Gold-Leafed Pillow

I’ve been wanting to make a pillow to match my curtains for a long time.  When I first move to the village I hated the 12' wide x 6' long windows so I put in curtains everywhere to get a little privacy.   I couldn’t find anything in my price range that even remotely looked good so I decided to dye some broadcloth.  It wasn’t as deep as I would have liked but it was adequate which is what I needed (and will need for another 6 months or so).  Anyway I planned on making a pillow in the curtain color to contrast with my bedding but never got around to it.  I wanted to bead it at first but after trying iron-on appliqué with the Halloween Costumes that I made this last year, I thought it would be really fun to appliqué leaves on a pillow for my room.  Luckily, while I was watching Martha one day, she did a reverse appliqué pillow with the perfect template!  I didn’t use her method, but I used her template and I love it!!!

 

I did it with the leftover scraps of gold lame that I had ironed onto iron-on webbing and then I ironed them on and then sewed them on (as the adhesive does not adhere long to lame).  I used a matching thread to the pillow which I think gave it a lot of depth. Personally, I think it’s gorgeous!

Here it is on my chic bed in our lit’ ol’ apartment.

Sleep Mask and Neck Pillow

One of the best books I’ve ever found to help the beginning sewer advance their skills at a quick pace is called “Sewing Projects in an Afternoon” by Susan Mickey.  This book is incredible and I love, love, love it!

 

The instructions are straight forward and the projects are pretty much classy things that you wouldn’t mind having…rather than some of the what I call “country cottage” projects that some books have that just are not very elegant let alone functional.  Once you’ve done a few of the projects in it working from beginner and up your skills will have advanced to a much higher level.  The glossary in the back is wonderful and has all kinds of tips and how-to instructions such as “How to Make your own Biased Tape”.  Which I had a difficult time finding anywhere else.

  

 

I spent maybe two hours all together on this project but I think it’s a lovely gift for someone that you know needs to relax but you don’t want to give them yet another lotion or body butter set that is going to be placed in a drawer and never used.  The best thing is that you get to choose the materials that you think best suit the person that you’re making it for to match their taste and personality.