How to Finish Your Own Decorative Pillow With a Ruffle

Ruffles can add a great finished look to a homemade decorative pillow. It's easy to add a ruffle before you sew up the edges of your pillow. All you need is some extra fabric and a measuring tape.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Straight pins
• Iron and ironing board
• Sewing machine
• Fabric

Do Some Calculations

1. Calculate the length of fabric you will need for your ruffle. Use a tape measure to measure the perimeter, or distance around, your pillow. Write this number down. Now figure out half of that length, and add it to the whole length. For example, if your pillow is 30 inches around the edges, half of 30 is 15. Add the numbers together: 30 + 15 = 45 inches total.

2. Decide how wide you would like the ruffle to be. Most ruffle trim is only 2- or 3-inches wide. Multiply the width of your ruffle by 2, and add 1-1/4 inches to that number.

3. Use the numbers from Steps 1 and 2, and cut out a piece of fabric that length and width.

Start Sewing

4. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise, so that it is a long narrow strip, and the right side of the fabric is showing. Use an iron to make a crease in the fabric. A steam iron setting will make a crisp crease that won't pop open while sewing.

5. Pin down the edges of your fabric.

6. Make a basting stitch 1/2 inch from where the two edges of the ruffle meet.

7. Pull out your pins, and use 4 of them to mark the corners of your pillow. To do this, measure the total length of your ruffle. Then divide that number by 4. Take your tape measure and starting at the edge of your fabric, measure the length you just calculated. Make that point with a pin. Then start at the pin and mark the same length. Continue until you have reached the end of your fabric. These pins will mark the corners of your pillow.

8. Tug the basting thread gently. This will start to make your fabric gather into a ruffle shape. You are done with this step when the distance between each of the pins is equal to the length of each of your pillow's sides.

9. Put the ruffle in place on the pillow, and sew the pillow shut. If you are making a pillow cover, make sure the right sides of the pillow fabric are facing each other. Place your ruffle between the fabric pieces so that the sewed edge lines up with the edges of the pillow. Pin the ruffle and pillow edges in place and sew.

Tips & Warnings

• A basting stitch is the longest available stitch length on your sewing machine. If you're sewing by hand, a basting stitch is about 1/2-inch long.