Wednesday 6 April 2011

Vintage Inspired: Decorative Pillow





So for those that do not know I have a youtube channel. Yes, I am one of THOSE people. I eventually want to film my videos with a consistent background. Instead of buying a room divider, like a normal person, I planned to make one. So I used all my creative genius to come up with a concept, a checkered type canvas, that would feature various vintage inspired designs. I came across tons of cute digital images for download on etsy and went clicking away until I had an array of beautiful images that went along with my theme. The goal was to make a large canvas with each of these designs ironed on to a square, and each square would be finished with a mitered fabric binding then "quilted" together to form this decorative wall hanging.



I would transpose each of the images onto a 10 inch x 10 inch square by ironing them on. So this project sounds quite complicated and believe me it is, or more so labor intensive, needless to say I will be printing, ironing, cutting, mitering, and quilting for a while. With this daunting task ahead, I opted for some immediate gratification and decided to make a decorative pillow case, just as a quick win. (I know some of you were wondering when I was going to get to the point)
So last night I made my very first decorative pillow case, it was fairly easy and came out lovely! I used black and white fabric, the same I intend to use for my large project, and created an envelop pillow case for a pillow form. Before sewing all three pieces together I ironed on one of my favorite designs. Here are a few pictures.

There were some glitches, but I learned from them. The next time I have to make sure to cut the transfer paper very close to the image, there is some peeling around the edges where there is no ink. I knew I had to do this but it somehow slipped my mind, most likely because I was super excited to see what it would look like. The right tools are key, I used a rotary cutter and plastic board to assist in cutting the squares, this made my life much easier. Cutting fabric clearly can be done with a pair of quality craft/fabric scissors. Lastly, I had some transfer paper from different vendors (avery, hp, no frills brand) and all came with different instructions. Regardless of how familiar you think you are with the process, follow the directions carefully. I totally wasted about 7 transfer pages because of a minor oversight.
When the blog gets more traction I intend to give one of these bad boys away. The picture really doesn't do it justice and the fabric on the back of the pillow is really cool. Be sure to comment and share the link if you like what you see.

2 comments:

  1. I think this is beautiful. Can't wait to see the 'big one'.

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  2. I have to say I'm really taken by your general perception of things and your creativity I love it!

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