Monday, April 4, 2011

DIY- Sea and Sand Throw Pillow

 Happy Monday!  While browsing around on my new favorite place, Pintrest, I found this painting and fell in love.

Isn't that lovely?  I want to be there, greeting the day.  Well, I don't really paint, but you know I love fabric and a challenge.  So I decided to create a pillow for my couch - a nice reminder that summer is coming.  This is what I came up with:



Can you see the sky, water, and sand?  I didn't want it to be super literal - you know like "oh she has a pillow of the beach on her couch....." But I am pretty happy with how it came out.  This design would be pretty in any color combination - I thought about an all blue one - starting with a dark blue and fading into a light.  If you'd like to make one - here's a loose tutorial on what I did.
Step 1:  The basis for the pillow is pleats.  The top, gold portion is all one piece, just folded up to make pleats.  Then I slid in one little strip of blue to mimic some clouds.

I continued cutting strips (about 21" long) and pressing them into pleats....various shades of blue for the water and tan/brown for the sand.  My first layout looked like this:
I changed it a little bit.

Step 2:  Once I had all of the strips cut out, I cut out the front and back pillow pieces - about 21" x 18".  I just used a nice cream.  Then I started at the top of the pillow and sewed the pleats onto the pillow front.

I also inserted those little "waves".  Just a small strip of pleats running the opposite way.

Once all of the pleats were topstitched on, I sewed the back piece on with  right sides together.  
Be sure to leave an opening in the bottom so you can turn/stuff it.  

Step 3:  The waves.  I started to hand stitch the waves on...then got frustrated and pulled out the hot glue gun.  I just glued those sheer pieces on where I wanted them - you can't see the glue and it was super easy.  Lastly I hand-whipped the opening closed, and tossed it on my couch:

It looks a little lonely right now - it needs some more summer/spring pillows to share it's home.  But it makes me really happy to sit beside it and dream of the ocean.  Have a great day!
xoxo
jessica

16 comments:

  1. I love it! Very creative and subtle. :)

    ~Kristin

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  2. Oh my gosh this pillow is so beautiful. I love art inspired stuff. The pillow is a great interpretation of that painting.

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  3. Jessica! That is beautiful! I want one! I love the waves. And colors. And concept.

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  4. What a lovely interpretation! I wonder how something like this would look in my blue living room...hmm...

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  5. Beautiful and so creative--what a great take on the painting.

    I am super-impressed.

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  6. Holy Cow Jessica!! That is gorgeous!!! I love your interpretation of the painting - such a great idea!! I think the pillow turned out beautifully!

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  7. It's beautiful. I love the idea of painting with fabric. I've been dreaming of making a fabric painting of the prairies where I grew up, flying overhead just looks like a quilt.
    One day I'll do it - thanks for keeping me inspired.

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  8. Your pillow is a work of art!

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  9. That pillow is awesome - I love the ocean, it's a perfect representation of it. When I look at it, it makes me {S M I L E }

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  10. That is Stunning!! I am inspired to make my own now!

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  11. This is just beautiful! My favorite colors, too!

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  12. Really gorgeous! I can totally see Anthropologie selling this cushion for $120 :-)

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Thanks so much for commenting! If you have a question, make sure your email is in your profile or leave it in a comment so I can answer you. Otherwise email me at jessica(at)sewhomegrown(dot)com - Have a lovely day!

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