After changing the seat cushions on our kitchen chairs, I couldn’t help thinking to myself that our lovely couch was probably sitting over in the corner of the room feeling very neglected.  I can almost hear it sighing!  And I think Bruce agrees.  That couch looks BORING.

Jaron and I first moved into our apartment in November, and because I love the Christmas season, I immediately began decorating for the holidays.  So right away, our lovely new couch got some much needed attention with the addition of these adorable pillows from the Christmas Roundup Post.

But now, it just sits there, screaming for attention, and begging me to get rid of that heinous green pillow – it may be comfy, but who ever said fashion = comfort!

So today I’m pulling out those pillow forms I used over Christmas, and I’m going to finally give them and the couch the makeover they deserve!

This week, I stopped over at Joann’s (who is having an AMAZING sale right now!) and picked up this lovely collection of fabrics.

Don’t you just love the color combo!

Anyways, first up, we have this old rectangular pillow form.  It came from a bath pillow from Bath & Body Works, but let’s be real, who has time to take a bath anymore!  So I removed the pillow cover, and I’m now ready to cover this baby up!

Step One: Measure your pillow form from seam to seam.  Mine measures out to 15.5″ wide by 9.5″ tall.

Step Two: Cut your fabric for the front side.  To do this, you need to cut the fabric so that it is 1″ wider and taller than your original measurements.  So for my bolster pillow, I cut a rectangular piece of fabric that was 16.5″ x 10.5″.

Step Three: Cut the back two pieces for the back of your pillow.  For a rectangular shape, each piece should be the same height as the front panel (10.5″).  You can determine the length of the pieces by taking the length of your front piece (16.5″), divide it in half (8.25″), and add 2.5″.  So for my pillow, I come up with 10.75″ wide by 10.5″ tall.

Step Four: Press the wrinkles out of your fabric.  If necessary, use iron on interfacing to make the fabric you’re working with a bit more stiff.

Step Five: On one short edges of each of your back panels (10.5″ sides), fold over 1/4″, press, fold it over 1/4″ again, and press into place.  If you have a fussy print like I do, be sure to fold under opposite edges, so that your print is facing the right way.

Step Six: Edge stitch down the folds you just made on your back panels to secure the fold.

Step Seven: Lay your neatly pressed front piece down right side facing up.  Place the two back pieces right side facing down so that they overlap, cover the front piece entirely, and the finished edges are in the middle.   *Again, if you are using a fussy print, make sure that the print is going in the same direction for all of the pieces.*  Pin around the entire outer edge.

Step Eigth: Using a 1/2″ stitch, sew around the edge of the pillow.

Step Nine: Take out your pins, trim around the corners, and flip the pillow cover right side out – you’re almost done!

Step Ten: Insert your pillow form, and your finished!

I made a couple of pillows for the couch, and I think it looks much happier!

And so does Bruce, haha.  I still have plans to add a at least two more large pillows, but that will have to wait.

The great thing about making pillow covers is that you’re never stuck with one look!  With the pillow forms being reusable and washable, you can change them out the covers for the seasons, special occasions, holidays, etc.  So have fun with it!

Until next time!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 8:46 pm and is filed under For the Home, Furniture Revamp, Green Crafts, Sewing, Simple Craft, Tutorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.