Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Pottery Barn Inspired Coral Pillow

I don't know about you, but I just love all the Coral and Shell decor that I've seen in all the catalogs lately!
The minute I saw this one in Pottery Barns catalog, I knew I wanted to try to make one.
 Pottery Barn

I love the texture, the color and the small mitered flange that outlines it like a picture frame.
I had to think about it for a few days to come up with how I wanted to add the texture to my pillow.  Then I came across this fabric at JoAnns in the clearance section.
It's a micro fiber suede.  It was on clearance for $9.00 a yard and I had a 40% off coupon.  Doesn't get better than that!

My drawing skills are pretty good, but my 15 year old sons are even better!  I used a large piece of paper and drew a large square the size I wanted my pillow to finish at...20".  I showed my son the picture of the pillow in Pottery Barn's catalog and asked if he could draw me some coral like that.  He divided my 20" square into 4 squares to help him get the scale right.  It took him about an hour and this is how it turned out.
I knew the micro fiber suede would not fray too much and so I decided to use an iron on adhesive.  As you can see, I got this one at my local thrift store for a whole .25 cents.
The HeatnBond is see through enough that I was able to lay it on top of the drawing my son made and trace the coral shapes onto the paper side of the HeatnBond.
Following the manufacturers directions I ironed the HeatnBond onto the back side of my fabric.
 After cutting out all the coral shapes with a sharp pair of scissors I peeled off the paper backing.
Using the original drawing my son made, I carefully placed all the coral pieces on a piece of off white fabric that I cut 21x21 inches square.  I used a few pins here and there to keep it from shifting as I ironed it to the pillow fabric.
Once the coral was set on the front of my pillow fabric I finished constructing the pillow like this:

So as I already said, I cut my pillow front 1" bigger than the finished size (20"), I cut it 21x21".  But since we're adding a 1/2 inch mitered flange to frame out the pillow, we can not do the zipper at the very bottom of the pillow.  The zipper will land slightly above the mitered flange at the bottom of the back of the pillow.  Cut your back 21x21" (the same size as the front)  Then cut another piece 21x2".  

You can use a store bought zipper, but I always use zipper by the yard, so my instructions will be using zipper by the yard.  And since I'm using zipper by the yard, I will need 2 zipper stops.  I make them out of fabric so I'm never stitching across the zipper teeth with my sewing machine needle (which will dull the needle)
My zipper stops are about 2 1/2" long by about 1" wide.

Here's what my zipper components look like:
Fold under 1/2" on one of the zipper stop and lay it on your zipper end by 1/2".  Stitch right next to both sides of the zipper teeth.
Leave the other end of the zipper free for now.
Place the long edge of the small back piece right side down on the zipper aligning it with the edge of the zipper tape.  
Stitch close to the zipper teeth.  Pause 3-4 inches from the end.  Fold under 1/2" on remaining zipper stop and line it's raw edge up with the pillow end.  Cut the zipper off allowing 1/2" to go past folded end of zipper stop.
Slip the zipper stop under the pillow back piece against zipper and finish stitching to the end.  When you open it up, it should look like this.
Add your zipper slide to the zipper.  
Now once you have your slide on your zipper, slide it down to the center of the zipper.
Place the other back pillow piece along the other side aligning it with the zipper tape.  Stitch close to the zipper teeth.
Lay it out flat right side up and then fold the fabric over the teeth of the zipper to form an overlapped zipper.  Your fold should just go slightly beyond the zipper teeth, just enough to cover the zipper teeth.

Line the right side of your zipper foot up with the left side of the zipper teeth and stitch.
With wrong sides together, lay your pillow front on top of your pillow back, lining up the edges.  The top edge on your back piece may be a little bigger.  Trim the excess off.  

