Pillowpalooza

I feel like lately, every ten minutes I'm whipping up a pillow. Nearly every room in our house has been pillowfied by yours truly.

I guess I just can't help myself - I just love pillows. First, they are SO (sew?) easy to make. Cut two squares of fabric, flip the "right" sides together, sew 4 1/2 straight lines (leaving the middle part of one edge open), turn right side out, stuff with a pillow form or batting, stitch the open edge closed, and viola! Instant decor. Sometimes I get really fancy and put a hidden zipper in one seam so I can wash the pillow cover when needed, but for the most part, pillows are among the easiest of easy sewing projects that can transform any room, or piece of furniture, instantly.

Second, pillows are cheap to make. I think the most expensive set of pillows I've made in this collection so far cost $34.00 for a pair - and really, that's only $17.00 each - not too shabby! Why are pillows so inexpensive to create? Well, for starters - you don't need much fabric. I've made pillows out of everything from napkins, to place mats, to old t-shirts. Usually half a yard of fabric is all you need to create a set of accessory pillows for the bed - not big bucks unless you are using silk or embroidered fabric - and even then, half a yard is still half the price!

Pillow forms can get a little pricey, but they regularly go on sale for 50% off at Joann Fabrics (on sale this week actually!). When a sale hits, I like to stock up in a few different sizes to have on hand should a pillow-making-frenzy ensue. A better deal sometimes (and a perfect solution for odd-sized pillows) is just to grab a big bag of poly-fill at any craft store. This will usually only set you back about $7, and you can typically get two small or one large pillow from a bag.

And third, pillows can help save and enhance your decor. Using small accessory pillows to pull in different accent colors in your design can help unify and soften the look of your room. My first rule with pillows is; never pay for a pillow that you can make for less. My second rule? More isn't always better - I once had a window seat in college that boasted a whopping 10 pillows. That's a lot of look. Looked fabulous though. But I always think of that scene in the movie Along Came Polly where Ben Stiller spends a half hour every night putting away the throw pillows his wife insists on having on the bed, even though she left him for their scuba instructor. On their honeymoon. It doesn't end well for the pillows.

Which leads me to the first pillow I created for the house, a pillow for our bed:

Originally I had planned on making two other pillows in a steel/white striped fabric, as seen in our bedroom inspiration photo. But, I put the steel/white striped fabric on the bed, and it just looked to harsh to me. Plus, Mike sees anything on the bed other than his own brick Tempur-Pedic pillow as an obstacle - one to be tossed in a corner and hopefully forgotten. I don't blame the guy - I don't think any guy, anywhere, ever has been big on throw pillows... although my brother once had an obsession with a plaid/houndstooth pillow that he just had to have. I broke my no-expensive-pillow-buying policy to get it for him as a housewarming gift along with some new bedding.

Anyways - I think for now I'm just sticking with this one lone pillow that matches the curtains. I'm also considering it a freebie since I stole the pillow form from the previous pillow we had on the bed (so in reality it never went anywhere, just got a make-over), and the fabric was leftover from making the curtains. I still have a plethora of gray and white striped fabric on hand though, should I change my mind!

The next set of pillows I created were for the guest room:

This collection is a good mix of purchased & made. I bought the orange ikat pillow at a good sale at Macy's. I think it was $24.00 - which, is probably pricey for a pillow, but the materials alone would have set me back about that amount, so I splurged. The other two pillows in the green knot pattern I made from some discount fabric. I think the amount of fabric used on these 2 pillows probably ended up somewhere between $2-3.00. And the pillow forms I bought years ago and had stashed in the attic - so what I saved on these two pillows more than makes up for what I spent on the store-bought one.

Since the guest bed isn't used all that often, I thought it safe to throw a few extra pillows on this bed :)

The next pillow I made was for my office:

I've always loved this bold, retro pattern, so when it went on sale at Joann's, I thought "what the heck!" and got half a yard to make a pillow for the houndstooth chair in my office. Since this fabric was a little thin, I lined the pillow with some white muslin that I had laying around, so you wouldn't be able to see the stuffing through the fabric. Since this pillow was an odd size, I just stuffed it full of some poly-fill I had handy. I think this little pillow set me back around $3.50.

And last - I made some pillows for the couch:

You know how obsessed I am with chevrons, so when I saw this mustardy yellow print at Premier Prints, I just had to snag a yard. Although, since the fabric is screen-printed, instead of woven, I'm not sure how well they will hold up long-term - but that's the beauty of pillow covers; if they start to look worn, I can just whip up something else.

We like big comfy pillows on the couch, so I snagged two jumbo 26x26 pillows at the last sale Joann's had for 50% off. These pillow forms are usually $24.99 a piece, so being able to get two for the price of one was a budget-saver. I also took photos of them on Morgan before we moved her down to the first floor, because someday (hopefully soon!) we'll have another charcoal sofa in the living room that these pillows will look fantastic on. In the meantime, we've brought Big Blue back up, and while I don't love the look of these pillows on our current sofa, it will do for now!

I put hidden zippers on these so we can take them off and wash the covers when needed because we use and abuse the couch pillows. Case in point - here is what the pillow now looks like once Pillow Killer Mike got his hands on one:

Squish.

Oh well - they are loved! I have plans to make even more pillows, once we figure out more of the decor in the living room, but for now - I'm pillowed-out.