Bolster Pillow- Button Tufted with Flat Ends

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!  I've been busy in my workroom sewing up a storm for my favorite designer.  Which means I have a new tutorial to share.

A Bolster Pillow with Covered Button Tufted Flat Ends.

Isn't it adorable!  It's not quite as easy as the other bolsters I have shown, but it is still a pretty easy pillow to make.

I made two of these for my designer.  They are for the sides of a daybed.  The daybed measured 71x38, so these bolsters were made 38" long and 9" high.

What you'll need:

1 yd of fabric per bolster

1/4 yd contrasting fabric for the ends

zipper or zipper by the yard

thread

2 button forms or large buttons

2 yds of upholstery batting

As always, we have to do our math first.

If the diameter of our finished end circle is 9", then we need to multiply that by pi (3.14) which equals roughly 28 1/4".  So it will take 28 1/4" to go around our bolster.  Now we need to add our zipper allowance.  I add 1 1/2", so we need to have 29 3/4" to go around the circle and accommodate our zipper.

Since I made this bolster to be 38" long, we need to add 1/2" seam allowance to both ends. (38=1/2"=1/2"+=39")

So we will be cutting our main piece 39" wide x 29 3/4" long.

Next we need to cut our two circle ends.  Add 1/2" seam allowance all the way around, so we need to cut two 10" circles.

In order to cut circles, you can trace a plate if you have one that measures 10" exactly.  

Cut and sew approx. 60" worth of welt cord.  See how to cut and cover welt cord here.

Mark the center bottoms of your circles with a small clip into the fabric.  Laying your welt 1/2" past that clip mark, start sewing at the clip mark.  Use a zipper foot to get close to the welt cord edge.  Clip into the seam allowance of your welt about every 3/4" or so to accommodate the curve of the circle.

When you're almost all the way around the circle pause with your needle down and extend the welt 1" past the starting welt.  Cut the welt 1" past the starting welt.  Open the seam allowance of the welt 2".  Turning under 1/2 of the fabric that covers the welt and placing it under your starting welt.  Now cut off the ending welt filler cord even with your starting welt.  fold the fabric welt cover over the starting welt cord and finish stitching to join the welt cord.  Sorry I forgot to get pictures of this whole process on this pillow, but you can see pictures of the process on my Fan Fold Pillow tutorial here.

Once you have the welt cord stitched to both the circle ends, it's time to insert the zipper.

I always serge or finish the edges that are going to be sewn along my zipper.  You'd hate to have the fabric fray and then get those fabric threads caught up in your zipper.  So serge your 39" long edges.

I use zipper by the yard.  It is easier and more economical.  I buy mine from Rowley who only distributes to the trade, but you can do a web search to find it retail.  

Out of scraps of fabric, I cut what I call my zipper stops.  I cut these 1 1/8" wide by 3-4" long.  Fold under 1/2" of your zipper stop and lay it on top of your zipper end.  Stitch back and forth alongside the zipper teeth.

Now stitch alongside the other side of the zipper teeth.  This acts as a zipper stop and will not allow your zipper to unzip past this point.  One benefit of doing it this way is you don't have to stitch across the zipper teeth which can dull and sometimes break your needle.

Lay one edge of your 39" long edges on top of the zipper.  Right sides together.  Stitch along this edge close to the zipper teeth and stopping approx 4" from the end.

Once you've paused with your needle down, lay your 2nd zipper stop next to the zipper and fold under 1/2" of the zipper stop and see where that lines up with the zipper.  Cut your zipper here.  Your zipper should extend 1/2" under your zipper stop and your zipper stop should align with the end of your pillow length.

 Once you cut your zipper, lay your zipper stop under the fabric against the zipper and stitch the rest of the way.

Turn your zipper and fabric right side up.  It should look like this.

Push your fabric slightly over the zipper teeth and give it a finger pressing to form a fold.  This will be your zipper flap.

With your zipper foot between the zipper teeth and your stitching, stitch along this edge.  

