Home Dec Pillow

I wrote instructions for my original Home Dec Pillow #1 for a class at work. This is the first of two different pillow classes we are offering this fall. I will be posting the pattern on my Etsy site within the next few days.

This pillow teaches a lot of different techniques. The center curve showcases fabric manipulation with puffing, a gathering technique. Fabric strips cut on the bias are used to cover the raw edges of the central puffing/gathered area. This same bias strip is used around the perimeter to set off the main part of the pillow from the flange area. The reverse side of the pillow teaches an easy closure with two buttonholes and buttons.

The corners of the bias strips sewn aroung the edge are mitered for a neat appearance. This is actually a relatively easy thing to accomplish. I took step-by-step photos of the pillow construction for the pattern. This makes each technique easily understood.

Decorative stitches are sewn following the curves of the center puffing element. I like the candle wick stitches on my Pfaff Creative Vision so that is what is used here on my pillow. There are lots of beautiful decorative stitches on sewing machines today so the options for creating multiple pillows with different stitch combinations are unlimited. I love seeing decorative stitches used to embellish home sewn items.

My friend, Patty, took this pillow class at the store and was happy to share her results. She is a creative person, always coming up with good ideas of her own. Here she used gold metallic thread in some of her decorative stitching and added a few of her own flourishes to the pillow. Rather than forming an "S" curve with the puffing, Patty chose to stitch her gathered area as a straight, diagonal element. She incorporated much more stitching on her pillow than I did for additional interest. Her pillow is stitched with stippling, additional top-stitching, and more rows of decorative stitches than my version.

This detail of Patty's pillow shows a close up of the stitching. Another variation is the use of a satin stitch to frame the center area of the pillow and set off the flange. This variation is a great alternative to the bias strip border I used. It achieves the need to cover the raw edges of the puffing and also helps to set off the boundary for the flange. You will notice that Patty also did some stitching on her flange as well.

I like your version Patty. Thanks for allowing me to share it here on my blog!

The pattern for Home Dec Pillow #2 will be completed soon. It is a sister to this one, but has a number of other techniques that will be incorporated into it. I'll post more on it once the class has taken place in a couple of weeks.