I had the muslin and a 20 ounce bag of polyfill. I wondered at first if it would be better to cut squares of batting the size of the pillow and fill it with that, to give it a more "boxed" appearance. But I didn't think I had enough - oh, did I mention the pillow cover is 20 inches square? So, I cut out the pieces for the form. Before I got too far sewing it, however, I had the good sense to look for a similar design in a sewing book, to try and find out which order the attach the pieces in. I found something in One Yard Wonders, by Rebecca Yoker and Patricia Hoskins - a cushion for small pets - and I'm glad I bothered; it made the process much easier!
I stuffed the form (I'm not sure how much I like polyfill - so squishy!), and used all I had, but it didn't seem enough; the pillow wasn't firm, the way I think a square box pillow should be. I turned to a thrifted pillow which I was going to "refurbish", and I ripped it open expecting to see something I could add to my pillow, but this is what I found:
Someone had made this, and stuffed it with layers of fabric and batting, and wrapped the whole in another layer of batting. I'm new to the pillow world, so this was interesting to me. And, I had a *ta-da!* sort of moment when I realized that, just as in the quilting world, they were originally made of cut-up fabrics from around the house and put into something warm and beautiful, so, too pillows - stuffed with whatever is at hand! Of course! In fact, I have seen pillows in home magazines and books with pillows which were obviously under-stuffed and floppy-looking, but I guess people do what they can at the time! I'd never thought about it before.
So, I looked at my under-stuffed pillow and pondered the situation. I could leave it as is, and finish it when I got more polyfill. But it is very large, and I finally decided that the softer looseness of it is a better thing. If it were filled up firmly, the huge size of it might be too much - it really is kind of big for the room. But the colors were right, and I liked the plaid.
So, I learned something about pillows. And I'm satisfied with my result.
If you like the pillow cover, Garnet Hill may have some left - I thought $18 was pretty good for them!
(originally $48!)
I love your pillow! Pink gingham is one of my favorite things. :) And yes, you should see what some of my pillows over the years have been stuffed with--but it's "Whatever works" with pillows, and different filling gives them different form/softness, after all, so it works out. Yours looks great. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Val - it's rather a fun thought, that lurking inside any lovely pillow you might see, could be an old blanket or something!
ReplyDeleteI really love the pink! Pillows are fun, and with how my kids love them into literal pieces, it is probably something I should add to my list of 'crafts to tackle soon'!
ReplyDeleteYou are a good example indeed! So many children, and always so cheerful! And you still make time to make things.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you, is all I can say! :)