Decorative Pillows

I got an amazing deal on an antique sofa about a month ago. I wanted to add some pillows to pull the colors in my drapes onto the sofa. So, I went to a local fabric store, Cotton Capers, and bought some beautiful fringe, cord, fabric, and down pillow forms. My wonderfully talented grandma (AKA: Granny or GiGi) came over to give me some guidance. Here is how they turned out. I LOVE THEM...especially the ones with the fringe.

The pillows with the fringe are 18" pillows with 20" down-filled pillow forms inside. The red pillow with cording are 16" pillows with 18" down-filled pillow forms inside. For the gold pillow with fringe, you simply cut out an 18" square and sewed the fringe to the right side of the fabric. I used my zipper foot and set my needle to the far left so that I could sew as close to it as possible. The fringe can be manipulated around the corners as shown below.

Slightly overlap the ends of the fringe. You will not be able to tell where the fringe started and stopped once the pillow is turned right side out. I did not cut the fringe until I was finished sewing it on the pillow front.

For the back side of the pillow, I cut two pieces. One piece was 11"x18" and the second was 13"x18". I folded over one of the long edges about 1/4" and then about 3/4" and pinned it in place. I did this on both of the back pieces.

Then, sew as shown.

Next, lay the back flaps on top of the front piece-right sides together. Lay the smaller piece down first. Then, lay the bigger piece. The bigger piece will overlap the smaller piece by a couple of inches. This will all be a little awkward due to the fringe in between. Try your best to pin this together. You are going to sew around all of the edges following the stitch line that was created when you sewed on the fringe.

Turn the case right side out and insert the pillow. Remove the temporary string along the edge of the trim. You can slip stitch the back pieces together. VOILA!