Cut 2" wide strips of your coral fabric to use as the mitered flange frame.  I cut 2 of these the width of my fabric x 2".
Lay one strip face down on the front of your pillow extending the strip past the starting pillow edge.  Start stitching 1/2" from the beginning corner using a 1/2" seam allowance.
Stitch to the end stopping 1/2" from the corner.  Back stitch and remove from the machine.
Using a clear ruler, make small marks on the strip at 1/2", 1", and 1 1/2".
Hopefully your clear ruler has 45 degree angles on it.  Line the 45 degree angle up with the long edge of your strip and draw a line to the 1" mark on your strip.  The line you see going across my strip is not the 45 degree line, it is the 30 degree angel line.  ( Didn't want you to get confused on where to line up that line)
Fold the strip slightly beyond the point of the "V" and pin.  Notice my lines do not go all the way to the edge of the strips.  Pin.  Stitch through both layers following the "V" and not stitching beyond it.
Turn the corner of your pillow and starting right where the stitching of the "V" ended, stitch the strip to your second edge of the pillow.
Again, stop your stitching a 1/2" from the end, back stitch and remove from the machine.  At this corner you will probably need to join the other strip.  Although your strip may be long enough to go around the corner, it probably isn't long enough to make it to the next corner, so we will put our seam here where it will never show.
Draw your 3 marks at the 1/2", 1", and 1 1/2" again.  And again, draw your "V".  Trim the strip about 1/4" past the point of the "V".  Seam your next strip to this strip using a 1/4" seam allowance.
Stitch your "V", trim the seam allowance to 1/8".  Turn the corner and continue on like this around all 4 corners.

Once you have sewn your strips around all 4 edges, trim the seam allowance along the "V" to 1/8" also.
Turn the strip right side out, pushing the points of those "V"s out to make a nice sharp point.
Press the corners flat along your pillow edge.  You will begin to see the mitered edge taking shape.
I had to trim my seam allowance around my pillow to 3/8" because my fabrics had so much bulk that folding this mitered flange to the back was getting too bulky.
On the back side of your pillow, turn under 1/2" along the remaining strip edge and pin all along your pillow.

Hand stitch this edge to the pillow back, making sure your stitches do not show on the front.
Stuff your pillow with a pillow fill and you are finished!!!


What do you think?  Not so hard huh?!
The most challenging part about this pillow is the mitered flange and even that wasn't so hard once it is broken up into steps.

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112 comments:

  1. What do I think? I think PB who? Your pillow looks AMAZING. I am REALLY impressed. It's like a 3 in one tutorial (piping, zipper and coral design)...Flawless job!

    amy @ whilewearingheels.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Amy,
      First off, I have to tell you that I love the name of your blog.."While Wearing Heels"
      Thanks so much for the kind words and I'm glad my tutorial was clear enough to follow, it's hard explaining this stuff sometimes. As soon as I'm done answering comments here, I plan to head straight to your blog to follow!
      Jules

      Delete
  2. WOW! You (and your son!) did a great job replicating the Pottery Barn pillow. It looks just like the original! But better, because you made it all by hand :-)

    Kelly

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! My son was so proud of himself! He really is a talented artist by nature. Glad you liked it!
      Jules

      Delete
  3. That's such an easy way to hide a zipper, I never would have thought of that! And the pillow looks fabulous! -Jessica@GreenPB&Js

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    Replies
    1. Jessica,
      I'm so glad you liked it and I'm glad I could show you a new way of doing zippers! It's easy too!
      Thanks Again, Jules

      Delete
  4. Love this great pillow, thanks for all of the pointers!

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  5. How cleaver is this. I love it and would love if you showed it off on my link party.

    kampenlane.com

    ~Taylor

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    Replies
    1. Taylor, Glad you liked it, I will definitely stop by your party!
      Jules

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  6. Nice tutorial. I've been sewing a long time, and I learned from it, so thank you! I've been wanting one (or two!) of those coral design pillows.

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  7. Wow - very clever and the pillow turned out great!

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  8. Love your pillow! It makes me want to go to the fabric store tonight and make one.

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  9. Such a gorgeous pillow! And your son did a great job with the coral!

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  10. This turned out amazing! I would love for you to link it up to my "I Made This" party at Grits & Giggles. http://www.gritsandgiggles.blogspot.com/2012/04/i-made-this_18.html

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    Replies
    1. Jenilyn,
      Thanks! I've recently started linking to your party, thanks for hosting!
      Jules

      Delete
  11. this pillow is just so great, how it turned out.

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  12. It's a dead ringer!!! What a great idea and you executed it beautifully!

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  13. This is just so amazing. I would have taken one look at the PB pillow and sighed helplessly unable to afford it. I can't believe you actually MADE ON! I mean seriously- all of that coral was one big undertaking. You are so awesome and it turned out beautifully.

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  14. You are so smart! I have seen that pillow in PB, too, and loved it, but never thought of making one for myself. It looks amazing. I'm pinning this for the zipper tutorial, too, because I have a zipper phobia when it comes to sewing--you wouldn't believe the lengths I go to to avoid them!

