How to Make Cottage Pillows

Cottage decor is supposed to have a cozy, slightly shabby look. Furnishings should not look new; in fact, you should use what you have as much as possible. Make beautiful cottage pillows to accent your shabby chic cottage decor. These pillows use colors and printed fabric that will make you feel as if you have stepped into a English flower garden. Use fabrics you have been saving for just the right project or recycle old linens and clothing, for an authentic cottage decor creation.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Vintage floral tablecloth
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Marking pen
• 2 12-inch vintage hankies
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Iron
• Stuffing
• Hand sewing needle and thread
• 4 button box buttons

1. Measure and cut two pieces from a vintage floral tablecloth, 20 inches square. Choose areas of the tablecloth that have the most pleasing print design. Fold a 12-inch square vintage hankie in half, diagonally, forming a triangle. Iron the hankie to crease the fold. Open the hankie and cut it in half, using the creased fold line as a guide. Fold, press and cut another 12-inch vintage hankie. You will end up with four hankie triangles.

2. Lay one vintage tablecloth pillow square right side up on your work table. Lay one hankie triangle right side up on the square, matching its cut edge with one cut edge of the square and centering it between the corners. If your hankies do not have a right or wrong side, either side will be fine. Repeat with the remaining three triangle hankies on the remaining three sides of the pillow square. Place the second tablecloth pillow square wrong side up on top of the hankies, sandwiching the hankie triangles in the middle and matching the edges. Pin the pillow square edges together through all the layers.

3. Sew a 1/2-inch seam allowance around all four edges of the pinned pillow squares, leaving a 4-inch opening in the middle of one square edge. Clip the corners of the sewn pillow squares and press the seams open. This will give the seams a sharp edge on the outside of the pillow.

4. Turn the pillow right side out through the 4-inch opening. Use the closed point of your scissors to push the corners out to a sharp point. Flip the vintage hankie triangles to the side of the pillow that will have them laying with their right sides up. Position them flat on the pillow top. They will have an "X" shaped gap between them. Press the pillow and the hankies flat.

5. Fill the pillow with stuffing. A cottage pillow is cushy and soft, so do not stuff it too firm. Stand it on edge and chop your hand down on the top edge. If it holds the crease of the chop, it is perfect. Hand-sew the opening of the pillow closed.

6. Choose four pretty buttons from your button box collection that complement your vintage cottage pillow. They can be four matching buttons or four totally different ones. Center one in each of the hankie triangle points, 1/2 inch from the point edge, at the center of the pillow. Hand-sew the buttons to the pillow to complete.