Sep 25, 2013

Five Minute $10 Pillow

 I bought this cute bird tea towel last week at Cost Plus with making it into a pillow in mind. They had so many cute prints, it was hard to choose just one. This one is embroidered with fringe at the bottom edge, and the cost was $10.

Cost Plus World Market
You can check out all the cute patterns here at their website.

I love toss pillows, and I'm kind-of becoming a toss pillow junkie. Finding storage space for all of them when I change them for seasons and holidays is becoming a problem.  


 For instance, these are the toss pillows from my former guest room that I packed away in plastic bags down in the basement when my daughter moved back into her old bedroom. Now that she's gone again, I'm redoing the guest room, and even though I still like all these pillows, they won't work anymore with the new decor. 
 

 I guess I'm not just a pillow junkie, maybe I'm a pillow hoarder, too, because I don't want to give these pillows away and start over. I might want these pillows again one day, right? I mean, this is a cute pillow, right? 

RIGHT?! 

(Hoarder...)  

So even though there are lots of gorgeous new pillows out there calling my name, I've decided to start making covers for the ones I already have. Then I only have to store the covers, not the whole pillow. When I saw this cute little tea towel, I immediately thought it would make a sweet pillow cover. 

I searched Pinterest and adapted Manuela's glue gun pillow cover tutorial at A Cultivated Nest for my sewing machine.


 I wrapped the tea towel around my little brown pillow and marked on the towel where I wanted the top and bottom of the design to be, then I measured how much seam allowance I needed on each side.  I turned it inside out, folded the towel at the marks, and pinned and sewed the sides on my sewing machine.  

 Right side out again, you can see how the folded-over bottom hem of the tea towel becomes the opening for inserting the pillow, envelope style. The whole thing took less than five minutes!
  

 I think it adds a cute touch of cottage whimsy to my new all white bedding.  

It definitely needs some pillow friends, though. 

Maybe a whole pile of pillow friends. 


(Junkie.. )

 Join me at these fabulous parties today!

Stone Gable
Common Ground 
Shabby Art Boutique 
The Cottage Market

16 comments:

  1. I never ever would have thought of that! I love it! Got to run - I need to go out shopping for some towels :-)

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  2. I was just admiring the same towel today and thinking that I didn't need another tea towel. Guess I'm headed back to World Market tomorrow :)

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  3. What a cute pillow!!! It's clever idea! Indeed a pretty touch to the white linen.

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  4. Cuteeeee! I adore your towel pillow! Wish I could sew like you Laurel! My husband is the sewer in our household and the only thing he'll do for me are the hems on our pants! hahaha!

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  5. So cute! I love the little birdy! I love World Market!

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  6. Very cute pillow and great tutorial! I had the same problem with storing all of my pillows. It is much easier to change out the covers and put them in a drawer out of season. But I still have a lot of extras. :)
    Have a great day.
    Pam

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  7. What a pretty pillow! I am a pillow hoarder also, LOL. Have you seen my storage closet? Every time my husband sees me looking at fabric, he ask very calmly, " another pillow, right?" LOL

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  8. Hello toss pillow junkie..LOL I adore your pillows !! The last is my kind of pillow cover. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

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  9. Good Afternoon Laurel, This is a fabulous idea..... when I first saw the picture, I thought you had appliqued this little bird, but then when I discovered it was actually a tea towel, I was bowled over. I love cushions and like you, I put mine away in the loft when the seasons change. I cannot bear to part with them as you never know when they will be needed, you can bet your bottom dollar, that if I throw away a cushion, it will be needed a few months later.
    Laurel I have enjoyed my visit and I have become a new follower. I would like to invite you to visit me at Ivy, Phyllis and Me! when you have a moment to spare.
    Best Wishes to you,
    Daphne

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  10. Wonderful!!! Love it! So pretty and you get to keep your cute brown pillow too awesome job. I will be trying this very soon totally cool! ^_^

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  11. Putting a bird on something always makes it special!

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  12. What a HAPPY Pillow! The birdie is simply precious! : ) I LOVE IT!!!! You are such a little talent...sending hugs and wishes for a picture perfect weekend...hugs...

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  13. PS...TUCKER IS FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABULOUS!!!! tons of hugs!!!!

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  14. As you can tell, I've been reading some of your past posts. I hope you don't think I'm stalking you, but I'm loving so much and have to comment to let you know. :)

    First of all, I love that World Market towel! We don't have a World Market anywhere near us, but I told my husband a few months ago, that I definitely wanted to shop at World Market next time we're in a big(ger) city. Now, I definitely want to go!

    Also, I smiled when I read that you're a pillow junkie. When we remodeled our master bedroom and went from a queen bed to a king-sized bed, I thought I'd have to invest in more pillows. My husband, who does NOT understand that sometimes you do have to pay $50 or more for one quality pillow sham, was fit to be tied when I told him this. (Typical male.) Fortunately, as I unpacked all my pillows that had been in storage for 2+ years, I had more than enough. Too many in fact: some went back into the cupboard until we can finish renovating our guest bedroom!

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