For a long time now I have been wanting a grain sack type pillow. I'm sure we've all seen the ones sold at Pottery Barn for $89 dollars each....gorgeous pillows - not a gorgeous price. During my time in "Blogland" I've come across tutorials for faking grain sacks and I stored the info away for a "someday" project.
Then a couple of months ago I came across this old laundry bag (I'm assuming it's probably a canvas type material) at my neighbor's yard sale for .50. I knew it would be the perfect material to do a faux grain sack pillow. A few days later I found the pillow form at Goodwill for .99.
BUT....I held off and held off because I was intimidated at the thought of trying to sew the actual cover. I felt like I didn't have the adequate skills to make it. With two small children and a dog, I knew I wanted the cover to be removable so it could easily be washed. But I haven't a clue how to sew a button hole or put in a zipper. Other than that, I didn't know what to do.
Then one day I was browsing through some links I had saved and came across this one, The Five Minute Cushion. I did not even remember ever seeing this video clip or saving the link. But there it was, a super easy solution to my pillow problem.
So I got to work cutting up the laundry bag, using painter's tape and craft paint to make my design (I mixed my own color using red, brown, and a bit of black).
I wanted to personalize it more than what a plain Pottery Barn type pillow would be, and knew I wanted to add numbers to it. When I told my hubby this (he used to work at a feed mill/distributor) he explained the code system of numbers and letters they used. So I followed that same code using numbers/letters that are meaningful to me.
I used my scrapbooking stamps and adhered them together so I could get it somewhat straight and lined up. I wasn't worried about it being absolutely perfect, old grain sacks never are, but I didn't want it completey whopper-jawed either.
I provided the link for the tutorial (trust me, SO easy) so I didn't bother taking pictures of everything, but here it is all sewn up and ready to insert the pillow.
And here is my finished product.
(After the paint had dried, I put it through a wash/dry cycle to fade the paint even more and give it a nice soft/worn look.)
The washing made some of the numbers and letters indistinguishable, but that's okay, it just adds to the old/worn look.
Doing it this way makes it sort of an envelope for your pillow and gives you a flap on the back for easy removal.
The link describes this as a "Five Minute" project. It definitely took me a lot longer than that with all the painting/washing/and 2nd guessing myself because of my limited sewing skills. But, the fact remains that in the end it was quite simple to make and I'll definitely do it again!
The fabric cost me .50 (I still have the other half to use for another pillow, so technically the cost was .25), and the pillow form was .99. So for $1.25 I have the super cute "grain sack" pillow I've always wanted.
Linking up to:
Great job. Your pillow came out great. I am very fond of that farmhouse red. And I agree that the PB ones are way out of reach for me, especially when you can make one yourself. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete~Lynn
Very cute!! Good job!!
ReplyDeleteThis wonderful post totally rocked the blog party's success! Thanks for linking up at Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop :)
ReplyDeleteSweet! My grand parents would use flour sack material to make kitchen towels. To decorate them, they would embroider a sweet little farm girl or flower motif on a corner. I just loved those towels. Anyway, this gives me an idea for kitchen curtains!
ReplyDelete