Fall Pillow Cover Tutorial

  We've had our couches for about 5.5 years now I think.  For a long time I loved how the plaid pillows looked with the gingham fabric and had no desire to change them up.  But...then after a couple of years I began to tire of the same ol' same ol' all the time.  At some point I bought some coordinating floral fabric and covered one of the pillows using basically just a gift wrapping technique held together by fabric tape. (Mad skills right there!)  Later on, I added a smaller pillow that I had made a faux grain sack pillow cover for.

But I what I really wanted was a set of covers that I could slide over the pillows and change up for the different seasons.  With 2 kids, and a dog who loves to lay on top of the pillows to sleep, they get dirty quick.  The idea of being able to easily take them off to wash them really appealed to me.  Plus, if you just have covers they can pack flat in a storage box and take up no room at all.  Trying to pack away a tub full of pillows that are just for fall or just for Christmas takes up way too much valuable space.

  This is something I've been wanting to do for over a year, so finally I just went for it.

I found a "before" picture and cropped it down so you could see what the pillows looked like.  By themselves they're just fine, but add in a vintage wool plaid blanket with fall colors and it began to clash horribly (or look kinda Christmas-y when you're going for an autumn look).

A few hours of sewing later and I had this.

Ahhhhh....so much better!   A lovely change.

Now let me share how I made these, because I'll be the first to tell you that I have very minimal sewing skills.  I wasn't about to attempt anything that needed a zipper or a button hole sewn in.  But these envelope style covers are as easy peasy as it gets I think.

I followed {this video tutorial} for the cover itself.  It's explained very well and SO simple to do.  I actually didn't sew it completely at first though.  I did the hem on the short ends and then sewed my leaf pattern on before I finished sewing the cover.

For the leaf, I printed out an image with the shape I wanted.  It actually wasn't quite big enough so I ended up tracing around it to make it bigger.  Then I laid it over the wrong side of the fabric and traced it pushing down firmly so that it would leave an imprint on the fabric.  Every few inches I would carefully lift the paper and trace the impression left on the fabric with a pencil.  (There may have been an easier way to do this, but I couldn't think of one at the time.)

Here you can see the pencil outline.  I edited the picture so that it would stand out more.  After that I cut out the shape, laid my tan fabric over the pillow so that I could see where to position the leaf, and then pinned it in place.  (After the fact, I realized that it would have been much easier if I had sprayed the back of the leaf with some spray adhesive so that it held in place smoother and more tightly.)

Then I got to sewing.

You know those pictures you see on Pinterest of dreamy craft rooms that are as big as my entire living room and kitchen combined?  You know the ones that have a scrapbooking table, a sewing table, and tons of adorable organization going on?  You know, something like this...

(source)

Yeah....that's not mine.  I could only wish for something like that.  Here, on the other hand, is my "craft room."

Yep, that's reality folks.  We had to eat supper in the living room that evening.

Anywhoozy...I sewed the leaf on leaving a space at the edge so that the fabric would become raggedy after washing.  I also clumsily sewed some "veins" on the leaf as well.  I've never attempted anything more than a straight stitch before so this whole leaf sewing thing was a new adventure for me!

I followed the same tutorial for the smaller brown checked pillow, just using different measurements.  I added the strip of tan before sewing the cover shut just like I did with the leaf, and left the edges of it raggedy as well. 

 I assumed I was going to have to wait awhile until I could get to a big craft store to find cute buttons to put on it, BUT on a whim I decided to just check and see what our Walmart in town had and low and behold they had these adorable buttons!

Don't they look like little crocheted doilies?  SO cute I tell ya!!

I have enough fabric left that I plan on making another leaf cover for a 2nd pillow, only using a maple leaf design this time around.

 If you've been wanting to attempt pillow covers, but aren't sure because of a lack of sewing skills or some other such fear, I'm here to say, "If I can do it, you can do it."  Just go for it!  Mine aren't perfect by any means.  Some of my stitches are a little wobbly, and my envelope flap actually ended up the wrong direction, but you probably wouldn't have known that if I hadn't told ya.  And neither will anyone else if you make some.  Find some cheap clearance fabric and do a practice run with that first if you need to, but just go for it.  It really is quite simple and you'll be incredibly happy with the new look and so proud of that fact that you made it!

