Tuesday, March 16, 2010

create: pillow frenzy

recently, i have been in a pillow-making frenzy. i was tired of all the mismatched, dorm room, inherited-from-my-mom pillows that were taking up space on my sofa. so i grabbed some scrap fabric, my sewing machine, and a few fun flea market finds to revamp my cushiony friends:


this first pillow, above, features the very first thing i EVER bought at a flea market... a dainty little 50 cent doily that I soaked in a bath of equal parts acrylic paint and water, then allowed to dry (the doily was originally white). I liked the uneven dye job that i got, and the paint stiffened the fabric just enough so it wouldn't sag on my pillow. I carefully hand stitched around the doily in corresponding thread to secure it to the front of my pillow.

My next pillow is this lovely floral print on the front, burlap on the back. I made these little fabric roses out of random scraps that I found in my sewing stuff. A little twisting, hot gluing, and ta da, a beautiful flower! I was inspired by two other bloggers:
2) and I found a tutorial hereThis is just a close up of my flowers in action :-)

My third pillow also features a thrifty find, though this one is a vintage scarf that I snagged at a little antique shop in my hometown in Central Illinois. Same process as the doily: careful stitching around the outside with matching thread.

My final pillow is simply burlap, stitches exposed, with another acrylic dyed doily sewn on. For this one, to maintain some original white coloring, I simply kneaded the doily in my hands with a little acrylic paint, then allowed it to dry.

1 comment:

  1. Your pillows are awesome. I love the last one made out of burlap!

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