Pin Pillow Tutorial #2

Here is the 2nd pillow tutorial resulting from my finishing spree last weekend:

You will need:

• Stitching for the centre of the cushion
• Coordinating fabric(s) for side strips and backing
• Sewing machine with coordinating sewing machine thread to match your fabric(s)
• Scissors/rotary cutter and mat
• Pins
• Embellishments (optional)
• Polyfil stuffing (or something similar)
• Sewing needle and thread to close up the seam opening

1. First of all cut your coordinating fabric into equal width strips, and approximate width of your sewing project. In my case I have chosen to have two different fabrics on the front of my pillow, and have started with a narrow strip of bright rust fabric for the inner border.

Pin the first strip with right sides facing to your stitching (I prefer to start with the pieces attached to the left and right sides, but you may prefer to start with the top and bottom sections first), and stitch a normal seam allowance (alternatively you may prefer to just a quilters 1/4" seam).

Once you have stitched the first seam, attach the 2nd strip of fabric to the opposite side of your stitching and stitch another seam.

2. At this point I cut off my excess fabrics on each side, and trim my seams to 1/4" - I usually prefer to do this because I don't trust myself to get things right the first time!

3. You finish with nice tidy edges, ready to attach the last two sides of fabric.

4. Before we do that, though, we need to open the fabric sides up and give them a quick press with the iron so that they sit nicely. If you want to you can also do a row of top-stitching to assist with holding the fabric nicely, but I don't normally bother.

5. Now we attach the top and bottom sides in exactly the same way as we did with the first two sides. Once all sides have finished, I normally check the side strips to ensure they're nice and tidy and even, and if not I give them a quick trim all round with the rotary cutter.

6. In my case I decided to just have a narrow strip of bright rust fabric as a contrasting focal point, then added some wider strips of fabric for the outside edges. These are attached in exactly the same way as the rust strips, they are just cut into wider pieces. You just need to remember to add the next lot of strips in the same order as you did previously, which was in my case left and right first, followed by top and bottom. Once I had ironed my finished strips I decided that little buttons would be nice in the corners, so I added these before adding the backing fabric.

7. Now you need to cut your backing fabric the same size as your finished article, and pin them together with right sides facing together (the right side of the stitching will be on the inside of the sandwich).

8. Stitch a seam allowance around the edges, but leave an opening at the bottom so that you can turn your pillow inside-out. I tend to leave about 1 1/2" opening and that's normally enough room to allow for turning.

9. I use a chopstick to help push the corners into a nice shape from the outside - you just have to be careful not to force the seam stitching too much! Once you have turned your pillow inside out, it should look something like this. Now all you have to do is stuff it to your preferred thickness with your favourite stuffing.

10. I close my pillow openings with a ladder stitch - and the following is taken from a previous Christmas ornament tutorial, but is the exact same instruction for closing the pillows.

You need to thread your sewing needle with sewing thread (if you didn't leave a long tail from the seam stitching). You should use a sharp needle here, not a tapestry needle, so that you can pierce the backing fabric easily.

I use a ladder stitch to sew up the opening. As you can see from the left-hand photo below, I start off by slipping my needle into the seam of the backing fabric, then coming back out about 1/4" along the seam (about 3mm) and bring my needle out.

I then take my needle directly opposite where I just came out of the backing fabric and slip my needle into the linen and follow the seam along for about 1/4" (3mm) and bring the needle back out again.

I've left the stitches nice and loose in the photo below to help illustrate how the stitches follow along opposite each other, like rungs of a ladder.

When you pull the thread tighter, the stitches almost disappear into the fabric, giving a really nice clean finish - this is definitely my favourite stitch for closing up openings for that reason!

Once you reach the end of the seam opening, you need to finish off your thread with a couple of teeny stitches - I then bury the needle into the seam and come out somewhere about an inch way and bring the needle back out again - then clip the thread close to the fabric so that my thread tail does't appear easily.

And here's the final seam all finished off - see now nice and tidy that ladder stitch is in the opening? :D

11. And that is the final step in your beautiful new pin pillow coming to life. Now all you need to do is to find somewhere to display it where it can be admired by everyone :D

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial, and found it useful. I would love to see any photos of ornaments you've completed using this tutorial so please do drop me a line or leave a comment with a link to your pictures :)

Pin Pillow Tutorial #1

Here is a pin pillow tutorial that I put together during a day of finishing last weekend - I finally managed to sit down and put the instructions together today.