Separate the zipper teeth a little at the open end and slide your zipper slide on.

We won't stitch that other edge of the zipper just yet.  We'll do that after we are sure our pillow matches up after sewing around the circle.

Lay your end on top of your first end/circle piece.  Line the end of the zipper up with the center bottom of the circle.  Start stitching an inch or so away from the center bottom.  Stitch as close to the welt as possible.

Clip into the seam allowance every 3/4" just like you did when you stitched the welt to the circle.

When you get about an inch and a half from the zipper, stop stitching and see how this end is going to line up with the seam allowance of the zipper.  Mine was slightly short, so I took a smaller seam allowance when stitiching the re maining edge to the remaining edge of the zipper.

Once you have it lined up and you can see how big your seam allowance needs to be, remove the pillow from the machine.

Push the zipper flap out of the way and stitch the remaining serged edge to the remaining zipper edge.  Since my fabric was a stripe, I took great care to make sure the stripes were lining up perfectly on each side of the zipper.

Now, push the zipper flap back over the zipper and stitch the remaining 2" or so at the bottom of the circle.

Line up the center of the zipper with the center bottom of the 2nd circle and stitch.  again stitching as close to the welt as possible and clipping into the seam allowance to accommodate the curve.

Turn right side out and you are ready to stuff and tuft.

If you are using covered buttons like I did, cover your buttons now and set aside.  I haven't done a tutorial on covered buttons yet, but I know there are other blogs that have covered this with good directions.

This particular designer has me stuff her bolsters with upholstery batting, especially if they are going to be tufted.  There are all kinds of fills you can use, foam, down feathers, polyfil etc.  But the batting fill keeps it's round shape unlike feathers and is easy to tuft unlike foam and polyfil.  Upholstery batting is a thick batting.  It can be purchased at upholstery supply shops.

I cut my batting 38" and rolled it up until I had a 10" tall circle.  Our bolster is only 9", but we need that extra 1" to fill out our pillow completely and to ensure we don't end up with a baggy fit.

Once you have your batting figured and cut, unroll it and lay two strands of tufting twine (or very strong thread) across the batting and roll up the batting again with the twine in the very center.  Make sure there are several inches of twine hanging out each end.  Staple the end of your batting down.

Just to ensure my ends of the bolster get a really good pouf at the tufted ends, I add a circle of batting to the end of the batting fill.  Trace two circles using the end of your batting roll as a guide and cut them out.

Fold your circles in fourths and make a dot in the center.

Using a large needle with a LARGE eye, thread your tufting threads onto the needle and insert through he middle of the batting circle.

Staple the edges of the circle to the edges of the bolster fill, all around the circle.

Find the exact center of your pillow circles and pin a pin there.  Re-thread the needle with the two twine ends at one end of your batting fill.  Stuff the first end of your batting fill in one end of the pillow.  Reach in and poke your needle through the pillow end at the center.  Attach your button with a triple knot.

Stuff the batting fill the rest of the way in your bolster.  Push the seam allowances towards the long part of the pillow.  I just think it looks better when the seam allowances are pushed in that direction.  Thread your needle again with the twine sticking out of the other end of your fill.  Reach in again and poke the needle through the center of the 2nd circle.

Sometimes i use needle nose pliers to pull the needle through.  Be careful though, I stuck myself with the needle doing this pillow and didn't know it until I saw a speck of blood on the white fabric.

(which I got out with a Qtip and Hydrogen Peroxide)

Zip up your pillow before you knot the other button to the end.  I align the seam of the batting with the zipper along the bottom.

Pull on the the twine until you have the buttons pushing in enough.  this is a personal preference thing, but if you pull them in too far, your round ends will start to get out of shape.

So here's the finished bolsters for the day bed.  I think maybe we should have used a different fabric for the welt, but that's what this designer wanted and she was happy with it.

