Small Projects

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 One Month Before Gift Giving

2021 Graduation gift  

There is a little more than a month left before the flurry of December's activities prohibit handcrafting!!! Perhaps this is more a reminder to myself that to the readers of this blog. If I want to accomplish all the projects on my gift giving list, it is high time to get started!

The pillow above was a graduation present, gifted earlier this year. It was reverse appliquéd, of course, and that was probably the most time consuming part of the project. (This blog post gives info on that technique:  https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2021/10/basics-of-reverse-applique.html)

The thing that elevates any homemade project is attention to details. For instance, the piping on this pillow outlines the shape and gives it a professional finish. Ready made piping is usually available in the home decor section of your local fabric store, but if you are particular about an exact match, you can DIY (do it yourself.)

You will need the raw cording, also available at said store, and a strip of fabric that measures the perimeter of your pillow, + a bit extra to seam it. Cording comes in various thicknesses, so the width of the strip needed to cover it can be gauged by wrapping the cord and leaving ¼-½ inch of extra fabric to attach the piping to the panel. 

Prefabricated piping, either bought or home made, is sewn to the edge with the zipper presser foot to get as close to the cording as possible. In the example shown here, I have created the piping directly on the panel by sewing the fabric strip to the perimeter first and then folding it over the cording.


Now the front panel is ready to be attached to the backing. One side will need to be left open in order to turn the pillow casing right side out. But it is best to sew all corners in place. I always sew about two inches from the corner on the first edge, turn the corner, sew three sides, turn the last corner and sew two inches in. This leaves an opening wide enough to turn the casing out and get the pillow form inside. With the pillow form in place, the last edge can be sewn shut either by hand or machine.

If you have any questions about this process write them in the comment section and I will do my best to help out!

Extra detailing makes a project extra special and they frequently don't take that much more effort. Sometimes it elevates an item from "homemade" to "designer." 














 

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