How to Make a Pillow Flange With a Zipper

Making a toss pillow requires little sewing experience.

Change a room's decor quickly and easily by sewing a toss pillow. Adding a ruffle and zipper gives the project a professional look. Beginner sewers need not worry, as nearly anyone can create a toss pillow with a ruffle.

Things You'll Need

• 3/4 yard fabric
• Ruler or yardstick
• Chalk
• Scissors
• 1 zipper (12 to 14 inches long)
• 70 inches decorative ruffle
• Sewing pins
• Sewing machine
• 16-by-16 inch pillow form

Instructions

1. Lay your fabric on a flat surface, front facing down. Measure and mark two 17-by-17 inch squares with chalk. The extra inch is for the seam allowance. Cut the squares from the fabric.

2. Lay one square piece of fabric on a flat surface with the front facing up. Place the other square on top with the front facing down. Align the two squares and pin the layers together along one side. Sew a single seam along this pinned side allowing a 1/2-inch seam allowance.

3. Open the two squares, now sewn together, and lay the fabric flat with the front facing down. Iron the new seam so the seam allowances fold away from the center. Center the zipper on the seam and align the two so the seam is directly under the zipper's teeth. Pin the zipper in place. Sew a seam around all four sides of the zipper. Flip the pillow fabric over, with the top facing up, and carefully rip the seam down the center so the zipper is exposed. Clean up any hanging threads.

4. Lay the pillow fabric flat, with the front facing up and the zipper closed. Arrange the decorative ruffle around the edges of one square. Leave a 1/2-inch tail of ruffle at the beginning and a 1/2-inch tail of ruffle at the end. The ruffle has a lip behind the actual fringe. Pin and sew this lip to the fabric about 1/4 inch from the fabric's edge. Take extra care on the zipper side. When you reach the point where you began, overlap the fringe tails, sew and trim the ends short.

5. Iron the ruffle so the ruffle's fabric faces toward the center of the square. Pin the ruffle in place. Open the zipper and fold the unruffled side of the pillow over on top of the ruffled side. Align the three rough edges and pin in place. If correct, the wrong side of the fabric will be facing outward and the front side of the fabric (with the ruffle) will be completely hidden.

6. Sew a straight stitch along the three un-zippered sides of the pillow. Start and finish each seam with a few stitches forward and a few backward to anchor the thread. Remove the pins as you sew. When you reach the first corner of the square, stop, leave the needle in place, lift the machine's foot and pivot the material so you are facing the next side to sew. Stop at the point where you began.

7. Remove the pillow cover from the sewing machine and cut the threads. Cut four triangle pieces from each corner of the pillow cover. Don't cut the seams. Reach into the zippered opening and turn the pillow cover inside out. Push out the corners, from the inside, with your finger. Insert the pillow form and zip the cover closed.

References

• Better Homes & Gardens: Crafts: Easy-Sew Pillows
• Beverly Fabrics: How to Make Decorator Floor Pillows
• Threads Magazine: Sewing in a Zipper