A new batch of patterns was just posted to the Sew Daily shop, and all patterns are 30% off through this Sunday! Since I’m on a home-dec kick these days, I picked out my patterns for sewing pillows and other home accessories for the collage above. I’m especially excited for this shop update because it includes a couple of my very favorite pillows:
Wool Petals Pillow (L) and Chain-Link Trapunto Pillow (R)
There’re so many different things you can do with pillows! I cover the basics in my new workshop video, and I thought I’d start putting together a Pinterest board of Pillow Ideas for going even further. It’s a little sparse for now, but I’ll keep pinning. (It sure would help if I could get Pinterest’s search to work!) What are your favorite sewn pillow projects? Let me know in the comments or @ tag me on Pinterest.
Download in standard definition or high def
Preorder on DVD
That’s me on the set of my Stitch Workshop video less than a month ago, and thanks to the superhuman video team at Interweave, the video is already available for download (or to preorder on DVD)! Having gotten used to working on a year-plus book schedule, it feels like quite a whirlwind.
Like the cover says, the video’s all about home-dec sewing—easy ways to sew pillows and more to dress up your living space. Home dec was what got me sewing in the first place, so I cover all the basics in the video for people who might be similarly new to the field. One of the best things about sewing for the home is how accessible it is—if you can run a sewing machine, you can make a pillow.
Of course, there’re a few tricks to make it easier, and I share all the tips I’ve got in the video. You can see how I join the ends of piping cord, for example, in this preview from the Sew Daily Shop:
For more tips and tricks to build your home-dec sewing skills, download and watch the video now or preorder the DVD, which is scheduled for a June 26 release. And keep an eye out for more home-dec hints here during the countdown to the DVD’s arrival.
Update: To see everything in intimate detail, the video is also available in high definition.
If you read Stitch magazine’s Sew Daily blog or subscribe to their newsletter, you may have seen this little snapshot yesterday…
Yep, that’s yours truly on the set of my very upcoming Stitch Workshop video, due out within the next few months. Here are some of the kind words editor Amber Eden had to say:
I was truly amazed at all of the tricks that Kevin had up his sleeve when it comes to pillows. If you are familiar with any of Kevin's work, you know that he creates dramatic home decor accessories. In fact, I think that everyone on set was charmed. We had filmed over an hour of sewing tips and it is all about pillows! I love learning any new sewing tricks and I definitely walked away with a few. Kevin was also pleased that he had taught us all something new.
Check the full blog post for a few more sneak-peak details and share some pillow-making tips of your own. And I’ll be sure to let you know when the video’s ready for viewing!
I have to credit my friend Sandra Mollon for putting dimensional flower appliqués in my head and for her inspiring use of silk and other non-cotton fabrics. She leads a monthly appliqué group I attend and is always demonstrating different ways to make flowers for Baltimore Album and other quilts—this ain’t no Baltimore, but it was a fun way to play with some new-to-me techniques. One of the things Sandra always does especially well as a teacher is making new techniques accessible, and I hope the raw-edge approaches I’ve used in this project serve a similar purpose.
These oriental poppies are a bit vicarious, since I haven’t had much success growing the real ones in my short gardening career. Generally fabric seems much easier to bend to my will than live plants! (You may notice in the magazine that the petals got a little squashed in the mail; since they’re only sewn down at the centers so they can be fluffed up again with a finger if that happens.)
I’ve had more success growing celosias, though this was the scariest part of the project to sew. I’ve mentioned my aversion to velvet, but it was the natural material for representing the feathery flowers, so I faced my fear. As a side note, I was really pleased with how the embroidered “CELOSIA” text turned out.
Back to the real garden…these are bluebells, right? It’s been fascinating to see what the plants at our new place have in store for us, but also little tricky to identify everything. I almost ripped these guys out several times when I couldn’t tell if they were bulbs or weeds; they’re growing like weeds but are kind of pretty, so I’m thinking “wildflower” may be the best term for them. And the bluebell theory is supported by bluebells’ supposed preference for leafy forest floors, which doesn’t sound that far from the state of this flower bed, littered as it is with, uh, nature’s mulch.
No go with the oriental poppies, but the Iceland poppies I planted in the winter were some of the first signs of spring color. Gotta love those big, rumply petals.
Hopefully spring’s springing wherever you are too! If you’re itching to stitch some flowers, look for my pattern in the Summer 2012 issue of Stitch!
