hi everyone!
i had a dilemma that was artfully solved with a little diy work: my college dorm has a color theme of navy, white, and canary yellow. but since most stores are now carrying fall colors, that particular shade of yellow was hard to come by. i had made my mind up on a yellow pillow - and that was when i found, in pier 1 imports, fabric napkins that were my exact color! so i got to work.
here is an easy tutorial on a flanged pillow.
materials:
*2 fabric napkins
*1 pillow form
*pins
*scissors
*sewing machine
*matching thread
*zipper foot and regular sewing foot
*cat, optional
instructions:
lay out your two napkins, right sides together, one on top of the other. pin around the edges (pin just inside of the outer seam line of the napkins for a clean line to follow with the machine). be sure the napkins have been previously ironed before pinning and sewing.
***you will want to be sure that you do not pin all the way around - pin each corner, but then choose one side of the square to leave open. on that particular side, pin only about an inch or so in towards the center of that side, so there is enough room to stuff the pillow form inside.
stitch along the pins using a regular stitch foot, leaving one side almost completely open, except for the inch stitched on either side of the corner.
clip corners, turn the pillow right-side-out, and iron. iron the seams to the inside where the gap is to make stitching easier once the pillow is inside at the end.
next, measure the size of the pillow form. cut out a square in the same measurements and center it on your pillowcase, right sides still out. pin along the edges, once again leaving a gap in the center of the same side you left open before, stitching only an inch on each side where the gap is. stitch all the way around the pins, stopping for the gap.
stuff the pillow form into the case.
pinch shut the area where the flange gap is, and pin it as close to the pillow as possible. this part can be tricky.
switch out the regular stitch foot for a zipper foot, locking the needle in place so that it will feed through the left slot of the zipper foot.
stitch along the edge of the outer gap now to close the flange. this can be done by hand using a blanket stitch for the most invisible seam, or by machine along the very edge for an easier sew-shut method.
re-iron any wrinkles and throw the finished flange pillow onto a bed! voila.
(disregard the wrinklyness)
the napkins i bought were from pier 1 imports, $3 each.
thanks for looking! if anyone has questions, feel free to ask. this was an incredibly easy, inexpensive project for a fun solution that took less than an hour.
rachel
