Monday, September 9, 2013

Ruffled, Shabby, Burlap Pillow for Fall~

I can hardly believe it's been a month or more since I posted. My days are so full of family and living this blessed life.

But I have been making time to work on a few fall items as time allows and this little hand-made pillow came to be.

 
It's very simple to make. I like to make my own pillow forms. I find very clean
used pillows at thrift stores. I always make sure they don't smell stuffy or odd.
I have a place where I can buy them for a dollar a piece. I tear them open and use the stuffing.
I also buy clean, white sheets at thrift stores. After washing them, I measure and cut
my pieces for the pillow form. 
 
I learned a new little secret about making the form fit nice and snug inside the
cover. Make it about an inch larger than the outside. I had
my doubts and thought that it might be too small but not so. It worked very
well.
 
All my fabric is thrifted. The ruffles are made from a white sheet torn into strips.
I cut them twice as long as the area to be ruffled. You can triple your length if you
want very full ruffles. And if you're edging the entire pillow with ruffles, tripling
is better.
 
The little flower is made from a thrifted, sheer curtain. There are many tutorials on You-Tube
about making the shabby, burned edged flowers. They are very pretty!
The little burlap flower was also found in a tutorial. I need to write down my source next time so I can give them proper credit. Just know that the though the pillow design is my own, I do not take credit for the flower designs.

Do be careful if you want to make a pillow from burlap. You need a little extra measured into
your size to allow for fraying. I wondered how it would hold together when hand-sewing the
closing. It held up surprisingly well. But the little extra gave me more room to fold in my edges
when closing the opening.
 
The pillow is about 10 inches square.
Burlap is a lot of fun to work with. There are so many uses.  In my next craft post,
 I'll share the little bucket/planter that I decorated with burlap ruffles.. It turned out very well
and I was able to  retail it to an Antique/ Shabby Chic Shop nearby.
That was exciting.
 
Bless you and I hope you're enjoying the last few weeks of summer. 
Soon the cool, fall breezes will be rustling the leaves around our doors and reminding us
to wrap our scarves about our necks!
 
 
 
 






2 comments:

A Baker's Dozen Barnhouse News said...

Tamara,

Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful idea. I love burlap, and I love shopping at the thrift store!

The pillow you have pictured is so pretty and would also be a lovely and unique gift idea, I think.

Thanks again for sharing!

Blessings,

Sherry

Tamara said...

You're welcome, Sherrie and thank you so much. Making the pillows for gifts is a good idea. Aren't thrift stores fun? I find so many of my craft supplies at thrift stores.

:) Tamara