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    Replies
    1. Ruth,
      Thanks for pinning it! I'm so glad the zipper part helped with your zipper phobia! Zippers can be so easy once you know the tricks of the trade. I hope I have inspired you to master zippers and conquer your phobia!!
      Jules

      Delete
  15. Beautiful job...the pillow looks great!!!

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  16. amazing...i love it
    bythewayjenngray.blogspot.com

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  17. Are you serious...this is amazing. Talk about talent. WOW!!!!! What an inspiring post! I would love it if you would share this post at our WIW linky party. I hope you can join us.

    Paula

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    Replies
    1. Paula, Thanks so much!! I'll head over and start linking to your party! Thanks for the invite!!
      Jules

      Delete
  18. Whoa! This is awesome. I was wondering how you were going to pull this knock off- off!
    I'd Love for you to come share it in The Mommy Club and or any of your other fun ideas! I saw this on Kitchen Fun With My 3 Son!

    http://www.crystalandcomp.com/2012/04/the-mommy-club-share-your-resources-and-solutions-40/

    Have a great weekend! Crystal

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    Replies
    1. Crystal, Thanks for the invite and I'll be joining the party!
      Jules

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  19. That is incredible! It looks just beautiful and I'm so impressed. Every week you wow us with your talent and creativity and we are so glad you share it with us at Inspiration Friday!
    Vanessa

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  20. I absolutely love this! Your are awesome!

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  21. How pretty! So glad you linked to Things I've Done Thursday!

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  22. Beautiful!! You and your son are very talented. This is my first time visiting your blog and I am now following.

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    Replies
    1. Sherry,
      My son is very talented and he's never had an art class! Glad you liked it!
      Thanks for following,
      Jules

      Delete
  23. Your pillow turned out beautiful! That's so nice of your son to help you out drawing the coral. I think your version is better than the original. Thanks for sharing!

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  24. You amaze me! This looks every bit as beautiful as the PB one and at a much better price. Thanks for sharing at this week's BFF Open House.

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  25. holy moly, that is beautiful! i need to get my hands on a sewing machine!!

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  26. I like your even better! So cute!!!

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  27. This is so stunning, the contrast in colors makes it pop! I'm a new follower!

    Shannon@SewSweetCottage

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    Replies
    1. Shannon,
      Thanks! And thanks for following!1
      Jules

      Delete
  28. Wow, just... wow. You have mad skillz! This is amazing!

    Thanks for sharing it on Show Off Saturday!

    XO

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    Replies
    1. Meg, Thanks for the vote of confidence! Glad you enjoyed it.
      Jules

      Delete
  29. I've featured your pillow today at Grits & Giggles! Come grab a featured button!

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    Replies
    1. Jenilyn,
      Thanks sooo much for featuring my pillow!! Love your blog and your link party!!
      Jules

      Delete
  30. Just wanted to let you know I featured this as part of my link party wrap up ! Feel free to grab a featured button from my sidebar if you like and thanks for linking up!

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    Replies
    1. Carol, Thank you so much for featuring my pillow, I'm so honored to be featured!! Proudly posting your featured button on my blog.
      Jules

      Delete
  31. Wonderful DIY! Thank you for sharing!! It is so pretty!

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  32. This is FANTASTIC!!! Absolutely beautiful, thanks for the detailed tutorial - I love that Pottery Barn pillow too and this looks like a really fun project, I love making pillows!

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  33. Beautiful! And, props to your son for doing such a great job drawing the coral!

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  34. I love this pillow and your tutorial was great. My sewing projects are a little more on the basic side, primarily due to my lack of attention span. Check out My Home Tour when you get a chance to see the projects I recently completed. Cheers, MGal

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Glad to hear you sew, even if it's just basic stuff! I bet you have fun when you do sew. I'm looking forward to checking out your home tour.
      Jules

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  35. This looks awesome! I wish I had your sewing skills! :)

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  36. That looks awesome, good on your son drawing the coral it looks amazing. xx

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  37. Great job! I might have to try this for my mother. She is obsessed with red coral! Thanks for sharing!

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  38. I can't get over this pillow! It's amazing! I've featured your tutorial on Sew Woodsy today! Thanks again for linking up!

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    Replies
    1. Katie, Thank you so much for featuring my pillow, it means a lot!! Linked up to your party again this morning and I can't wait to see what everybody has done.
      Jules

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  39. This is incredible! I can't believe you made that wow. You put PB to shame!

