How-to: Awesomely Easy Living Room Accessories

It’s been just about two months since the hubs and I moved to Chicago from Lansing, MI. For most of that time, we’ve been doing a lot of … begrudging living in our living room. Brown wood floors, brown area rug, brown shelves, brown blinds, and a dark orange couch were the source of all of the begrudgery. I decided that some complementary, un-neutral colors were very much in order.

I found some nice fabric at JoAnn’s that was actually inspired by Colonial Williamsburg. This isn’t the exact fabric I used, but it’s close. Bonus: JoAnn’s had all home decor fabric 50% off this weekend. There were two ugly old pillows and a bit of foam lying around my craft room, so I thought I’d use them to create pillows and a bench cushion.

The go-to pattern I use when making pillows, dog beds, duvet covers, and basically anything rectangular and relatively flat is this: Measure your form’s length and width. Double each measurement and add 4-5 inches to ONE of the measurements and 1 inch to the other. Cut your fabric to this size. If you’ve got a 16×16″ pillow, you would cut a 36×33″ rectangle. The 4-5 inches allows your fabric to overlap and form a no-closure opening through which your pillow form (or other rectangular object) can fit inside the cover. The 1 inch provides seam allowance for the sides of the pillow. If you want a looser pillow or have a really fat pillow, you can always add more allowance to both measurements.

Sew a rolled hem along the shorter side of your fabric. Lay your hemmed fabric wrong side down on a work surface. Using your rectangular object/pillow form as a gauge, fold your fabric over like you’d fold a piece of paper before stuffing it in an envelope. Pin in place. If you cut your fabric with the selvage on one side, you can sew it so it’s hidden. Check out the pics to see how I used the selvage to my advantage. 

Sew along each side, and you’re done! Just turn the piece inside out and stuff your rectangular form inside it.  Seriously – memorize the pattern I used here, especially if you’re like me and not an experienced sewer. I was able to improve my blah living room in like 45 minutes.