Keeping It Simple - Tied Bolster Pillow Cover

My daughter has been doing a lot of redecorating recently: paint, rugs, wall décor, you know the drill.  Well, imagine what happens when 3 little girls catch the makeover bug!  She was absolutely not going to get away without adding their bedrooms to the list of must-dos.  After enduring the squabbles about colors and themes, they were finally able to settle on lavender, turquoise and grey for our 5 and 7 year olds.   The girls have chosen a lacey look with butterflies and paisleys for their accents. My next several posts will reveal some of the adorable, simple, creative ideas we came up with to help brighten up the room the two of them share without spending a fortune.  I will be making a few of the designs and will happily share them with you.

Here is the first accent piece:

 

Here is what you need:

-7”x16” bolster pillow form

-36”x23.5” rectangle of cotton fabric

-soft cutaway stabilizer

-40 wt. embroidery thread

-embroidery design of choice (mine measured 4.85”Hx4.38”W)

-2 yards ribbon cut in half

 

Here is what you do:

1.        Find the center of your fabric using your preferred method.  I simply folded the fabric in half lengthwise and pressed a small crease in the center.  I then unfolded the fabric and folded in half again, this time widthwise, and pressed another crease in the center.  When the fabric is unfolded you will see that your two creases intersect providing you with a visual of the center point of your fabric.

2.        Choose your embroidery design, print a template and pin this to the center of your fabric.

3.       Hoop the stabilizer and fabric making sure to roll and pin the extra fabric as needed so that it stays out of the way while embroidering.

 

4.       Load your chosen design into your machine.

5.       Slide the hoop into your machine, center the needle and remove the embroidery design template.  If using a lightweight design it is a good idea to match your bobbin thread to your chosen embroidery thread colors rather than using plain bobbin thread.  Embroider the design.

6.       Remove the hoop and cut away any excess stabilizer.

7.       With rights together fold the fabric in half lengthwise, and pin.

8.       Sew a ½ inch seam all along the length of your fabric to form a tube.  Press the seam open.

9.       To hem one end of the tube, fold ends with wrong sides together about ½ an inch and press.  Fold over again, another ½” to enclose the raw edges, press and pin.

 

10.   Sew all the way around close to the open edge to finish the tube end.  Repeat with the other end of the tube.  Turn your fabric tube right side out.

11.   Fold your ribbons in half and pinch at the center.  Tack the center of a ribbon 5 inches from one edge of the tube at the seam.  Repeat with the second ribbon on the other end of your fabric tube.

12.   Center the pillow form inside your pillowcase (fabric tube) and tie the ribbons at each end.

 

The girls really like their new pillows.  What a quick and easy accent.

Take care,

DB

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