Hair to Match the Pillows

Why should hair goodies match pillows? Um, no reason. I just had the perfect leftovers from all the cutouts. Some are going to be headbands and some will be on barrettes. This is what I have so far...

To match the ocean blue pillows:


To match the orange diamond pillows:


To match the olive circle pillows (these were yesterday's WIPs):

Olive Circle WIPs

Remember my olive green circle reverse applique pillow? Well, I made some matchy stuff. Okay, to be honest, they are not yet "made", I am in the midst of these projects.

First off, there is a headband. Headband attachment might be more appropriate. I love all the headbands out there with all the fun foofy stuff attached. The only problem is where they are the band. So few tend to fall on the right spot for my head. So I came up with these...

The band slips through the underside of the piece so you can slide it to where you want it to lay. The velvet ribbon is nice because it "sticks" to the hair pretty well. I used them on some elastic hairbands in the past & they stayed in place nicely.

A table runner was in my head since I first cut the pillow. There happened to be a perfect strip left after that initial cut :) I am not quite sure what I am going to put on the underside though. Maybe red and have it wrap around the edges to peek over onto the top.

And lastly, a potholder. All I need to do to finish this off is the trim.

I can't decide what color to go with. I am thinking it would be best to wait until I decide on the runner's trim and match it. I would use the green, but there is not enough left for strips. All I have are a bunch of circles from the applique cut outs. Hmmm...what to do with them?

Wordless Wednesday

handmade for me by The Art of Joy

Circular Applique Now

Same idea. Different shape. And I love the swirls! The fabric in the circle cut out is one of my faves. I just love red and black. Throw in the green swirls and I am a happy camper. I made my cousin a diaper bag with this fabric a while back and luckily I still had some leftover.


I had fun with the swirl & circle stitching too :)

Picture Change Up

I spent some time last week playing around with my pictures. I have tried in the past to make my backgrounds black & white on GIMP but never got the hang of it. Then last week or so Handmadeology had a quick run through on doing this very thing with Picnik. So easy. I love it.

Now my backgrounds don't look so busy.

I don't mind the cork background, but changing it up with the rest makes for a more uniform look in the shop.

...Or dingy...as in my couch, which is yellow anyway & does not make for a nice backdrop.


...Or just odd when there is too much behind my items and not enough of the stuff to look like an actual something.

I still want to do a total re-shoot of everything (at least for the main item pic).
I get a little wishy washy on the black and white. Sometimes it works better than others.
What do you think?

The Last Diamonds...For Now...

Orange this time. And I thought I'd use it for something Halloweeny. Nope.

And a smaller version in purple...which I still need to make the insert for. I seem to have no problem making the cover for the forms, but the reverse needs some work. I am on my second try to get the insert to fit.

Pink Diamond Pillow

Yes, more diamonds. This time in hot pink. Um, nothing more to say...on to the pics...

Wordless Wednesday

Blue and Green Diamond Pillows

More diamond reverse applique pillows. These two were made with Matelasse like my first yellow one. The green one has pink and yellow stitching, although the yellow is difficult to see in this pic.

And the back...

The blue...with a too bright flash that washed out the color. Darn me for finishing the pillow at night :P

And the back side...

I like how these close ups show the stitching. I semi-randomly chose the stitch paths. I like how they run into the other diamond sometimes.

Lime Green Pillow Post-Wash

I made a smallish diamond applique pillow the other week & have been flip flopping on washing it to see how the raw edges react. Well, I think I like it even better now. I know that rag quilts & such need that washing to get the fun fuzzy look, but I was still nervous to try it on my pillow. Why? Dunno. But I like it.

The backside was never quite lined up correctly, so I am not entirely sure if the cover shrunk. But I do not think so. Now I am left with the same question as the blue stripey pillows...to pre-wash or not to pre-wash. Which do you prefer? Washed or unwashed raw edges?

Ocean Blue Stripey Pillows

I made two of these pillows last week using the leftover strips from my drapes. I love the shade of blue for the pillows. I may need to trim down the size just a scooch though. Or not. I suppose it depends on whether or not people prefer tight fitting or loose pillow covers. Well? Opinion anyone? Thanks :)

And this is the backside. I kept with the coordinating cover piece that snaps the overlap. The other pillow has a slightly smaller piece with only 2 strips.

You can see a the window behind the sewing machine that I took the idea from.

Given that the strips had raw edges, I thought I should toss them in the wash to make sure everything held together. I knew I ran the risk of destruction, but I did not want to risk destruction happening to someone who buys it :P I still need to trim the edges, but they turned out great. Well, I like them. But then again, I love the raw edge look.

This is a close up of the rawness. The color is off, but the edges show very well.

So now the question is to pre-wash or not to pre-wash. Perhaps I will not pre-wash and just use these pillows as examples of what the pillow would look like post-wash. And let people decide from there what they want. Depending on how the pillows would be used, they may go ages without a washing, especially if they were more for show than actual use. How often do you have to wash your throw pillows?

Wordless Wednesday

Pillow WIPs

I made a couple diamond reverse applique pillows the other week and decided to make some more. The pink, blue, green & orange will be for a 14" square pillow form while the purple is for a smaller rectangle. Remember that oops of a pillow size I made last time? Well, the purple will be using the first mis-sized pillow form :)


I had some strips leftover from the window coverings I made and decided to make a couple pillows with them. The blue pillow base flows better in person than it does in the pic. Crossing my fingers that once the strips are sewn on that it gives the effect I am picturing in my head.


And lastly, I plan to use this red print for a reverse applique on the olive...but in circles. I think have enough to make matching coasters & a table runner too. Those will come later.

Wordless (kinda) Wednesday