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Slip Covered Chair

I was blessed to have a wonderful stepfather Don.  Don passed away 6 years ago and I miss him terribly!  I inherited a chair that belonged to him and before him it belonged to his mother.  Don had a love of animals and every picture I have seen of his chair from years pass is with an animal of some sort taking a snooze on this chair.  This chair has definitely seen better days, one of the wood arms has permanent teeth impressions from his mothers dog, one of the legs is attached with an "L" bracket...well you get the picture.  I would never think of parting with this chair and I like the flaws/history of this chair.  Something about this chair attracts animals and my cats snooze on it daily.  So every couple years I have to slip cover it.  When I saw the Sew-vivor competition, I knew I wanted to slip cover this chair as my entry.

I didn't take pictures as I worked on this chair, so today there is no tutorial.  Just posting my newly slip covered cat lovin beaten up chair that I cherish.  It's a hard chair to slip cover because there are so many factors like covering the arms and closures etc.  I chose a white fabric and trimmed it out with linen colored welt.

For the closures I used Mother of Pearl buttons.  The fan fold pleated skirt is accented with 1/2" of contrasting linen along the bottom.  I made it just long enough to hide the "L" bracket that holds the leg on but still allows it's curvy legs to show.

Here's a few more pics.

If you have family favorite that has seen better days, slip covering may be a great option.  I plan on doing a couple slip cover tutorials in the near future, so stay tuned for those.

Wish me luck in the sew-vivor competition!!

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Knotted Corner Pillow

My favorite designer always has some fun and interesting details she has me add to her creations, that's one of the reasons she's my favorite.  Her projects are always interesting and fun to work on.  Lately she has been on a Knotted Corner Pillow kick and I can see why.  Knotted corners on pillows look so cute.

Wouldn't this be cute with a nautical or beachy fabric?
Follow along as I show how to make these knots.

Cut your pillow as you would for a basic pillow.  You can find those instructions here:  http://sew-passionate.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-sew-basic-pillow.html

You're going to need enough lip cord to go all around your pillow plus about 7" per corner.
You're also going to need a cording foot that is slightly smaller then your lip cord.

My lip cord is 1/2" diam. and I'm using a 1/4" cording foot.

Always start lip cord at the center bottom of your pillow front.  I just make a small clip in my fabric to mark the center bottom.  Extend the cord 1 1/2" past the center point.  This extra will be used to join the lip cord.

Stitch on top of the lip cord biting into the actual cord.  Stop with your needle down when you get approx. 2" from the corner.  Clip into the lip at 1 1/2" from the corner.

Now depending on the diameter of your cord, leave approx.  5 1/2" and then clip into your lip again.  You may have to experiment to get this exact measurement right.  It all depends on how thick your cord is and how tight you want your knot.

Remove the lip from your cord between these two clips.  Sometimes there is a chain stitch and if you find the right thread you can just pull and the stitching simply unravels.
Tie a knot with the cord.

After you've tied your knot, stitch up to the first clip mark and back stitch.  Clip the threads and remove from under the foot.  Pivot your pillow and put your cording foot at the 2nd clip mark.  Back stitch and continue to sew up the next side of your pillow until you get 2" from the next corner and repeat.

There will be an un-stitched area in the corners.  We will go back and stitch that later.

Once you've knotted all your corners and you are on the final stretch (bottom) of your pillow, stop stitching with your needle down about 2" from your center mark.  Cut your cord 1 1/2"-2" beyond the center clip.  Dab both cut ends of cord with glue.

Let the glue dry for about 5 min.  Now separate the lip from the cord the last 1 1/2" of each end.

Unravel your cord slightly and lay those three cords flat like this.

Unravel the other end of the cord just enough to sit/butt up against the flattened out cord.  Basically you are criss crossing them.

Holding the cord ends in place, stitch over them.

Finish constructing your pillow following "How to Sew a Basic Pillow" link at the beginning of this post.
After you have the zipper and sides stitched together, go back and stitch diagonally across the corners.  Be sure not to catch the knots in the stitching.

Trim the corners.

Turn right side out and press.  Stuff your pillow.

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