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  40. WOW WOW WOW!! I just love this so pretty! I don't know that I could have a steady enough hand. You and your son did a wonderful job, better then PB! I will be featuring it next week but pinning for now :)
    XO
    Kristin

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    Replies
    1. Kristin,
      Thanks for pinning it!! And thank you so much for featuring it!!! I really appreciate it!!
      Jules

      Delete
  41. Hi I too flipped when I saw this pillow, however I wanted in in a light green, so decided to trace the pattern from the PB photo and i'm going to punchneedle in the coral with light green heavy floss! LOVE yours thanks for the tutorial

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    Replies
    1. I bet that will come out nice. I'd love to see a picture of the finished pillow!
      Jules

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  42. I'm just sitting here with my jaw on the floor. Literally. Seriously! From the drawing your son made to the zipper tutorial to the custom trim ...

    I bow to the master!

    :)

    Linda

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    Replies
    1. Linda, That is so kind of you to say!! My son did do a great job with the coral, I'm not sure I could have done it without him. I learned from an even greater Master who puts my sewing to shame at times. She has been my mentor and friend for many years now and I owe so much to her for passing along her sewing knowledge to me, so I pay it forward through my blog.
      Jules

      Delete
  43. What a great project! And it really looks a lot like the original. Thanks for linking up with me for Friday Favorites. I'm featuring you this week!

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    Replies
    1. Jerri,
      Thanks for featuring my pillow, it means so much to me! Thanks for hosting every week.
      Jules

      Delete
  44. Absolutely amazing - your sewing skills blow me away! Thank you so much for linking up your project. Just to let you know, you’re on the Inspiration Board spotlight today. Feel free to grab a featured button. Have a wonderful weekend.
    http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/2012/04/inspiration-board-link-party-spotlight_27.html

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    Replies
    1. Carolyn, Awe chucks, that is so sweet of you to say! I so appreciate you featuring my pillow and thanks for hosting a great link party every week!
      Jules

      Delete
  45. You sure don't have to worry about PB, they have to worry about you! So very pretty, and very well done. You are a really good seamstress. I've been working on making French Pleated cafe curtains. I've spent over a week figuring the calculations since I am making by hand, not using pleaters tape. I almost sent you and email to see if you cold help me figure out, but then finally got it. Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration at Sunday's Best Par.tay!

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    Replies
    1. Cathy, Thanks!
      Pleated curtains can be a challenge, but I'm sure they will come out awesome! I never use pleat tape either! There is a formula for figuring pleats, so let me know if you are still struggling with them and I will share it with you. Never hesitate to send me an e-mail for help on a sewing project, I'm happy to help!! I just love to see that people are sewing!!
      Jules

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  46. Hi, I'm Jaime. I run a blog called The Dress-up Drawer and I was just passing through. Love your blog and this pillow is amazing!
    I have a great giveaway going on right now for a personalized platter from The Southern Belle Boutique and just thought it might interest you. Thanks for letting me say hi!

    http://thedressupdrawer.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-and-giveaway-southern-belle.html

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  47. This is gorgeous! And you make me think that even I could do a mitred flange. Thanks for linking to Tout It Tuesday.

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  48. Thanks for linking up to the Tuesday To Do Party! Hope you'll come again this week! This month's Pretty Packages party is now up for any of your lovely wrapped gifts!
    http://blackberryvine.blogspot.com/2012/04/pretty-packages-party-14-highlights.html
    Smiles!
    Jami
    www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com

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  49. I like you version much better! Thanks for linking up at The Kurtz Corner! I have featured you on this weeks link party! Come grab a featured button and link up. Can't wait to see what you made this week! :)

    http://www.thekurtzcorner.com/2012/04/tuesday-tutorials-link-party-no-34.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Audra,
      Thanks for hosting your party every week and thank you sooo much for featuring my pillow. I proudly linked your feature button!
      Jules

      Delete
  50. This is fantastic! Coming to you from Sew Blessed.

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  51. Hey, you speak my language! Your pillow turned out great. If we were neighbors we'd sew up a storm! Glad I found you via Knock-Off Decor and I'm anxious to read more posts.

    Ellen

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  52. LOve this pillow and the instructions for the mitered flange edging. Any way you'd be willing to scan and post the pattern your son drew. I'm not as talented as he but I can sew and would love to recreate this pillow.

    Patti

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  53. I know everyone's already said this but, Wow!! Amazing work. Love your sons art work and your sewing. Looks way way better than the PB version. To be honest I clicked the PB photo in my email thinking it was the tutorial link and had to go back and click your photo to come here for the tutorial. Awesome work.

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