Results tagged “Pillow” from Fabric.com Blog

Nautical is IN! Wide stripes, anchors and navy & white are the classic combos that are visible in home decorating everywhere. You may want to add a beachy feel to one room or just a hint of nautical. It is easy to curb any craving of nautical décor. My Ship Wheel Appliqué Pillow can finish off your room or inspire you to get started. If navy isn't for you try adding another shade of deep blue (like the dark turquoise canvas I used for this project) or red and white (popular light house colors) or off white/cream and blues and greens. Any color combo that evokes the feeling of sand and water will help create that tranquil environment in your home.

For the Ship Wheel Pillow you will need:

1 yd white or off white fabric (I used canvas because it looks like sail cloth) for pillow case

½ yd of navy, deep turquoise or red for appliqué

Heat n Bond

Ship Wheel Clip Art (here is the picture I used)

Instructions:

Measure your pillow and add 1'' to the width and height for seam allowance and cut one piece from your white fabric (if inserting a zipper, cut two pieces and use these instructions). For the back envelope pieces, cut 2 pieces using the same height measurement as above but divide your width in half and add 4'' (example: original cut width is 21'' h x 21'' w, cut 2 pieces 21'' h x 14.5'' w [21/2= 10.5 + 4= 14.5]). Zig zag or serge across one 21'' end for each back piece. Fold down this edge ½'' and press. Topstitch across pressed edge. Set back pieces aside

Print out your Ship Wheel Appliqué making sure you print it to the size you need. If you want 3 smaller wheels like my pillow measure the diagonal of your pillow to determine size. If you want one large, print it in mosaic or print it at a copy shop. Trace your ship wheel onto the heat n bond and apply to the wrong side of your navy fabric. Cut along the outside of your wheel. To create the interior of the wheel, use a fabric marker or chalk pencil to add in the details and sew over the lines with bright white thread. It is best to do this before you apply the appliqués to your pillow front.

Apply your appliqué[s] in a manner you find pleasing. I applied mine on the diagonal because it is a popular nautical flag/sail design. You can then straight stitch or zig zag stitch around your ship wheel.

Lay your front pillow piece RS up and overlap your back envelope pieces like, well, an envelope with RS facing the front piece and pin in place. Stitch a ½'' seam all the way around the pillow. Clip corners and turn RS out. Insert pillow.

This is a great design to add to canvas bags, bibs, curtains hems and mod podged to furniture to complete your nautical theme. Change it up a bit by combining one off-the-wall fabric, like silk, satin or velvet, with a standard nautical fabric, like canvas or cotton duck, to add elegance or texture. Once you start adding nautical you won't be able to stop.

Check out our other nautical themed posts here

Summer is iconic for sprinklers, running outside until dark and playing in the grass but it gets so stinking hot outside some days that I just can't bring myself to bear it after 11 am. So since a good part of these days are set inside, I get to looking around and redecorating in my mind. I love to bring my 2 loves of sewing and knitting together whenever possible but it can be tricky when dealing in Home Décor. Knitting is most often shawls, sweaters and mittens. Clearly it is apparel heavy but just a little bit here and there and knitting lends itself very well to Home décor.

Yes, I am familiar with knitted afghans and pillows but those are so definitely winter items and not a good fit for summer decorations. Flowers, however, are just what we need to bring knitting into our living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms. Knitted and crocheted flowers are quick, fun and challenging (if you want them to be) and with a few swipes of the hand needle can be applied to pillows, duvets, table cloths, and chair covers to bring the outside in. Should you like wildflower bouquets, you can choose several flower patterns and mix them up together either in one color or complimentary colors. For those who prefer a huge monospecific bouquet might, instead, choose a favorite flower pattern and knit up as many as you need in either one or multi colors. Some patterns are meant to be felted, others are not and I would suggest an acrylic blend yarn to make them washable.

Since my Burlap Transfer Pillow was such a success, I decided to make a complimentary pillow out of the rest of my burlap with one huge, magnificent flower in the center. I used Berroco Weekend in Orchid and #154 from Vogue Lace Stitchionary but I recommend any of these great free flower patterns on Ravelry. You can adjust the size of your flower by your yarn gauge, needle size, doubling your strands and continuing a pattern. Be sure you take into consideration where this knitted piece will be used. Mine is strictly decoration (not too many want to lay their heads on burlap) but given that I have a toddler, it is all washable. I followed the same instructions as for my previous burlap pillow but I left the edges raw to contrast with the neat, precise lace flower in the center. I do not suggest fabric glue for joining knits to Home Décor pieces, hand sew when possible. The amount of use these items are likely to see coupled with the weight of the home décor fabric is not a good combo for glue.

Check back tomorrow for an exciting blog post. Here's a hint: June Weddings!

I-cord is one of the most versatile of knitting stitches; even non-knitters can make i-cord. It makes great straps, handles and edges but knitted in long lengths, i-cord can be used for awesome textural embroidery. Since i-cord takes no time to knit in length and little concentration, you can easily knit enough for this project or a similar while watching your favorite shows, a movie or even at a kids holiday play. I decided on a pillow cover so I could just remove it and tuck it away each year. I can reuse the pillow with another cover and not worry about storing pillows. To recreate my Holly Pillow Cover you will need

1 skein of Acrylic Yarn

1 spool of thread to match the yarn

1 yd of Velvet

1 pillow to recover

Scrape of coordinating fabric (big enough for a 4 in. diameter circle)

The pillow I chose to recover was 20 in. square so I cut one 21 in. square for the front and one 8 by 21 in. piece and one 17 by 21 in. piece to make the back envelope. I laid my front piece right side up and with chalk; I wrote "Holly" rubbing it out till it looked right. Next, I cast on 3 sts and knit roughly 24 in. of i-cord in a green acrylic yarn (you might remember me starting this back in November). I dry fit it to the pillow to make sure it was long enough before I bound off and wove in the ends.

Using the chalk lines and pinning as you go, secure the i-cord onto the pillow front. Starting from the back of the pillow piece, use a running stitch to secure the i-cord in place. Finally, I used a glass to trace a 4 in. circle on a spare piece of red Sateen and made a yo-yo to highlight the 'O' in Holly, and adding some more holiday color. I used a running stitch around the edges to secure the yo-yo.

Next, with right sides facing pin the front pillow piece to the back pieces, overlapping the back pieces to form an envelope and using a 1/2 in. seam, stitched all the way around the pillow case. Carefully clip the corners and turn right side out. Slip your pillow inside and admire your work.

This project is fun and easy way to add Christmas cheer to your home. You can change up the words, of course, for any holiday but I like to stray from the traditional slightly with words like "Holly, Stockings, Eggnog, or Caroling" These words are obvious enough that determining the holiday message will be easy but a little bit different.