apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

When I was living in Europe, I had a collection of 80 silk scarves from all around the world. Now I wear more casual and do not use them as much. When my parents came to visit me , I asked my mom if she could turn them into pillow, she did 8 beautiful pillow in one hour. I was shocked...

If I had more time, I could this into a business, because everyone asks me where I bought my colorful pillows.

I haven't made a pillow since Jr. High home economics but I might have to try again. The pillows on my couch are awfully mismatched, but all the pillows I'd like to replace them with are too expensive. I could pretty easily make a few square pillows with some fabric I like, I bet.

~Amanda
http://onehappypanda.blogspot.com

I posted on the DC DIY open thread about my pillows. I transformed some stylish tea towels (that I got on sale for $1.30!!!) as well. After gutting some decorative pillows I used the old pillow forms for the base of the next generation pillows. And the old fabric made a great template for the new covers. I also used my sewing machine to add some swirly and outlining decorative stitching over the tea towels' designs to give the pillows a bit of punch. It made them look more spicy and less culinary. Finally, to save even more money I used the trimmings from an Ikea drapery panel for the pillow backs. Overall, a super cheap and extra stylish project. And fun to boot!

grizzarkhov; I used tea towels from Anthropologie to create curtains for my kitchen and they look awesome :-))

My mom used the Ikea drapery that I had for years but never used it for pillow backs as well.

Should we say "great minds think a like"....

newyorkmuhtaru; i also used vintage repro tea towels as curtains in my kitchen for a while.

Now that I've put up different curtains though, making the tea towels into pillows would be a super idea. yay!

ohmigosh - this is so timely! i just sewed up some valentine decor for my house! but i do the pillow thing alot b/c i like to change things up to match seasons or holidays or just colors. it's weird but it makes me happy :)

shameless linkage :)

http://houseno8.blogspot.com/2007/03/all-that-valentine-sheet.html

http://houseno8.blogspot.com/2007/03/halloween-pillows.html

http://houseno8.blogspot.com/2007/02/valentines-pillows.html

http://houseno8.blogspot.com/2008/01/pretty-in-pink.html

http://houseno8.blogspot.com/2007/10/october-fun-halloween-pillows.html

http://houseno8.blogspot.com/2007/10/cotober-fun-house-no-8s-costume.html

For small throw pillows, try lined placemats. Just open up one of the seams, stitch in an invisible zipper, stuff and--zip!--you're done!

I used a fantastic placemat from Target (the pattern didn't come in pillows) to make the perfect pillow for my couch!

I've used lined placemats too (very economical as you only need one placemat) and two cloth napkins sewn together also work quite well.

I found a vintage curtain panel in a really great print... unfortunately, it was only the ONE panel. I loved the pattern so much, I turned it into 3 throw pillows!

I use vintage wool sweaters. Buy a couple of very large, 100% wool (not merino wool) sweaters at Goodwill, wash them in hot water and dry them on high in the dryer. They'll shrink, felt, and you can cut your pillows from that. Because the felt is quite thick, I do an overlap on the back instead of a zipper.

The result is really thick and cozy.

I second the idea of using fabric dinner napkins. They usually come in fun and colorful designs for not a lot of money and they're about the right size for covering square pillows.

Does anyone have a good source for pillowforms? - specifically looking for some with substance (not the cheap, easily flattenable stuffing....). I love sewing my own pillow covers but I'm still not satisfied with the inserts that I have bought from sewing store. Thanks!

I just made some cute pillows using this great tutorial. I thought they were much more interesting than just the plain solid fabric and it wasn't very hard.