You will need:

• Stitching for the centre of the cushion
• Coordinating fabric(s) for side strips and backing
• Sewing machine with coordinating sewing machine thread to match your fabric(s)
• Scissors/rotary cutter and mat
• Pins
• Ribbon/lace/button embellishments (optional)
• Polyfil stuffing (or something similar)
• Sewing needle and thread to close up the seam opening

1. First of all trim your stitched piece, and cut your coordinating fabric to your preferred length and the approximate width of your sewing project. In my case I have chosen to have my coordinating fabric at the bottom of my stitched piece, and I prefer to have the quilting fabric slightly smaller than my stitched piece so it doesn't take too much attention from the stitching - I have, however, seen some stunning pillows with the stitching taking up just a small amount of room at the top of the pillow. The only difference is down to your preference, as the finishing process is exactly the same.

2. Pin the fabrics together, with right sides facing, and stitch a normal seam allowance (alternatively you may prefer to just a quilters 1/4" seam).

3. At this point I cut off my excess fabrics on each side, and trim my seams to 1/4". This is also the time when you should open up the seam(s) and give a quick pressing with the iron.

4. If you have decided to have fabric on both sides of your stitching (either top and bottom, or left and right) this you will need to repeat the above process a second time for the additional piece of fabric. Once you've finished attaching the coordinating fabrics, check the edges to ensure they're all even, and give it a quick trim with the rotary cutter if needed.

5. At this point I add any seam embellishments to the pillow front. For this particular pillow I just wanted to add one row of matching ric-a-rac. This can either be attached by the sewing machine or by hand (I ended up adding this one by hand, as I didn't have a matching brown sewing machine thread). This is also a good time to add any buttons or other trims you want to add, prior to constructing the pillow itself. Alternatively, you can add your ribbon at the very end once the pillow is finished, but just wrapping it around the pillow and tying a bow to hold it in place :)

6. Now you need to cut your backing fabric the same size as your finished article, and pin them together with right sides facing together (the right side of the stitching will be on the inside of the sandwich).

7. Stitch a seam allowance around the edges, but leave an opening at the bottom so that you can turn your pillow inside-out. I tend to leave about 1 1/2" opening and that's normally enough room to allow for turning.

8. I use a chopstick to help push the corners into a nice shape from the outside - you just have to be careful not to force the seam stitching too much! Once you have turned your pillow inside out, it should look something like this. Now all you have to do is stuff it to your preferred thickness with your favourite stuffing.

9. I close my pillow openings with a ladder stitch - and the following is taken from a previous Christmas ornament tutorial, but is the exact same instruction for closing the pillows.

You need to thread your sewing needle with sewing thread (if you didn't leave a long tail from the seam stitching). You should use a sharp needle here, not a tapestry needle, so that you can pierce the backing fabric easily.

I use a ladder stitch to sew up the opening. As you can see from the left-hand photo below, I start off by slipping my needle into the seam of the backing fabric, then coming back out about 1/4" along the seam (about 3mm) and bring my needle out.

I then take my needle directly opposite where I just came out of the backing fabric and slip my needle into the linen and follow the seam along for about 1/4" (3mm) and bring the needle back out again.

I've left the stitches nice and loose in the photo below to help illustrate how the stitches follow along opposite each other, like rungs of a ladder.

When you pull the thread tighter, the stitches almost disappear into the fabric, giving a really nice clean finish - this is definitely my favourite stitch for closing up openings for that reason!

Once you reach the end of the seam opening, you need to finish off your thread with a couple of teeny stitches - I then bury the needle into the seam and come out somewhere about an inch way and bring the needle back out again - then clip the thread close to the fabric so that my thread tail does't appear easily.

And here's the final seam all finished off - see now nice and tidy that ladder stitch is in the opening? :D

10. And that is the final step in your beautiful new pin pillow coming to life. Now all you need to do is to find somewhere to display it where it can be admired by everyone :D

Following are some additional pillows I have finished in the same way - isn't it amazing how such a simple finishing method can look so different depending on the choice of fabrics and embellishments?

Basic Pillow Christmas Ornament Tutorial

The following is a very basic pillow Christmas Ornament tutorial designed, in particular, for beginners.

