Birds at play in this pillow cover tutorial

Keep reading for another great tutorial from Jessica of Running with Scissors that combines a number of great techniques to create an inspirational décor piece.

You’ll need:

Pillow to be covered

Main fabric (46 cm)

Scraps for applique leaves

Freezer paper

Fabric paint

Decorative trim - about 46 cm

Instructions:

Cut fabric. You’ll need to cut: one 17 x 17" (43 x 43cm) square and two 17 x 13" (43 x 33cm) rectangles. Note: these dimensions were created to cover a 16 x 16" cushion which is approx. 40 x 40 in centimetres. As you can see Jessica simply added an inch or 2.54 cm to all sides for her measurements.

Apply Freezer Paint Bird. Cut your freezer paper down to 8 1/2" x 11" so it can go through your printer. Load the freezer paper so it will print on the paper side, not the plastic side and click here to print Jessica’s bird template.

    Cut out the image to make a stencil. Centre the freezer paper on the right side of your 43 x 43cm square and iron in place. 

     Paint the stencil using fabric paint and leave to dry. You may choose to do an additional coat or be required to iron to seal the paint once it’s dry, but you’ll have to check you paint bottle for that.

 Peel off the stencil once dry.

    Add trim. Pin and top-stich along each side of your trim along the full length of your pillow.

     Applique leaves. Cut out leaf shapes from your scraps. Pin on the leaves in an arrangement that suits you. Note: Usually with applique, you reinforce the fabric with fusible interfacing, lots of starch, or even used a coffee filter in a pinch.  Because these fabrics were thick and quite stiff, Jessica didn't reinforce them, but just sewed them straight on the pillow.  If your leaves are quilting cotton using one of the above reinforcing methods on the back.

    You can just sew a straight stitch around, blanket stitch, zig-zag, etc. Jessica chose to use a zig-zag with a width of 2.5 and a length of almost zero, creating a thick, solid looking edge. Because the blue fabric of the pillow was just thin cotton broadcloth, Jessica added scraps as she sewed each leaf on to reinforce the blue pillow.  Once the leaves were sewn, excess scraps were trimmed off. If you're using medium to heavy weight upholstery fabric, you probably don't need to back your leaves like this.

      Construct the pillow back. Fold and press a long edge of your rectangles 2" (5cm), folding the right side onto the wrong side. 

      Fold the raw edge under, to tuck it right into the fold you just ironed. So now you have a hem that is 1" (2.5cm) folded twice.  Sew down the hem.  

       Once both back rectangles are hemmed, place them together, both right side down, and overlap one over the other, to make a 17 x 17 (43 x 43cm) square.  This has the hemmed edges overlap in the centre by 4" (10.2cm). 

Sew the 4" (10.2cm) of overlap on each side to secure them, with a 1/4" (0.6cm) seam allowance. Now you've made the back of the pillow cover, and the overlap creates a kind of pocket to get the pillow form in and out.

Sew the pillow cover together. Take the front and back, and place them right sides together.  Remember to put the opening of the back perpendicular to the trim, so the pocket opening is horizontal on the pillow. 

 Sew around the entire square with a 3/8" (1cm) seam allowance. Trim off the corners. Press or starch if you need to, jam in the pillow and plop it on your couch because you’re finished!

Hunting for scraps? We offer great deals on off cuts sold by weight. Give us a call on our Golden Number 0861 322 839 | 0861 FAB TEX and we’ll help you find what you need. 

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