Gwenny Penny: Haul Out the Holly: Day 5 with Ameroonie Designs

Amy from Ameroonie Designs is here today to share her tutorial for a Christmas pillow. Take it away, Amy...

This pillow makes a great accent for your sofa or bed. And in rich holiday colors, it's a treat to bring out for the holidays! It takes a little patience, and some time, but it's a show stopper for sure!

First you will need your ruffle fabric, and your background fabric. I chose to have my background fabric compliment the ruffle fabric. I purchased the fabric for the ruffles from IKEA, it was only $2.99 a yard! It's a gorgeous, shiny, sheer polyester. You will need about 1/2 yard of the accent fabric and 10" of the background fabric. Cut out your background fabric to 10"X12" (cut 2). Cut your ruffle fabric into 3"X5" rectangles- you will need approx 60 of these.

I didn't want my ruffles to fray as much, so I took a candle and singed the edges of the rectangles.

Then, take each rectangle and accordion fold it using 1/2" folds. You will fold up the 5" length so your finished pieces will be 3" X 1/2". Pin each end of the piece to hold the folds.

Arrange the top three pieces across the width of the front background piece (across the 10" side). Leave a 1" border on the top and approx 1/2" border on the side. Pin in place.

Take the first piece off and fold it in half, pressing to crease and mark the center. Place back on the background piece and stitch down, back stitch the first couple stitches to secure.

When you are nearly at the end of the first piece, lower the needle and lift up the presser foot. Slide the next piece under the presser foot, so it's snug against the first piece, making sure the sides are lined up. Lower the presser foot and continue stitching the rest of the first piece and most of the second. Repeat for the rest of the pieces in the row (you will use about 20). When you get to the final piece, back stitch to secure the threads. Repeat for all three rows.

(please pretend all three rows are sewn in this picture ;) )

Before you place the back of the pillow over the ruffles, fold in the sides of the ruffles and pin to secure, this will give you some working room when you sew around the edges. Also, make sure to push in pins along the top and bottom edges, so they don't get caught in the needle. Then, place the back of the pillow over the ruffles, pinning in place along the edges. There is a lot of bulk in the middle of the pillow, so you will need to just match up the edges and pin in place. Sew around the edges using a 3/8" seam allowance leaving a 5-6" opening for turning. Clip the corners and turn. (there are a LOT of pins inside the pillow, so be careful when turning- just take your time and you won't get pricked).

Remove all the pins, generously stuff the pillow and stitch the opening shut. Fluff the ruffles, and you have a gorgeous accent to any room!

Thanks, Gwen, for letting me come participate in Haul out the Holly! It's been a lot of fun- and there are some great ideas here! Feel free to come on over and hang out with me at Ameroonie Designs any time!

XOXO,

Amy

What a luxurious pillow, Amy! When Amy first decided to do this project, she mentioned that it would be interesting to try with white and red fabric, too... like a candy cane! Click on over to Ameroonie Designs to see Amy's other great projects, including lots of other pillows, great flower making tutorials, and her beautiful tote bags. Thanks so much for sharing your pillow tutorial with us today, Amy!