Pillow Talk

I have been on a pillow making spree, I tell ya.

It all started, really, with receiving Stacey's pillow that I showed you here. It looked lonely on my couch. Then, Sew Mama Sew is having their pillow contest, there's the blogger's pillow party on Stitched in Color...and I gave in to my impulses.  What can I say?  With all the sickness going around our home, sewing helps me feel better.



Each pillow has a zipper closure, based on Creative Little Daisy's tutorial on Sew Mama Sew.   I love that the flap can be matching or contrasting.

The first pillow I completed was based on Jessica's tutorial.  I loved this pillow when first saw it featured on UCreate.  I've wanted to make one ever since. 

The only big change is that I used Jessica's other method of making small appliques here, rather than satin stitching the leaves on.  The backing is a used dryer sheet. 

The back is a brown print I've had in my stash for a while. 

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Second pillow I made was based on Vanessa's tutorial.

I used my finished edge heart tutorial for the opening.   The fabric is some of the scraps left of my beloved Savon Bouquet fabric.

Here's a little photo essay of how it came together...and how I screwed up!  I first sewed the whole thing up, and turned it out just to realize I'd put the wrong sides together.  Thank goodness I have a really great seam ripper.

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Once warmed up with those two pillows, I really had fun.  We now have a separate living room, which I love.  It needed some accessories, and pillows were a perfect start.  I  made two coordinating bolster pillows. 


The first pillow is based on Elizabeth's Yoyo pillow tutorial shared on Sew Mama Sew a few years ago.  The second, based on Make it Do's Crazy for Zigzag pillow.  The fabrics are a mix of Heather Bailey's Fresh Cut, Anna Maria's Chocolate Lollipop, Del Hi's Butterflies, and Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet...with a few other scraps I had in my stash. 

I'm calling my yoyo bolster, the Little Gems pillow.  The zigzag, I'm dubbing the Breaking Out pillow.  Fun!  The color scheme all stems from my prized Greg Olson print, O Jerusalem, with a bit of turquoise thrown in for pop.

Photo of O Jerusalem from our old house

First off, each pillow started as 19" by 11" rectangles, sewn together with 1/2" seams.  In  making the Little Gem pillow, I made two different sized yoyos.  The larger ones started as 5.5" diameter circles, and the smaller ones as 3" diameter circles.  I followed Elizabeth's method for the most part.  I did find that when using the "knotless" knot, that it was easier to leave a large loop like this:

The larger size yoyos were all the same color, and then I used several different fabrics for the smaller size.  Elizabeth's yoyos were all one size, and linked side by side.  I sewed mine together in a diamond pattern.  Hence, Little Gems. 

I sewed each yoyo in the diamond pattern by hand.  Then using heat n bond lite, I fused the yoyos to the background fabric as a way to baste them, and then sewed each yoyo on to the fabric by hand.  When all the yoyos were secure, I added the pillow back.

I am in L.O.V.E. with this pillow.  It has a lot of heft to it, the texture is phenomenal.  Now my brain is buzzing with all the other things I could embellish with yoyos. 

The Breaking Out pillow was put together following Make it Do's tutorial a little more strictly.  I did use heat n bond lite to keep the zigzags together prior to sewing them on.

When I applied the zigzags, I decided I wanted to add one as the transition between the solid color and the patterned.  I really like how it came together.

When the sun comes back, I'll take some photos of the pillows in the living room.  So, that's my long pillow story.  I'd love to know which ones you think I should add to the Sew Mama Sew contest.  I'm adding a poll to my sidebar, please let me know what you think!

UPDATE:  Here's the poll results:

Featured on Tatertots and Jello  Creation Corner, and Humble Homemaking!

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Freckled Laundry, Creation Corner, Tatertots and Jello, Along for the Ride, Be Different Act Normal, Creative Jewish Mom, Sew Many Ways, and Get Your Craft On.