Pillow Tricks

 You wake up. 

You feel anxious.

Something is wrong.

 

 It dawns on you, like bugs under your flesh.

The fear sets in.

 

 The screaming, horrible realization that turns your body to pure ice!

 You have company coming for the 4th, you have a ton of things to do already...

 ...and your entryway looks like THIS!!!

Faded, ugly, stained pillows...

and you've already got the fabric to cover them,

but not the time!

 

 Relax, pour a glass of something cold and refreshing.

In my case, diet gingerale.

Breathe.

Set aside 10 minutes, get your fabric, 

and grab a few safety pins.

 This is a basic 18 inch throw pillow.

 And this is 1 3/4 yards of light tropical cotton.

 It was true love at first sight, before I'd even seen the seductive price.

This is on sale at Joanns Fabric for $5.59 a yard.

 Set your ratty pillow in the center of the cloth.

You're starting with a basic rectangle here.

 Fold the bottom up so it goes just over half way.

 Take the other side...

 ...and fold it down.

Pull it a little snug.

 Grab the long tail on the left and pull it over the pillow,

gathering it when you reach the center.

 Do the same with the other side and tie the tails into a single

knot in the dead center.

 Simple enough?

Now tuck the tails around the back forming a nice,

finished knot.

 Tuck all raw ends in the back.

 Plump and arrange the knot so it looks slammin' impressive.

 Set the camera down and hear that tell tale "CLICK."

Wonder what you just took a picture of.

 Pin your knot securely in place.

 Smile smugly.

 Got another five minutes?

Do it again.

 But that's not quite enough.

Got another five minutes?

 I had this cotton duck print earmarked as a seat cushion.

I fully intend to make a muslin form and then stitch this into 

a box cornered slipcover.

Later.

 For now, I'll be using one yard of this, which is from 

Walmart and was a mere $6.99.

 I also used 3 stained and faded outdoor pillows that looked like total hell

but were still cushie and plump.

Keep the safety pins out too.

 Fold the fabric over the pillows so that the ends

meet in the middle.

Use a safety pin on each pillow to pin both thicknesses to the pillow

so that nothing will shift.

 Set the camera down again and hit the wrong button.

 Fold the ends over and box the corners;

basically, fold them like the ends of gift wrap.

Pin that in place, again through the pillow.

 Flip it over.

Would you guess how jacked up this is?

 One more, using a nasty lumbar pillow.

You want the fabric to overlap when you fold it over the middle of the pillow,

with eight inches extra on each end of the length.

This was from Joanns a few years ago, but they do still have it.

I've used it on several decorating projects.

You'll also need two rubber bands.

 Fold the fabric with right sides together.

Using the pillow as a guide, gather the ends one at a time.

 Secure the gather with a rubber band.

Yawn laboriously- you've been at this for twenty minutes,

and you're exhausted!

 Okay, this is what you should have.

Turn it right side outso the rubber band tails are inside.

 Adjust your gathers to make them neat and pretty.

 Stuff your pillow inside.

 Do a second one. Your thirty minutes are up.

 Now, dress up that front door.

 God, that's soooooooooo much better!

Maybe I'll get some sleep tonig....

CRAP! 

The bathroom!!!