This pillow is amazing. It forms to any comfortable shape you need. It came with me to college and back home all those years in a row. It came with me when we got married. Mike eyed it suspiciously, but we seriously lacked furniture and I promised him this would come in handy when someone was relegated to the floor.
It's not really pretty. It's crazy dirty. I have no idea what it's stuffed with. Magic, I assume. It instantly refinds it's original shape and molds back to whatever you need. It's handy to lay against on movie night or to prop your baby up when they want to sit and you're arms are numb from holding them.
And it's the perfect napping spot for your little dog who sinks into the middle of it.
Sadie has taken over ownership. One night while I taught, she got a little too excited and peed on a corner of it. Mike and the kids scrambled to clean it up because they thought I would be totally distressed over it since I've had this pillow longer than I've been married, much less thought about being married.
However, Sadie likes to dig in this pillow. She's trying to find the magic, I'm convinced of it. But it only has a light cotton material and those claws of hers could do damage to something so antique. My friend, Sheri, to the rescue! She had emailed me a link to a site explaining how to make envelope covered pillows and SWORE to me it was incredibly easy. I think she made eight pillows in one day for her daughter's apartment.
So, I went to Joanne's and last night created a top. Here's how:
First, measure what your size pillow is. Add 2 inches to the length and 2 inches to the width. This is your front panel. Cut that. Next take half the length and add 2 1/2 inches. Keep the width the same. This is one of your back panels. You need two of those.
My pillow was huge so I had to buy wider fabric. I found this "Duckcloth" which is almost indestructible. I did my cuts and made sure everything was going to fit.
I added a step here. I wanted this to be "accident proof". When I told the lady at Joann's my plan to find something water repellant she handed me this plastic stuff. She originally told me I needed to buy a teflon foot for my sewing machine (which was not going to happen...I wanted cheap!). I told her I thought I could leave the paper on and sew on that side. She thought it was just crazy enough to work.
It did work. Great, in fact! I made sure to sew inside my finished seam allowance so I think I was roughly around 1/4'. Or more. I also made sure to add puckers. It's what I do best.
You take each back panel and fold over an end about 1/4 inch, then fold over again. Here I got anal; who knows why. But, I actually pinned this, then ironed it. My mom has accused me of being an "over-pinner". She's totally right.
But just to prove that I can do something without pinning, I followed the next step which was to roll it over again and iron that down.
I know...you're thinking, "Good grief! She's still got that crazy ugly ironing board!" Ironing is not a priority here. Though it should be with how often this board is featured on this blog.
Anyway - with right sides together, layer the back panels on top of the front panels. Your back panels should overlap...like an envelope. Clever, huh?
Sew around all edges. I started praying. Without thinking I had already removed the tissue paper from my plastic and I wasn't sure if it was going to move across my sewing machine plates easily or just get stuck every couple stitches. It ended up working fine, but I'd definitely leave the tissue paper on next time just to be certain.
When you are finished, stuff your pillow inside. Here's a hint: turn the pillow case right side out before you stuff 75% of the pillow inside. I'm just trying to be helpful.
As a result my envelope back doesn't overlap quite as much as it should, but if I'd done it correctly from the start, I have no doubt it would have fit exactly as it should have.
This whole process took about 1 1/2 hours. I added some extra steps with the plastic, so I anticipate this should go much faster for someone else. The cost was about $10 and some change. Normal dog beds that we've seen are around $40 and they aren't accident proof. Or washable.
The verdict?
I brought it down to where Mike and Sadie were hanging out. She hopped on top a little unsure as to where her original pillow went.
But she made herself comfortable.
Tomorrow she gets a haircut. She's a mop. Her hair will be so short, I'm afraid and she'll lose some of her color.
But she'll probably appreciate being able to see again.
Thanks, Sheri for the awesome link! I talked to Maddie and we plan to make some other pillows (minus the plastic...I think we are safe) for her room!
1 comment:
The pillow looks great!! Aren't they extremely easy, even with the extra steps that made yours harder. Sadie has gotten so big, and she's such a cutie!
You and Maddie have fun making more pillows. Be sure to post some pictures.:)
Post a Comment