If you'd like to see the rest of my fall decor you can see that {here}.

DIY Topiaries Tutorial

Last week I gave you a peek at how I finished off the dresser area with DIY faux metal industrial looking letters and DIY topiaries.  I shared the tutorial for the letters earlier this week (that post can be seen {here}) and now, as promised, is the tutorial for the topiaries.

I purchased two of these forms from Hobby Lobby.  I think regularly they're $11.99, but of course, I used my 40% off coupon on them.  I briefly considered making my own forms figuring it'd probably be cheaper that way, but the truth of the matter was...I just didn't feel like it.  I didn't feel like hunting for all the right pieces in just the right sizes and then having to glue it all together.  I went the easy route and just bought the pre-made ones.

However, I didn't care for the fake looking dowel rods holding them together.  I wanted something more realistic looking, something that looked like a real stick, with bark and texture.

I've been seeing those projects on Pinterest where they've used hot glue to write a word on a glass jar and then they paint over it for a raised lettering look.  I used that same idea and added knot holes, gouges, etc. with the hot glue to give it texture.

Then I painted the whole thing a solid brown.

Once that was dry I used tan and black paint and lightly brushed, and dabbed, and swirled until I got the realistic look I was after.  I left the knot hole areas a lighter tan color to give the appearance that a branch had been cut off there.

I also purchased these bags of moss from Hobby Lobby - $5.99 each, but again I used 40% off coupons.  They can be found right next to the topiary forms in the store.  It took 3 bags for sure and maybe would have needed a 4th bag except that I discovered some off the exact same moss in a recent makeover project that I purchased.  

Been-there-done-that Tip - If at all possible, purchase all of your bags of moss at the same time.  Take your kids in the store with you to be able to use more coupons, or whatever you gotta do.  I purchased my 3rd bag separately from the other two, about a week or so later I think, and it was a different shade of green!!  I ended up having to pull portions of it apart and sort of mix in the new, lighter, shade of green so that one topiary didn't look completely different from the other.)

I took the moss out of the bag and sort of separated it into big chunks and little chunks, then I flipped the form over and started from the bottom just piecing chunks together like a puzzle.  I used a hot glue gun to attach them.  I didn't have a plan, it was just random and willy-nilly.

Once I got the bottom sections filled in around the dowel rod on both balls, I then flipped it back over right side up and finished it off.  It wasn't hard to do at all, just a little time consuming...and messy.  Be prepared to vacuum after this.  But I think it might have taken me an hour to complete one topiary maybe.

Once they were all finished they looked like this.  The cute little wash tubs also came from Hobby Lobby.  They had just the touch of rustic farmhouse I was wanting and bonus - the forms fit perfectly down in them!  Normal price on those $6.99 each.

Below, you can see more of the added texture on the wood.

So, this was somewhere around 2 hours of work, and after using 40% off coupons on all the supplies they cost me around $17 each to make.  Not bad when similar ones cost anywhere from $50 - $100 new/pre-made.

Oh, here's another little tip.  This moss is quite....ummmm....fragrant, so if you use it plan on it taking several days for the smell to wear down.

My only qualm with these is how in the world am I supposed to dust them?!?  I pondered this question the entire time I was making them.  Left brain was thinking, "These are going to be a pain in the tuckus to dust."  Right brain was countering with, "Yes, but they'll be so pretty it'll be worth it."  Right brain gets a little ambitious in the heat of the moment.  Because anyone who knows me well knows that I hate dusting.  I only do it when I know company is coming over.  Or if the neighbors start to complain of a smog-like atmosphere.  I despise it.  Did you know that they once tried to determine the age of the moon based on how much dust had accumulated on it's surface?  I wonder what century NASA would place my house in?

Ah well, I figure when the dust bunnies start shaping them into carrot shaped trees I'll just make new ones.  

For now, I'm off to prop my feet up and watch the dust collect.

                                                 

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