Bunting and Ruffled Pillows {Tutorial}

Next up, are these sweet little accent pillows. I just adore how they turned out. if only I could locate the 2nd little pillow form that I know is around here.  Which is why you won't see both accent pillows in the same photo.  Ha! I especially love the solid backs in these pretty fabrics.  The yellow ticking I found at JoAnn and the gorgeous aqua print is from Flights of Fancy by Paula Prass.

My inspiration came from {here}, {here} and {here}.

You can whip these up yourself. All you need to know is a) how to applique, b) how to hand embroider, c) how to ruffle fabric and d) how to make a pillow with a zipper enclosure.  You're welcome. ;)

Now for some specifics about these pillows.



For the bunting pillow I drew a triangle shape. For my first try, the top was 4" across and the length was 6". I didn't really know what size would fit my pillow cover until I laid them out on it. What I did know was that I wanted to use 5 different fabrics. So after I laid them out and realized they were too long, I cut them down.  I used Wonder Under here because all 3 stores I went to did not have Heat and Bond Lite in packages. WU was a real pain, or maybe I just had my iron set too high. But when I tried to peel off the backs, the adhesive came with it. That's why I have pins securing them in the next pic.  It didn't really matter though, since I was stitching them on, it's just helpful for getting them to not move around.



Next I used a pretty open zig zag stitch to hold them all down. Since I wanted to add the words, I wrote those on a separate piece of paper and laid my fabric on top and traced them with my water-soluble marking pen. Then took it to dance lessons and stitched away while my girls had fun. Perfect!



For the ruffle pillow, I sewed two rectangles the size I needed. The height is 1.75x the height of the pillow. I just eye-balled the width I like. I think the yellow layer is 6" wide and the blue layer is 10" wide so it sticks out 2" under the top. To make the ruffle, I ironed them both in half so there was a crease running down the middle (this is what you sew on). I finished the sides with a double hem, laid the smaller piece on top of the larger piece, matching up the middle creases and sewed a basting stitch down the center.



Then pull on the top thread to bunch it up to the height of your pillow cover and evenly space the gathers. Pin it every inch or so.



I also baste-stitched along the top and bottom just inside my 1/2" seam allowance so the ruffle wouldn't get bunched in the seam or zipper placement. That helped a lot!



Now stitch down the center of your ruffle.  I pull on both sides of the ruffle as I go so they can lay flatter.



Then I ironed the ruffle flat to make adding the velvet ribbon to the center a little easier.



Next was the tricky part since my fabric has vertical lines. Lay the ribbon down along the center of the gather. I pulled evenly on the ruffles from both sides (you can only see one of my hands doing this since I was taking the pic too, but you get the idea) to do the best job I could.  It's not perfect, but I've made peace with it. I suggest a non-lined fabric for the center.



Of course I finished both pillows off with a solid back and a zipper at the bottom.  Because I basted along the bottom edge of the ruffle, I had no problem with the zipper.  Yay!

And there you have it!  I may iron out those ruffles. I'm not sure the creases look so good on a wider ruffle.



I'm getting closer to being done.  Just three more pillows I think. But then there's always the fall and winter ones.  ;)