Good Morning!
If you looked at yesterday's post, you saw a lot of red, white and blue... and after writing the post, I was inspired! I decided to start decorating the house for the 4th and got out our banners, lanterns, flags and more... and then I realized that I didn't have any
red, white and
blue pillows! What?! It's only my
job to make pillows... so that's what I did!
To make your Patriotic Pinwheel Pillow, you'll need the following:
(1) 14"x14" square red pattern fabric
(1) 14"x14" square blue pattern fabric
(2) 12"x 9" coordinating fabric
sewing machine
pins
scissors
chopsticks (or something pointy that you can push your corners out)
12" Pillow Insert
* I used heavy weight upholstry fabric for my pillow.
** I used a 1/4" seam
*** Finished cover size is 12"x 12"
Let's get started!
Grab your 2 14"x14" fabric squares. Since this is a patriotic pillow, I went with red, white and blue but if you could always do a different color scheme to match your decor.
Take one of your squares and you're going to cut a long, diagonal cut from one corner to another. If you have a straight, long ruler and rotary cutter use them! If not, I'd suggest drawing a straight line (on the back side of your fabric) with a pencil or chalk and then hand cut with scissors.
You'll now have 2 large triangles.
Take one of your triangles and cut down the center. Repeat with your other triangle.
You'll now have 4 triangles.
Repeat with your other 14"x14" square of coordinating fabric. Once all of your triangles are cut, you'll have 4 red triangles and 4 blue triangles.
(I ironed all of my triangles at this point... you could've ironed the squares before you cut as well, it's just preference)
Now you can lay out your triangles so that they create a square. Make sure that your patterns are going the way you want them go... You'll have enough triangles cut to make 2 pillow covers.
Now it's time to assemble your front.
Take 1 of your blue pieces and lay your red piece on top, I like to keep my triangles in the shape of the square so that I can sew the edges correctly. Here's a suggestion, move counter clockwise... as in, grab the red triangle to the right of your bottom blue triangle and place it on top with the right sides together. Make sure your points meet.
Now sew along the right side of you triangle, from the top point to the bottom right point with a 1/4" seam allowance. Don't bother back stitching.
Once you've sewn your triangles together, open them up. You now have half of your front done! Yay!
Repeat these steps to sew your other 2 triangles together. Remember to move to the right and sew your seam on the right... this ensures that your pinwheel pieces are all in the right order.
Don't forget to press the seam! This will help your cover lay nice and flat!
Now that you have your 2 large triangle pieces together, it's time to finish the cover! So close to being done!
Lay your two triangle pieces on top of each other, right sides together. Do you best to line up your seams.
Sew along the long bottom edge of your triangles using a 1/4" seam allowance. Viola! You now have a pinwheel square!
Turn your square over and press the seams so that your pinwheel lays nice and flat.
You're so close... you just need to get the back together!
Grab your 2 back pieces (9"x12").
You're going to make 1 hem on each piece. On one backing, make a 1/2" hem along the long edge. I like to iron my hem as I measure it. On the other backing, you'll want to make a finished hem, so fold your long edge 1/2" and iron, then fold it 1/2" again and iron. You won't see any raw edges on this hem. Sew both hems down with a straight stitch.
Now, grab your pinwheel front and lay it face up. Grab your FINISHED hem piece (the hem with no raw edges) and lay it on top of your pinwheel piece, right sides together. You want your bottom and sides to line up.
Grab your other backing piece and lay it on top of your pinwheel piece. You'll want both hemmed edges to be in the middle of your pinwheel with all of your raw edges on the edges of your pinwheel.
I like to pin my edges a little before I sew, just to make sure I grab all of the pieces when I sew my pillow together.
Sew all around your square with a 1/4" seam allowance.
Trim your corners, this will help with the bulk and make your corners nice and pointy!
Turn your cover right side out and admire your pillow cover! Nice... use your chopsticks to push the corners out so that you have a nice, clean point on all your corners!
I like to iron my seams before I put the pillow insert inside, just to give my cover a nice, clean look but it's not necessary...
Shove your pillow insert inside your cover and admire your mad quilting, sewing, home decor skills.
Go ahead, hum the National Anthem... you know you want to.
Place your pinwheel pillow where ever you need a boost of patriotism... remember, you have enough triangles cut to make another one of these beauties!
I'm off to make some more
Red, White and
Blue awesomeness! I hope you are too!
Have a great day!
Andrea
