Pillow Talk

From time to time Journaling Woman prides herself on being handy. Here is this Wednesday's acts of handiness.

One of the easiest things to sew is a pillow. I love pillows. I like to buy pillows, but I mostly make them. I started sewing when I was 13 years old by machine. But, I was younger when I sewed by hand, my Barbie clothes. From a very young age I learned to appreciate fabric and the texture and beauty of color and print. Now as I grow older, I find myself drawn to old prints and old fabrics that I (or my family for me) often purchase at flea markets. Here are some favorite old fabrics that I have collected and a few pillows in Journaling Woman’s life.

Here are few fabrics in my stash, yet to become one of my creations.

This is a tablecloth, I will guess from the 1970's.

Another tablecloth which I believe may be from the 1950's. The texture really reminds me of some of the flour sacks I have seen and touched, from that time period.

This was a tablecloth from which I have made a pillow. As you can see there are stains that I had to cut around. I will use the flowers in the stained areas as applique for other pillow projects. The edge of the tablecloth had a crocheted edge which I used on a pillow coming up.

This is JW's favorite. I wish you could see it in person. The print is so beautiful in blues, reds and white. This was a shirtwaist dress that I found at a thrift store. I will guess also from the 1950's. Because I love this print so much, I haven't made anything from it, as yet.

PILLOWS

In this photo, I have made two pillows. The bluebird I drew on white cotton and painted it with acrylic paint. Then I edge it in green and white flower print. The large pillow behind it was two napkins that I found on clearance at a department store. These pillows are in my bedroom. Isn't fabric just beautiful?



These pillows were purchase at a thrift store (sponsored by an animal shelter-one of my favorites). One is neckroll and the other is homemade pillow of heavy navy fabric. I have a pattern to make a neckroll and plan to do it soon. This is one of my spare bedrooms.

This pillow is from the tablecloth I mentioned earlier. I used a plate for a pattern. I also saved the gold edging around the tablecloth and used it to edge the pillow. Behind the round pillow is one of two red pillows that I found at a thrift store. They were very clean and barely used (very important to Journaling Woman).

I want to mention the chair, in the photo, that I found at a flea market. I plan on making a slipcover for it. Stay tuned.

This is the other red pillow. I gave 50 cents each for them.

This pillow just represents a pillowcase, another alternative to reusing pillows that you have but want to make match your decor. This spare bedroom has a nautical theme (sort of), so I chose this fabric print. I love all things associated with nautical, don't know why unless it's that JW is a Pisces.

And that's it for now. One last note about making pillows. Your pillow will look much better if you make a pillow insert first out of muslin stuffing it with the fiber instead of just stuffing the decorative fabric. Your pillow will be smoother.

There you have it, pillow talk from Journaling Woman. Now don't you feel like making a pillow?