Pillow sewing spree | How About Orange

May 24, 2010

Pillow sewing spree

On Friday some friends and I took The Needle Shop's Sewing 101 class together. It's fantastic. People who have never seen a sewing machine in real life march proudly out of class four hours later brandishing a pillow with a zippered cover. I had put zippers in pillows before, but never correctly so I always hoped nobody would look under there. Now I'm a kung fu zipper master. This is the pillow I made in class with Kokka camera fabric.

And then I went home and re-covered every pillow in our living room. The solid orange and the orange with bird print are from IKEA (purchased early April, but it looks like they still carry it) and the brown and black geometric print was a clearance table runner, also from IKEA. The fuzzy chocolate brown stuff is from the fabric store up the street. All I know about that is that fuzz went everywhere when I made those two, including into my coffee.

48 comments:

Grandma G said...

We did good shopping, didn't we? OK, 'you' did. ;)

Love, love, LOVE those pillows. As they say: they POP!

Mum

Care said...

FABULOUSLY gorgeous! I love them all!!

Whitney @ Whisker Graphics said...

Absolutely love how you put the patterns together! Well done, Kung-Fu Zipper Master!

Nikki said...

I can put a zipper in a skirt. At least I think I still can. I don't know if I could make the skirt though ;)

They look great!

KL said...

I just saw that camera fabric in black at Purl Soho in NYC! What a great project, and a brilliant pairing of colors/fabrics!

Melanie's Randomness said...

Lately I've been obsessed with making pillow cases. It's so hard to find the right colors or even just finding a pillow with a cute color that isn't priced like an arm & a leg. I love the camera fabric & the orange & black ones!! it really looks pretty!! What a cute idea for a sewing class. I need to learn how to sew better because these things are just too cute!!

CJ said...

Great pillows!!
Any chance you would train us in the secrets of the zipper??

concretenprimroses said...

Good for you!
I want to know the zipper secret too.
Kathy

Bird said...

HI Jessica!

D'you know, I've been hacking my brain to come up with a good colour scheme for my lounge, and your pillows just did it for me!

Black, brown and orange it is then...

Thanks :)

Kim at Yellow Brick Home said...

Awesome! I've been thinking of taking this exact same class for a while now. Perhaps I should just bite the bullet? Looks like it was very inspiring!

nicole said...

BEAUTIFUL job!

Jessica Jones said...

Do it! You'll learn a lot, have fun, and you'll be super proud of yourself. It's worth the money, because your new skills will translate to lots of other projects, not to mention you'll come out with a fabulous pillow. Confidence, knowledge, and inspiration are well worth the class price.

Ana @ Don't Fear the Ripper said...

Great job!! Man, if I lived in Chicago I would be all over that school!!

Micah-Noel said...

Wow, those look great! The bird print is amazing. :)

Annalia said...

Those pillows are GORGEOUS!

...my zipper techniques are like your OLD zipper techniques. :(

Mary Catherine said...

I love that you just came home and used your skills to give your living room an entirely new look! Go you!

If only I had mad zipper skills too...

Ann On and On... said...

I did something similar...I love your material!!!

Kat @ Black Kats Design said...

I've been wanting to take the class at The Needle Shop. Good to know it was well worth the money! The pillows look great.

RevAnne said...

I just bought some of the orange print fabric form Ikea this weekend. I actually thought about you when I bought it. I'm thinking about a tote bag with mine...

PioneerValleyGirl said...

Congrats! Pillows are one of my favorite projects (though, I admit, I avoid all things zipper if I can at all manage it) and these look great!

Sarah said...

Those look awesome! I wish they had something like that near me in San Diego!

eldasinger said...

I love the look!!! This is very inspirational. I hope I'll be able to do something like that in the near future.

Christy Amular said...

awesome! i hope you share some of your secrets zipper master!;)

BJ Lantz said...

Kung fu zipper master ~ that has me laughing out loud... But seriously, I want to be a kung fu zipper master. Really, I do. I am a Piping Pro, but being a kung fu zipper master would rock...

Tonya said...

I love the Ikea fabric. I have used it for several projects over the past 6 months. Great combination of fabrics/pillows!

Andi said...

Best looking couch on the block!!

Miss Willow said...

Sooo...can we expect a DIY zipper post?? Yes?? :)

Nicole P. said...

Oh man! I love those pillows and am very jealous that I can't take some of those classes.

kimberj said...

Don't you just love Ikea fabric!!?? We recovered our Broyill Brasilia dining room chairs in one of their fabrics. They look fabulous if I do say so myself. I taught myself how to put invisible zippers in pillows, I wonder how these are done? I also made placemats and napkins out of coordinating fabrics from Ikea. The best part its... most of its $5.99 per yard and its a weight that could go upholstery or otherwise.

Mãe da Rita said...

Great pillows!

Lynn said...

Wow!!!! Love those pillows. Great job.

drollgirl said...

FFFFANTASTIC!!! well done!!!

Nathalie said...

B E A U T I F U L!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE your pillows and the combination totally rocks!

Nathalie said...

Coming back to ask: Is your couch also from Ikea? I am shopping for a new one and love the color of yours!

laputain said...

very impressed that you put your new-found skills into action! I'm the worst for learning stuff and then not acting on it until the new skills have gone sort of rusty...then I get rage! and I love your selection of fabrics and vision of how they go together. I need to work on that.

Jessica Jones said...

Nathalie, the couch is from Dania Furniture. I don't think they carry this exact one anymore.

The Designer said...

Love all the patterns but a little too Halloween with the black. Love the orange!
The Designer Insider

carolyn said...

Niiiiice ... SO have to find a similar spot with '101' lessons in Toronto! Great job!

Janine Rose said...

So funny! I used the SAME fabric in a sewing class for a pillow!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3236492&l=1c50196382&id=806383256

sideoats + scribbles said...

Zippers scare me. EEKS! I want to be a kung fu zipper master!

Jennie Bee said...

I love your patterns and how you put them together. Pillows look great

Susan C. said...

One of the things I miss most about Chicago is The Needle Shop. I took two classes there, and they were fantastic. Your pillows look great!

Tricia said...

I've been itching to recover my living room pillows, but how often is too often? The zippers are always my biggest fear...I'll have to buck up and give it another shot.

angelina said...

i love it. anybody know of a free online pattern for zipper pillow covers?

Lisa said...

I sew a little mostly quilting. I've been thinking about taking one of their classes. Thanks for the post! Maybe I will now! I don't know how to put zippers on anything.

Sarah said...

SO darling!! I want to try now! :O)

Global Shoppe said...

I love then sooo. i wanna get one :D

stephanie said...

that is SO awesome. i want to make pillows now...even though i am completely intimated by my sewing machine.