Made: Rug & Pillows

Okay, so yes I have been holding out on you. This was the kind of scenario in which I worked tirelessly to complete. I made a rug and pillows over a weekend in which the Olympics was watched. It was also one of those scenarios that whenever I had a moment to take photographs it was dark or dreary out...yup we have one of those houses that natural light rarely filters into.

So I knew that I wanted to make a rug and pillows. I picked up that beautiful/durable check fabric from an antique place for $10 (I'm unsure of the yardage but it must be like 5 yards?). I had been eyeing the fabric for sometime but didn't want to buy it for no reason. Finally the reason arose. I roughly followed these directions so that I could find some general instructions. Make sure when your picking out a fabric, that it is heavy duty material that has weight to it and won't fray or be damaged easily.

So this is what I did for the rug: 1.) I washed both the rug material and drop cloth so that I could easily throw the rug in the wash whenever I wanted. Make sure when you wash them you treat them as you would when you want to wash them in the future. 2.) Iron both fabrics...this may be a pain but it is important especially when working with such big pieces of fabric. 3.) Cut your rug fabric smaller than your drop cloth. You want enough drop cloth to fold over twice around the edges to hide the raw edge of both the drop cloth and the material. 4.) I did not use spray adhesive so my approach is purely sewing. Pin your folded drop cloth edge all the way around your rug. 5.) Sew all the way around, reinforcing corners by stitching a box. 6.) Iron out your rug. 7.) Use scotch guard fabric and upholstery protector (especially if you live with boys and animals) to protect your new rug. I believe I did two coats. You will want to buy anti slip mats for underneath if you have hardwood floors. I bought two small ones as they were cheaper than one larger one. My rug ended up being 65" by 48" and costing about $40.00.

 The puppy loves when these pillows are stacked and she can climb her way to the top to get comfy. It is a pretty funny sight and we love when she does it. That being said I loved that I used a fabric that was durable and that I could easily unzip and throw in the wash. These pillows are people and dog+cat friendly. As far as the pillows go I made 2 12"x16" and 2 18"x18" pillows using the rug fabric and a basic waffle textured fabric I picked up for like $10.00 a yard at Joanne's. I picked up the pillow forms and zippers at Walmart, which made this project extremely cost effective. I think the forms were the cheapest at Walmart as I looked everywhere including online. I followed the Design*Sponge directions in making these pillows, which was easy and took no time at all. PS: I've never used a zipper foot as I don't know where mine went for my ancient machine...so it can be done without a zipper foot. 

As you can probably see in the puppy photo that I have some incomplete pillows too. I just barely got a plus fabric for these from Spoonflower and will match an ottoman that I recently recovered. I can't wait to finish all my pillows for the living room!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please let me know if you have any questions! Enjoy!
-Lauren