Tutorial: Accent Pillow with Cording

A little something for the mom's today . . .

And a little something green.

Not because it's St. Patrick's day, but just because it happens to be, well, green.

Back in December my husband and I ran into a couch and love seat set that we instantly fell in love with--and they were at an incredible price. We justified that we could buy them if they were our only Christmas present combined, and went for it.

And we love them.

But I wasn't lovin' the accent pillows that came with the couches. Too dark. And not really my style.

I decided I wanted the room to go in the direction of neutral browns with green accents. I looked every where for green damask pillows (and I mean everywhere) but couldn't find anything I liked. Once I concluded I would just have to make the pillows I had a really hard time finding a green damask fabric, but finally found exactly what I wanted at Joann.com. Thank goodness.

I had bought my pillow forms at Joanns for 50% off and was really pleased with what I had paid.

But then . . . then . . . I was Ikea. If you need pillow forms go to Ikea! 20x20 inch batting filled pillows cost only $3! I went for the nice duck feather ones for only $6 each. What a steal! Ikea never lets me down.

Making an envelope pillow is so, so easy. It's a great project for beginning sewers because all the lines are straight.

I started out by making a 20x20 inch pattern out of tissue paper (actually . . . I use that paper that covers the exam table at the doctors office. That's what we used in my clothing design class in college to make our patterns. It works great! A roll lasts forever, so I still have some.) When I measured the pillow it was actually 19 inches. I added a half inch seam allowance to each side making my pattern 20x20. Then I cut out my pillow fronts.

I wanted to fancy my pillows up a bit by adding some cording to the edge. I use to be afraid of cording but since I have figured out how to do it I love to use it when I can. I pinned the cording on the right side of my fabric 1/2 inch from the edge. When you get to the corner give it a little snip to help you turn it, but don't cut past the stitching.

Once I had it all pinned, I basted it on, stitching right on top of the stitching that is already on the cording. I used my zipper foot when sewing on cording. See how the cord fits right in the gap? It works perfectly.

I then cut out my pillow back pieces. I cut two 20x16 inch pieces. I wanted to make sure there was plenty of overlap.



On one of the pieces I cut off an extra two inches, but saved it to help me finish the edge with some cording.



One of the back pieces I finished by doing a simple hem. On the other I finished it with cording.

I then laid the back side with the cording on top of my front, right sides together.

Next I placed my other backside on top and pinned all three pieces together.

When I sewed them together I stitched right on top of my basting stitching so I was sure to be accurate. I then cut the corners, finished the raw edges with a zig-zag stitch, turned it right side out and pressed it.

I stuffed my fluffy duck feather pillow inside and was so happy with the results.

A lovely envelope pillow with a nicely finished back side.

The smaller green pillow I made using the instructions over at Just Another Hang Up. When I saw Suzanne's pillow featured on Ucreate last year I knew that I would have to make it. Visit her blog for a great tutorial.

I'm just loving my new living room!

I'm linking to these parties this week.