Peace and love is flowing your way courtesy of the flower children at Sew4Home.
This latest S4H Janome Canada exclusive project is a unique Flower Power Pillow that will be a fun addition to your favorite pillow pile.
It's a beginner-friendly project, but it does feature several techniques that are excellent learning opportunities for someone new. Even more experienced sewists may find something they haven't seen before or recognize an old skill they can brush up on.
You'll find step-by-step instructions for fussy cutting with a pattern frame, decorative stitching tips, making a custom covered button, how to cinch a shape using pearl cotton, and even some handy notes on pillow stuffing.
There's a free petal pattern to download. S4H recommends printing the pattern first then using it to scour your scrap stash for just the right cuts. If you are new to blending colors and patterns, take a look at the tutorial: The Top 10 Designer Tips for Blending Colors and Prints. It outlines the S4H secrets to great style, like how to create a color balance and vary scale and proportion.
The Flower Power Pillow is reversible with eight petals front and back. S4H used six different fabrics for the best blend, but you could use up to sixteen different cuts or reduce it all down to just one. As always, the final fabric decisions are up to you.
There's a lot going on with all these beautiful fabrics side by side, so S4H recommends using a heavy thread for the decorative stitching so this extra textural embellishment can really pop. That said, although you want the thread color to stand out, it shouldn't overpower your fabric selections.
You can, of course, choose to not add any decorative stitching. We admit it does add time to the overall construction, but we believe the extra precision and patience is worth it – especially with all the beautiful stitch options available on Janome machines. We even used a "stacked stitch," combining a standard heirloom pattern and a triple straight stitch.
The decorative stitching is done to either side of each petal seam. That stitching turns into the look of stitch-in-the-ditch when each of the petal sections is cinched with the pearl cotton – a technique you might recognize from doll making.
Each and every step is thoroughly explained with excellent photos throughout. Energize yourself with a little Pillow Power!
Sewing Tools Needed
- Janome Sewing Machine; the project is suitable for all machines
- A size 16/100 topstitching needle is recommended for the heavier weight thread for decorative stitching
- Standard presser foot
- Satin Stitch foot or Open Toe Satin Stitch foot for the decorative stitching
You'll find this, and all Sew4Home Janome Canada exclusive projects under the INSPIRE tab/Sew4Home on our Janome.CA website!
Happy Sewing!
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