Oh my! I knew it had been a while since I'd been here, but I didn't realize that I hadn't blogged in over a year. Wowsers. Well, I'm back. Or I'm going to try to be. Here's the scoop on my latest project.
For starters, let's get one thing straight. I am so NOT a seamstress. I am terrible at sewing. TERRIBLE. That does not stop me from trying my hand at the odd sewing project now and again, however. And when I spotted these babies on Pintrest, I thought they'd be a great (easy) project I could whip up for my kids. So on a whim when we were at good old Wal-Mart, I swung by the fabric section (yes, our Wal-Mart still has a fabric department) and let the kids each pick out a print from the clearance table. I figured 3 yards would be good for each of them. Then I came home and read the directions. Note to self: read the directions before buying the materials!
I had it in my head that I'd use the crease already in the fabric, sew one end and the open side closed, shove some poly-fil into the thing till it was about a fourth of the way stuffed, sew a straight (ahem) line, shove in some more poly-fil, sew another seam and so on until I had four fluffy sections like the picture. Yeah. Then I read how the original blogger did it. She had all these fancy measurements and cuts and seams and so forth. Suddenly this project did not seem so simple. Plus, hers is actually 4 pillowcases in a row, with pillows that you take in and out so you can wash the cover without cramming the whole thing in your washer. Upon further reflection, I realized that the whole pillow case concept was much better than just stuffing it and sewing it up. This thing is meant for the floor, after all, and though we don't have pets, it will still get dirty.
So now I have a dilemma. I've decided to make it a big pillow case thingy rather than using the poly-fil, and I'm not sure I have enough fabric. However, I do not want to go buy more fabric. (did I mention that in addition to being a terrible seamstress, I'm also cheap??) But I figure I can still make this work. So, I'm going to tell you step by step what I did.
If you want a cool, professional looking project, then you might want to use these instructions rather than mine. Just bear in mind that this blogger asks that you do not sell her pattern or make cases from her pattern to sell as it is her creation, and she is a professional seamstress who earns her living by this work. I do not blame her one bit, and shame on you if you use her pattern for personal profit. I, on the other hand, am not a professional seamstress and offer my blessing for you to use my instructions however you choose. Hopefully you can make sense of this, and it will provide an easier (and cheaper) way to make them for your own kids/family/friends. If my kids love these as much as I think they will, I will be making more for the junior cousins at Christmas.
- Iron the entire piece of fabric flat. Mine was 40-something wide; 60" would have been a better choice. 3 yards is the bare minimum for 4 pillows. Next time I'll probably get 3 1/3 yards.
- Iron down about 1/2 inch of each of the long sides (this will be your hemmed opening for putting in/taking out the pillows.
- Sew down these edges.
- Lay the whole piece out flat, wrong side down, and fold in each edge so that the hemmed edges overlap at least 1/2 inch (I would overlap them more if I had wider fabric).
- Pin together the short ends (the top and bottom end of the mattress), making sure the hemmed edges stay overlapped at least 1/2 inch. Sew both ends closed.
- Turn case right side out. Measure entire length. (You might want to iron it flat first.)
- Divide length measurement by 4; mine came out to around 18".
- Measure from one end to whatever your measurement was (so I measured down 18"), use a straight edge to draw a line from one edge to the other and pin along this line. This will be your first seam.
- Measure another length, draw a line, and pin twice more. You should have made 3 lines, giving you 4 sections. You may not need to draw a line; I cannot sew a straight line to save my life, nor can I pin in a straight line, so this was essential for me!
- Sew down each of these final 3 seams and then put in your pillows.
Since my fabric wasn't really wide enough for my pillows, the opening gaps on the back and you can see the pillow. You can see a lot of the pillow. My 3 and 5 year olds didn't give this one thought, but if I were making these to give to someone else, I would certainly want to either buy wider fabric or buy quite a bit more than I did and make separate front and back sections and sew them together like this gal did. Alternatively, you could buy smaller pillows, but then the whole thing isn't as wide and therefore not as comfortable to lay on.
