I measured to the halfway point (24 inches), and then went for it. Snip. Snip. Snip. I was glad It was filled with this poly-fill roll, so it wasn't too messy.
After I had my two pillows, I took down some more measurements. I had to see how tight of a roll I could get the pillow into. This would determine the diameter of the cylinder, and all my other measurements would be based off of this. The diameter was about 6 inches. Which gave me a circumference of almost 19 inches. So I knew my main cylinder pieces had to be at least 19 inches x 24 inches (the length of one pillow). I was also doing piping on the edges of the pillows. I knew those would have to be at least 19 inches in length to fit around the ends. Yay math! You follow?
Here is a diagram to help. (As you can see, I left plenty of room around the edge of the fabric from where I'd be stitching.)
Nifty little diagrams, huh? Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself.
Because I was making two pillows I needed:
4 - 6 inches circles* - bolster ends
2 - 19x24 inches rectangles* - bolster middles
4 - 19x3 inches strips* - piping
*plus buffer room for sewing
After cutting all my pieces, I got to work on the piping. I got some really thick cording from Jo-Ann's for this piping. I found it in the apparel or wearable art section, where the parachute cording is. Now, I did this the easy way, and just cut strips of the fabric and sewed it around the piping. Ideally, you're supposed to cut the strips on the bias (diagonal) so they have the best movement/flexibility. However, I did not have enough fabric to do this, and I really didn't care that much. Shame on me.
I pinned the fabric around the cording, put on my zipper foot, and sewed a seam right next to cording. Look ma, I made my own piping!
After I sewed the seam, I cut fringe into the remaining fabric about an inch apart (Picture 3). This is to help the piping bend more easily into a circle shape when I pin it around the bolster ends.
Pictures 4-6: I need to remove just about an inch off the the ends of the cording. Because the fabric was so thick, and the cording was big, there was no way my machine was going to handle it well. I only snipped a bit off the ends, where everything met up, so it wasn't quite as thick. And since, I clipped it off from the inside, it still gave and illusion that there was volume.
After that, I sewed the bolster middles. I sewed these with a single stitch at the 19 inch mark, leaving a opening in the middle. The opening (picture 3) is where we will be putting the stuffing in later. I did put a stitch at the 19 mark on either side of the opening, so sewing it shut would be easier and precise.
After I got the piping assembled, and fringed, I pinned it to the bolster ends, and stitched them together. After that I tucked the bolster end inside the end of the bolster middle, and pinned. I tried my best to line up the seam of the bolster middle and where the piping came together on the bolster end.
Then began the not-so-fun task of stitching these two together. So much fabric. Heavy, thick fabric.
And then sometimes we mistakes like this, and we power through. And get back on the horse sewing machine pedal? I blame the fabric.
To get things lined up the best, you want to try to sew directly on top of the stitch you made when you sewed together the piping and bolster end.
Stitch. Stitch. Stitch around the bolster ends. And don't forgot to do both sides!
After that's all done, turn it inside out through the opening in the bolster middle. Now, it's starting to look like something!
Now, for the stuffing. I rolled up the filling as tight as I could, and temporarily fastened it with some cord. Then, I stuffed it inside the case. There is no easy way to do this. It was a long and violent struggle. Eventually, I worked it out and got it all to fit. Before stitching them shut, I pulled out the cord I used to secure the filling.
Then, I did it ALL again for the second pillow. Goodness gracious. I'm breaking a sweat just thinking about it.
They were a little thick in the middle from stuffing the filling in so forcefully. It took some fluffing to get them to a shape I was pleased with.
Even though these are simple looking pillows, this was definitely my most challenging project to date. It was totally worth it, because I am thrilled with the result. They look great on our bed. The color is perfect, and they add some great texture. Also, they are perfect for propping your head up, just as I had hoped.
My favorite part about this project? I only had to pay for the fabric. And since I got it in the remnants bin, it was only about $10. A quick google search can tell you bolster pillows this size are usually $30-$80...each! I love repurposing things I already have. It is fun, cost efficient, and allows me to use my creative energy!
You like those cutsie bow pillows? I did a post all about them recently. Click here to read.
How about that monogram art hanging above our bed? That will be covered in my next post!
Thanks for checking in!
Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and Bloglovin!
Laterbug, Caiterbug.
No comments:
Post a Comment