Hooray! It’s the last week and we’re finishing our pillows! It’s been so fun and motivating for me to sew along with you. I've especially loved watching all the fabric pulls and choices and seeing them come together. This week we're finishing them up (if you haven't already) so we can enjoy them all season!
There are so many ways to finish a pillow! The two types of backs I usually do are envelope or zippered, and then it's a matter of deciding on the edge, either a binding, trim or a simple finish. I have done all different kinds over the years and you really can't go wrong no matter how you decide to do it!
For the first pumpkin pillow I made I did a zippered back with a RicRac trim finish. I love how it turned out - so sweet!
For my farmhouse style Little Pumpkin pillow, I put a zipper on the bottom and did a simple edge finish, just like Alli Jensen @woodberryway shows in her already excellent tuturial which you can find here:
The zipper is attached to the bottom of the pillow front and back. Leaving the zipper open partially, sew around the edge of the pillow with right sides together. Turn it right sides out through the zipper opening and you’re done!
For my beachy Little Pumpkin pillow, I wanted to do a binding, so I put the zipper on the back and I will show you here what I did.
First, trim and square up the pillow front.
Next, cut 2 pieces for the back, the width should be the width of your pillow, the length can vary a little, which is nice if you want to use two prints or use up some scraps. I like to start with them a few inches longer and then trim the whole thing after the zipper is in to make sure I’m not short.
Trim the zipper to 1-2" shorter than your pillow width. Add a strip of fabric to each end of the zipper to make it the desired pillow width.
Using a zipper foot, sew the zipper to each backing piece.
If you would like your zipper exposed:
Iron pieces away from zipper and top-stitch close to the edge
Or for a covered one, make a fold from the top piece to cover the zipper, press it, and top-stitch it down so as to make a little flap that covers the zipper. I decided to leave mine exposed so I’m just showing what the fold might look like.
Now that your back is finished, trim it to match the size of your pillow front.
For a simple finish - Open the zipper halfway. Pin the back to the front RST and sew all the way around the edge of the pillow. Turn right sides out through your half open zipper and voila! You’re done!
For a binding finish - place the back and front wrong sides together and attach binding as you normally would to a quilt.
For this one, I first sewed the binding to the back, then pressed it away from the pillow, turned it, mitered the corners and then top-stitched it down with my machine—close to the edge of the binding on the front side of the pillow.
And voila! We have a finished pillow! Woohoo!
I put together a pattern showing how to do an envelope back and three ways to finish a pillow. Whether you do an envelope or zipper back the edge tips would be the same. You can snag it for free by clicking the link below! I hope it’s helpful!
And that’s a wrap! Thanks again for sewing along with me!
🧡Natalie
@fijimamaquilts #littlepumpkinpillowsal
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