BrittanyMakes

I’ve been eying this pillow for quite a while, going back and fourth “should I buy it? or should I make it myself?”  I wasn’t very confident in my railroading skills (the sewing technique of lining up a pattern along a seam), so I never tried making it myself.  Well, when I was working on my bedroom it just hit me, my bed needed a striped geometric pillow.  Otherwise my bedroom wouldn’t be complete!

I rummaged through my stash of fabric, and of course I had some extra striped nautical fabric on hand.  I had no excuse but to try my best at recreating this pillow.

The first pillow I made (in photo above) I used 2″ striped fabric.  For this tutorial I used 1″ stripes, the same type of fabric Kassapanola uses.  I love how both of them turned out, they’re very different looking!

First, I drew a perfect 20″ square on a scrap of Kraft paper, then cut it out.  I folded the paper  in half diagonally once, then again, to get a perfect 90-degree right-triangle.  I traced the triangle out on the fabric using chalk to draw my lines (which you can easily clean off later with a damp towel or baby wipe).  Trace 4 triangles, but make sure the top point of your triangle matches with each triangle you make.  Cut out the 4 triangles, giving yourself at least a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Now for the hard part.  Lay two of your triangles on top of each other, wrong side out.  Line up the stripes.  Sometimes it helps to hold up the fabric to the light to make sure the pattern lines up.

Pin in place.  The more pins the better!  Sew with at least a 1/4″ seam allowance.  Make sure your seam allowance is the same for each piece. Next, take the second set of triangles, and repeat this exact step.

You’ll be left with two sets of large triangles.  Next, railroad the two large triangles (basically repeating the step above but using two larger triangles).  Once you’ve sewn them together, lay flat and iron out.  Your pattern should be a perfect geometric striped square! Now, instead of doing this again for the back of the pillow, I recommend using a complementary fabric for the reverse side.  I finished the pillow by referring to this ol’ this pillow tutorial.  I even included a zipper! I actually find it easier to sew zippers, but you can always make an envelope pillow if zippers scare you!

What do you think? Which pillow do you like better? The large stripes or the small stripes???