Turquoise Roosters and Velvet Pillows

Sigh . . . My third sewing project is now complete and I am thoroughly satisfied. However, it was not without incident. 

Ode to the Seam Ripper

I love the sharpness

with which you cut threads

and help me to shed

proof of my failures

learning to tailor.

As I was fabric shopping this rooster fabric caught my eye and my minds eye would not let it go. I had to have it. I know the room has too much blue already, but that didn't signify. I WANTED the turquoise roosters and chickens. And the fabric was 100% linen. And so I bought it.

As all projects must, it required some planning. First I drew out the dimensions and seam allowances. I am a novice, so here is where I first started to error. I had a beautiful plan for how I would create a scalloped edge, then fold the fabric under, and over, and slip ruffles behind the scallop with the same piece of fabric.

However, I didn't count the layers of fabric and velvet is quite thick. When I executed that part of the plan, I ended up with a fabric sandwich that was over 1 inches thick. Now I'm a stubborn woman, so I had to fight my desire to just force it with hand sewing. But, after stepping away, I re-imagined the project. I decided to create two pillow cases. An inner blue velvet pillow case with the ruffles. And an outer linen pillow case with the scalloped edge. The end result is more practical and looks the same.

Lesson 1: Count the layers of fabrics at the seams.

Lesson 2: Better to create layered pieces and be on the safe side, if the project is too thick. 

Lesson 3: Apply the seam ripper liberally, as required.

This was also my first time working with a printed pattern. It is actually considered a toile (or so says the fabric store.) First I found what I perceived to be the center of each repeated section, and I marked it. Then, using my diagram of measurements, I then counted out from that point to mark my fabric, left, right, up, and down. 

The first cutting of this fabric was terrifying to me. But I soldiered through. Actually, I cowered in terror in the fox hole a bit, then I soldiered through.

Let me say that I adore the chalk pencil and orange chalk. I have a whole bunch of colors which will come in handy. When the project was at the messiest I lost my chalk pencil among the mess. I had to hold the chalk in my fingers and it broke 3 times. I will need to buy more of these so I have some spares.

 When the fabric was cut, I pinned it to the pillow and took a look at it for the first "fitting. It looked about right. It ended up being 2 inches too large, but I adjusted that later.

You may have realized that I have no pattern at this point. I do not want a pattern. The whole reason I'm teaching myself to sew and do woodwork is that I do not want to be constrained by what the market has to offer. I want to create what I want. In that vein, I do not want to be limited to patterns that are currently available. So I'm teaching myself to bring my own ideas to fruition.

So on to the scalloped edge. I've been itching to do this.I did look up several video tutorials and I'll leave the detailed teachings to experts. High level, I divided my total fabric length into a smaller piece. The scalloped portion was going to be 40 inches. So I used a 5 inch unit and found various round objects until I found a champagne glass that would fit twice in that five inch portion. So I created two scallops. I then used those two scallops to create a template 40 inches long. I then applied that template to each of the four pillow cases.

Lesson 4: A template of 2 scallops will allow you to create infinite scallops.

After drawing out the scallops, and sewing them, I flipped the fabric over and  trimmed it. I then used a different footer to sew around the edge to keep it flat. I had trouble seeing where to turn my needle, so I drew orange lines at the place where the scallops joined. This helped me pivot the needle properly.

Lesson 5: Use chalk liberally.

Here you can see what the scallops look like from the wrong side. All that extra fabric was going to be the "flap" that I tucked the blue velvet ruffles in.

 

But that plan was laid to waste when I actually created my first two ruffles (2 for each pillow) and tried to sew the whole thing together. As mentioned above, I had a sandwich that was so huge the sewing machine needle wouldn't even to through. I broke my first needle in fact.

I then had to rip it all apart and strategize again. I'm much happier with the two pillow case solution.

I will not go into all the details of creating the blue velvet pillow case. There are a few things worth mentioning though.

I could not create the gathers on the sewing machine. The tiny hairs of the velvet would get caught on the thread and when I tried to gather it, the thread would get knotted up and stuck. I had to create a loose basted hem to create the gather.

Velvet gathers well and only requires you to start with twice the length, rather than 3 times the length of fabric you need to create a full ruffle, because of the thickness of the fabric.

I wanted the ruffles to be full. So this time, instead of tucking the ruffle into something, I simply sewed it on about 1 inch from the edge of the gathered tube. So each ruffle has a little 1 inch mini-ruffle sticking out on the opposite side of the sew line. When I layer the next ruffle over it (and about 3 inches back), that little 1 inch ruffle sort of fluffs the overlying ruffle out a bit, giving the pair of ruffles more body.



 I created ties on the inner pillow case to make sure the pillow remained hidden.


 







During the entire project I sewed strong double seams on all parts but the embellishments like the ruffle and trim. I don't know how people feel about this, but I want my work to last. So taking the time to do this seems worth it. I suppose on fine work you wouldn't want to create bulky seams, but it works well with the French Country style.

 

After the disaster of my 1 inch fabric sandwich, I figured out how to add the ruched band. I sewed it mostly on the fabric before assembling the pillow case, as it is easier to sew while flat. But I left the band hanging loose about 4 inches from either side of the pillow case seam allowance. Then after I sewed the pillow case together, I went back to the machine and finished sewing the band on over the pillow case seam. The steps of what to do first is quick tricky. It seems like for some projects you just have to do it a few times, step-by-step, to figure out what order of steps is best.

Here are some pictures of the completed piece. The beautiful plaid fabric you see around it will become part of a throw blanket eventually.

As I have two matching love seats, there are four pillows total.

Now I'm off to do the pad for the mattresses. The mattresses are not washable, so the objective of the pad is to create a washable barrier between body grossness and the mattresses. Of course, they must look gorgeous as well.

Happy creating!

Lisanne