May Point of View Reveal- Pillows!

Cut out the front of the pillow.  I added 1″ seam allowance so a 13″ X 13″ square for my 12″ pillow.

The lines are hard to see in this picture.  Using a water soluble marking pen, I drew a line up 1/2″ from the edge for seam allowance, then the next line is 3″ from there.  Keep going along the pillow marking a line every 3 inches- you should end with another 1/2″ space at the other end.

Now to sew down the ribbon.  We are going to sew the ribbon in a zig zag, keeping each color between the two lines that are 3″ apart.   I extend the tail of the ribbon off the edge, angling it toward the first line.  Sew it down keeping the stitches approximately in the middle of the ribbon.  The nice thing about this pillow though is that variations are what make it interesting!
1. When you are getting close to the marked line put the needle down and lift the presser foot up.
2. (I’m showing this off the sewing machine to make these steps easier to see.)  Fold the ribbon under at a right angle.
3.  Fold another right angle (over) making a point on top of the ribbon lines.  Use a pin to hold it down as you sew up to the point.   Pivot the pillow and sew down the return ribbon.  Repeat, back and forth along the length of the pillow.
I tried doing this two ways, making the folds as I sewed, and doing the folds, pinning in place the entire length, and then sewing.  Neither one is super easy.  It will take time either way.  But, I found doing it as I sewed was a little simpler and I didn’t get stabbed with a million pins that way. 🙂
Alternate colors until your pillow is done.

For the back I did something a little different. (sorry there are no process pictures, I was winging it)

Instead of the regular envelope closure, I divided the size of the front (13″) by two, then added 1″ for the overlap and 2″ for the hem- for a total of 9 1/2″ X 13″  and cut two of them.  Then, I folded over one 13″ side 1″ and pressed, then folded it over 1″ again- press.  Repeat with the other panel.  Stitch down both sides of the 1″ hem with an edge stitch.   Then I marked 4 points equal distance apart (about 2 1/2″ I think) on one of the hemmed edges and put a small buttonhole at each of those points.  Then, overlap the two pieces and use your soluble marking pen to put marks on the hemmed side of the second panel.  Stitch a length of ribbon centered on each of those marks (I started with 18″ lengths, after I tied the bows I trimmed them down a bit).  Sew the back panels to the front panel- in the following order.  Front panel, ribbon side facing up.  Buttonhole panel, right side down (buttonholes in center), ribbon tie panel, ribbon side down, with the ribbons lined up with the buttonholes.  Sew around all four sides.  DONE!!! (well, clip corners and turn right side out first. 🙂 )

You could use either the front or the back of this pillow.  Both are cute! 🙂  *I did singe the ends of the ribbons so they wouldn’t fray.
So, do you have a pillow you are dying to share?  It doesn’t have to be a tutorial- just anything that goes with the theme!  Head over to Gwenny Penny and link it up.  Let your Point of View be Heard!!!