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Burlap Pillow Talk – A DIY pillow project.

how to make a DIY pillow…

I’ve had a fair number of comments and questions about our this DIY pillow. Our burlap pillows, to be exact.

SO PRETTY! Easy DIY pillows with burlap ruffles from www.heatherednest.comPin
 

Firstly, yes, I made this DIY pillow. And if you know how to turn your sewing machine on, you could make some too. I’m really very much a novice behind my machine, and I managed to tackle this project without too much trouble at all. I like using burlap for a couple of reasons.

First, it’s not a pricey fabric, and with kids at home and never enough $ in the budget for all I’d like to do, burlap is a go-to for me. Plus, I love the rustic look that burlap can add to a space. To me, it’s saying…”we don’t take ourselves too seriously ’round here.” And I dig that.

I love to pair it in kind of unexpected places…like with toile in our guest room.

DON'T THROW THAT OUT! Re-Upholster it! Check out this Trash to Toile Transformation NOW over at www.heatherednest.comPin

 

A lot of people don’t love this look, they think these two fabrics can’t be friends. But, to me, toile is French Country, and what on earth, I ask you, is more country than burlap?!

If you’re thinking rooster figurines and wooden trash cans with little heart cut outs, yeah, those are country too, but we don’t do that country here.

So, how did I make them? Well, first off, if you don’t know how to sew an envelope pillow, I would refer you to one of the million tutorials out there on the web for making one.

Here’s one from Craftaholics Anonymous. DON’T BE AFRAID. If you can use scissors, and sew a straight hem, you’ll survive. Trust me.

supply list

burlap diy pillow supplies:

 

 

A close up of a roll of burlap ribbonPin

 

This is what I used. You can probably get 2-3 pillows made from this roll (depending greatly on the size of pillow you’re making, obviously).

Once I had my piece of burlap fabric cut for the front of the pillow, I started pinning ribbon into the ruffles. You will start at what will be the bottom of the pillow, pinning and sewing one row at a time.
 
The bottom of this first row of ribbon should sit approximately 1.5″ up from the bottom of your fabric to allow for seam allowance and clearance for the ruffle when it’s sitting up.
 
SO PRETTY! Easy DIY pillows with burlap ruffles from www.heatherednest.comPin
 
 
I really just eyeballed how long/large I wanted the ruffles to be, then pinched the fabric where I wanted a crease, and pinned it off. I continued this way along the length of the pillow.
 
Once your first row is pinned, sew the ribbon onto the burlap fabric with a straight seam made at the tippy-top of the ribbon, just below the wire.
 
It’s easiest to sew in the direction that is along the grain of your pinches…if you sew the opposite direction, your pinches will want to pull out under the presser foot.
 
In the image above, I would be sewing from the left toward the right to keep the seam along the grain of the pinches.
SO PRETTY! Easy DIY pillows with burlap ruffles from www.heatherednest.comPin

 

Just keep following this process row by row moving up the burlap fabric. Stagger the pinch location on each row so that none of them line up one on top of the other. That will help achieve the ruffled look.
 
Your top ruffle will need to be approximately 1.5″ below the top of your panel to allow for seam allowance and to prevent it from pulling oddly if too close to the top.
 
Now that your ruffle panel is complete, you just sew the front panel to the back panels as you would with a regular envelope pillow…again, see a youtube or other online tutorial on this if you need some help.
 
When you sew the front panel to the back panel, that will stitch the side edges of the ruffles so that they have a finished edge.
 
SO PRETTY! Easy DIY pillows with burlap ruffles from www.heatherednest.comPin
 

 

Voilá! You’ve made your own burlap ruffled pillow. Now granted, this pillow is NOT going to be super snuggle-worthy, so if that’s what you’re scouting, don’t even think about going down this road.

On the other hand, if you’re just looking for some rustic, textural detail in your space. Look no further, this be your pillow. We use these in our family room.

 
A cup of coffee on a table, with Pillow and RufflePin
 
 

 

 
I’ve used the same technique to make a toile and burlap runner for our dining room table…
 
burlap and toile runnerPin
 
 

 

Hope some of you give this project a try!
 
 
Easy DIY pillows with burlap rufflesPin

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About Heather Thibodeau

A former doctor of physical therapy, Heather Thibodeau went from rehabilitating people to homes as the primary creative force behind the DIY and home decorating website, The Heathered Nest.

With her work being published both in print and online in places such as Better Homes & Gardens, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple and more, Heather's goal is to help people create a home they love, one DIY project at a time.

Heather spends her spare time writing about family travel to US national parks at her other website, National Parks Mom. Check it out!

Read Heather's story, and tour her home here.

Comments

  2. Nancy Isham says

    How fun! I love a good ruffle on a pillow. I'm in the middle of designing a pillow cover of the month club to give as a gift to my husband's grandmother at Christmas. She's 94 and loves getting packages in the mail and gets a real kick out of fun pillows that she changes out. I don't have one with ruffles yet, so now I am thinking about adding that to the mix. Great inspiration!

    Reply

    • Heather says

      Thanks Nancy! I hope you do try it out. I love ruffles, especially in unexpected places, so these definitely fit that bill. What a sweet idea for your Grandmother-in-law! I'll have to remember that!

      Reply

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