Pillows Part 2: Fave Clothes on the Couch

There have been a few of my daughters’ clothes that were very difficult for me to part with. Those made from amazing fabrics have found a home in my fabric stash! My living room pillow redo was an opportunity to enjoy these great prints again! {Check out part one of the pillow making extravaganza if you missed it.}

One of my favorite photos of the girls to date! {In front of our home in Germany 2 years ago}

I had to cut off the bodice which let the gathering out. I was able to get two 16-18 inch squares from the dress. As I happily worked along, I accidentally cut with my rotary cutter down the wrong side of my cutter guide, about 1/3 of the way into one of the squares! I quickly decided instead of beating myself up over this mistake, that I would use some of my linen look-alike fabric to help. Thus entered the ruched look into this pillow.

I basically followed the instructions for making the t-shirt scarves from last year, then sewed the ruched piece between my two printed pieces.  I discovered it was best to run it through the machine with the ruched part on top to make sure the needle caught each ruffle. The first time the ruched was on the bottom, and I had to go back and hand sew a few spots that got missed.

So, not perfect, but fun, a solution to a situation gone awry. And even better paired up with the other pillows!

You can’t see them, but zippers were my closure of choice—the first time I’ve tried those since my college sewing class. Yes, another mountain that was not so scary to climb, IF you’re not a perfectionist.  The closure for my next pillow became the next mountain….

Buttonholes! I figured it out now, but with much messiness, ripping stitches, etc. Don’t look too close if you ever visit. Again, this one did not turn out perfectly, but it was a fun was to use a cute top of my daughters’ for a small pillow that did not go with my new color scheme.

The shirt in another of my favorite photos from 2 years ago {can you believe my camera got this shot?}.

Because I decided to use the hemmed bottom edge of the shirt for the center button closure, there wasn’t enough fabric to cover the back. So, the linen-look fabric got utilized again. I think this and using the big brown button helped this pillow not look too much like something for a kids’ room.

In position with the rest of the old clothes, dish towels, forgotten treasures, and flea market misfits…

…and part 3 of the pillow making to come!

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