Glam Your Bed Pillow Sew-Along Week Four- The Round Pillow with Piping

Welcome to Week Four of the Glam Your Bed Pillow Sew-Along!

Last week, we made the lovely Embellished Pillow.

In case you’re new, over a course of five weeks (there’s only one more week left after this one!), we’ll be making a pillow a week. You can choose to make one or make them all! By the time we are finished, you’ll have an awesome looking bed for the New Year, and maybe even some new sewing skills!

Each Monday I will introduce the pillow for the week, complete with the supply list and instructions. On Fridays, I will post about any specialized stitches that we may need for the next pillow. For example, if I know that Monday’s Pillow includes piping, I’ll so a special post the Friday before on piping so that you have instructions on different techniques, as well.

This series assumes that you already have 2 standard pillows and 2 pillow shams on your bed. The before and after pictures that you see will be reflective of this.

I want to see your pillows! Go to my blog’s Flickr page {Here} and upload your photos! Or post them to my Facebook Page! At the end of the sew-along, I’ll be featuring some of your work! Also, don’t forget to grab the button on the left sidebar and add it to your blog- the more that join along, the merrier!

First, a word about the fabric. Choose your fabric wisely. For these pillows, I recommend a nice, home decor fabric. I was super lucky to find an entire bolt of fabric that I wanted to use at a craft sale, but if you don’t already have a fabric that you want to use, I wouldn’t try to scrap by with cheap fabric.

I choose two types of fabric. One matched the main color that my bed already is, the other is an accent color that coordinated with the main color fabric. If you choose to make all your pillows from the same fabric, you will need 5-6 yards. If you want to make the pillows different colors, then you can break that amount up a a little bit.

The inspiration for all of these pillow was given to me by an article 2000 Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Magazine. I altered the plans somewhat to fit the materials that I had on hand. I’ve attempted to find a site to link to, but I can’t find one- maybe the magazine is no longer in publication. I don’t know.

If you participated the last two weeks, you should now have three new pillows on your bed: the ribbon pillow, the quilted pillow, and the embellished pillow.

This week-

The Round Pillow (with Piping!)

Supplies:

2 circles- each 13 1/2 inches in diameter (you can change the measurements if you want, just remember to alter the amount of piping and the gusset measurement)
1 strip of fabric 3 1/2 inches by 40 1/4 inches- this strip will be referred to as the gusset
Fiberfill
2 covered buttons (for instructions on covering buttons, see {this post})
Coordinating thread
2 1/2 yards of either 1/4″ or 1/2″ diameter covered piping (for instructions on covering and applying piping, see {this post})- You could also use pre-made piping if you wanted.
Long hand-sewing needle
Thick carpet-type thread
Scissors
Sewing machine

Step One:

Fold the 2 circles into fourths and place a mark at each fourth. Fold the gusset strip into fourths and make a mark at each fourth.

Step Two:

RIGHT sides together, match the short ends of the gusset strip. Stitch the short ends together using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Iron the seam open.

Step Three:

Take your covered piping and cut it in half. Pin one strip of piping to the front of one circle panel. Sew in place. Pin the second strip of piping to the front of the remaining circle panel. Sew in place.

Step Four:

Pin the gusset strip to the front panel- RIGHT sides together. Match the “quarter” marks that you made on the circle panel and the gusset strip. Sew the gusset strip in place. Cut down the seam and press remaining seam open.

Pin the gusset strip to the back circle panel- RIGHT sides together. Match the “quarter” marks that you made on the circle panel and the gusset strip. Sew the gusset strip in place, making sure that you leave a 6″ opening for turning. Cut down the seam and press remaining seam open.

Step Five:

Turn the pillow right side out and stuff with fiberfill. Slip stitch the opening closed. If you are not familiar with how to slip stitch, see this video tutorial {Here}.

Step Six:

Using your long hand sewing needle and thick thread, attach your covered button- one to the front and one to the back- of the pillow.

Finished!! Another pillow down. If you have been participating in the sew-along thus far, your bed should now look like this:

Looking better every week!! I’d say this pillow can be completed in around 3 naptimes, depending on your skill level. It may take a bit longer if you are covering your own piping (especially for the first time) I do recommend covering your own piping and buttons if you have the patience and time- it gives the pillow a highly customized and polished look.

Come back next week to see what we will make next. And don’t forget- I want to see your pillows! Feel free to link them at my Things I’ve Done Thursday party, to my Facebook page, or to my blog Flickr page.

Linking to these great parties!