Supplies needed:

• Stitched project
• Backing fabric
• Approx 6" (15-16cm) of ribbon to coordinate with your stitching for the hanger (I normally use 7mm double-sided satin ribbon)
• Stuffing
• Sewing machine with coordinating thread to match your fabrics
• Complimentary sewing thread and needle

1. Start off by laying your stitching piece on top of your backing fabric, with wrong sides facing, as shown below:

2. Now we need to cut the fabric so that all sides are equal. The amount of margin that you leave is up to you, here you can see that I've allowed 3/4" margin on each side. I line up my ruler along the edge of my stitching, and cut the fabric with my rotary cutter (both my stitched piece and backing fabric at the same time).

 

3. You continue this same way until all four sides are cut away. Remember that your backing fabric is underneath, so you need to be careful when you are moving your stitching around on the cutting mat that the fabric doesn't move out of place or your pieces won't match at the end. Once you have finished cutting all four sides, remove the backing fabric from your stitching fabric.

4. Next I attach the piece of ribbon to my stitching - the ribbon must be attached to the right side of your stitching. Adjust the size of the loop to match your own preferences, then pin in place. I like to have a slight angle to the top of the ribbon where it is pinned in place, so that it hangs nicer when it's finished.

5. Next place your backing fabric on top of your stitching/ribbon, with right sides facing, as shown below. Pin the pieces together around the edges.

6. Now we need the sewing machine - once again, it is up to you to choose how much fabric margin you'd like to leave around the stitched piece.

It's quite hard to see the stitching threads because they match the fabric so well, so I've doctored the photo and drawn a line to show you the stitching line of where I started and finished - hopefully you can see clearly now that I have left an opening of about 1 1/2". I like to leave a long tail of the sewing thread at one end, which I don't trim off, so that I can use it for stitching up the final seam opening.

7. The next step is to trim the fabric at the seams, so they aren't as bulky when you turn the ornament inside-out. The photo on the below left is my bottom seam - some fabrics tend to fray a lot when you are trying to pull the fabric through the opening, so I've learnt to leave the bottom seam a tiny bit wider than the other three seams. The photo on the right is the usual amount that I trim back the main seams.

8. Then you should trim off each of the corners - once again, this allows you to get a crisper point on the ornament corners once you've turned it inside-out and improves the look of the ornament. Just be careful not to snip the stitching!

Your ornament should now look something like this:

9. The next bit can be a little bit nervewracking if you haven't done it before! You need to reach in and pinch a little bit of the backing fabric between your thumb and forefinger, and then slowly and gently pull the stitching and the backing fabric through the opening so it's facing the right-side out. Take your time when doing this, and just pull your fabric through little by little - it seems like it will never come through, but then all of sudden a miracle seems to happen and you have it all turned inside-out. I often enlist the aid of a chopstick to help me get the corners nice and pointy once I've finished turning my ornament inside out.

Your ornament should now look a little something like this. Of course it was at this point that I realised I'd forgotten to attach my little gold charm to this particular ornament so I had to add that quickly before finishing the next stages ... doh!

10. The final stage is to stuff your ornament with stuffing of your choice. I tend to just use polyester fibrefill from my local craft store. Once you it stuffed to your satisfaction (my preference is to fill it to a medium level - if I fill it too much it doesn't sit quite as well on my little tree), you need to thread your sewing needle with sewing thread (if you didn't leave a long tail from the seam stitching). You should use a sharp needle here, not a tapestry needle, so that you can pierce the backing fabric easily.

I use a ladder stitch to sew up the opening. As you can see from the left-hand photo below, I start off by slipping my needle into the seam of the backing fabric, then coming back out about 1/4" along the seam (about 3mm) and bring my needle out.

I then take my needle directly opposite where I just came out of the backing fabric and slip my needle into the linen and follow the seam along for about 1/4" (3mm) and bring the needle back out again.

I've left the stitches nice and loose in the photo below to help illustrate how the stitches follow along opposite each other, like rungs of a ladder.

When you pull the thread tighter, the stitches almost disappear into the fabric, giving a really nice clean finish - this is definitely my favourite stitch for closing up openings for that reason!

Once you reach the end of the seam opening, you need to finish off your thread with a couple of teeny stitches - I then bury the needle into the seam and come out somewhere about an inch way and bring the needle back out again - then clip the thread close to the fabric so that my thread tail does't appear easily.

And here's the final seam all finished off - see now nice and tidy that ladder stitch is in the opening? :D

Your ornament is now finished, and ready to hang on the tree :D

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial, and found it useful. I would love to see any photos of ornaments you've completed using this tutorial so please do drop me a line or leave a comment with a link to your pictures :)