All of the pillows I've been making for the guest bed are knife-edge pillows.
Simple clean lines, and super easy to sew, but I thought I would demonstrate how to close one of these suckers once you have it stuffed. You could, of course, close it by hand - but every time I do that it seems to come undone at some point.
Here's how you can create pretty professional-looking pillows!
Step 1: Before you stuff the pillow, press the open edges under about 1/2" -
when it's stuffed it will look like this:
Step 2: Then use a straight pin and pin the center of the opening closed - be sure the head of your pin is facing left(the point will be facing your machine) to ensure easy removal while sewing.
Then pin it closed to the right and left of the center pin.
Step 3: Lift your presser foot as high as it will go and wedge the pillow underneath it - about 1/4" ahead of the opening, and far enough in that you will get a 3/8" seam.
Here's the trick. Keep your left hand on the pillow and apply pressure towards the machine while your right hand guides the pillow through the presser foot. Go slowly and keep the edge of the pillow lined up with the edge of the presser foot (an easy way to make a 3/8" seam).
Continue this until you sew about 1/4" past the edge of the opening.
Then cut your threads and you're done!
This may take a little practice, because the pillow will want to shoot out towards the left - but that's what your left hand is there for.
Be firm and count it as your upper body workout for the day.
Once you master this technique you will love it. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to email me: jessica(at)sewhomegrown(dot)com.!!
Happy Sewing!
xoxo
jessica
This is how I do it too! The blind stitch or whatever it's called intimidates me.
ReplyDeleteI hate sewing pillows closed. The stitching never looks pretty to me, and it seems to come undone easily. I will be making some couch pillows soon and am definitely going to give your way a try. It looks easier than hand stitching and so much prettier. Thanks for sharing the how-to!
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to do this without having the stitches show on the outside? I've made some pillows out of my cross stitch projects and don't want the stitches to show. I hate hand sewing using the ladder stitch, but it does work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. I can bake all day long, but I'm just now starting this sewing business and this is exactly the answer I was looking for. Let's just say hand-sewing is out of the question for me right now because I'm such an amateur!
ReplyDelete