Creations, Winter Knock offs
Posted by the Painted Apron on November 26, 2014 · 20 Comments
Have you seen all the wonderful winter pillows available this year?

Pottery Barn, $50 & $55 [originally $70] for just the cover

My daughter fell in love… ” I bet I could make those~” I said…[visualize head smack here]

So off I went, thinking no problemo!
Okay here’s the problemo…
Fur ain’t easy to sew…nope, it’s not much easier than trying to sew the fur running around on a live version. It slips, it sheds, it’s thick, it clogs your machine, and generally makes for a long afternoon…

After struggling through pillow #1, I got smarter

this might have taken a while…

Instead of making pillow #2 with adorable Santa’s whisker white trim, I made a pillow back with the Santa’s whisker stuff…not quite the same look, but sooooo much easier 🙂

By pillow #3, I turned into a genius! No fussy fabric, just stitch and go!

But I tried

And I learned that sometimes things come from unexpected places…

I ditched the sewing machine, took the rest of the fur, and used an iron-on heat bond strip to finish the edges. I ended up with an awesome fur table runner

which to me is so much cooler than the impractical place mats that I totally fell in love with at Pottery Barn~

that HH said would be like eating on a cat…
Now the good news is that DD has a giant dog and a 20 month old, so if someone asks why her pillows look wonky, she’s got a built in excuse 🙂

I did discover that maybe $50 isn’t too expensive for a fur trimmed pillow after all…
Sorry there is no tutorial, the red pillow was/is truly a hot mess that I was able to salvage just a wee bit with some hand sewing…
if you have a fancy machine with lots of pro attachments this might be easy peasy, but I don’t and it wasn’t and I won’t subject you to the carnage…
I’m still vacuuming up fur, and fuzzy bits…
and I’m sorta missing that awesome gray sweater I cut up…
and DD is probably wishing she didn’t have a cheap crafty mom and that I should have just bought the pillows…
but where’s the fun in that?
Sorry Kim, I know you are cringing…please visit Kim over at Curtain Queen Creates, she has awesome sewing tutorials for everything!
AND, Happy Thanksgiving!
______________________________________________
I will be sharing with the fabulous parties and blogs on my side bar and
The Scoop
Between Naps on the Porch
The Style Sisters
Like this:
Like Loading...
Jenna, I’m chuckling over your hubby’s description of those placemats, “like eating on a cat”! I wasn’t sure how I felt about those PB placemats when I saw them. 🙂 I’m a no-sew gal and ALL about some fuse and bond or Stitch witchery! Wishing you a cozy and happy Thanksgiving weekend!
Jenna, Haha, I love that comment about the cat! Yes, I have seen all the gorgeous pillows in the shops but I think I’m pulling out my old ones this year with so little time for DIY projects now. I need to think and plan earlier. I will certainly bookmark this post, I would love to try it. Love your dining room!
Happy Thanksgiving
Thank you Emily, Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Roll Tide!
When I was in my mid-twenties, I made a faux leopard coat. (That was at least back in the Stone Age!) My poor little Singer portable had to go the sewing machine doctor for a major cleaning out and tune up! Wait for the markdowns at PB!
Yes, no kidding!! Happy Happy Thanksgiving Ellen!
I love it! “How hard can it be?”, yep, I think we’ve all been there… As long as we’re keeping things real… My oven just caught on fire! Yep, went out to check on things and almost had a heart attack!!! So I guess I’ll be most thankful this year that the house didn’t burn down! Happy Thanksgiving Jenna, have fun with the kids:@)
OH God!! I hope everything’s alright!! How are you going to cook??? I will be worried about you all day tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving Lynn~
My sew and even no sew days are done!:-) I know I would not have attempted it.
Happy Thanksgiving, Jenna!
Hahaha, good job for all your effort, Jenna! You must be proud (and I mean MUST) about your creations, and DD surely is too for saving those $50 🙂
Oh, my goodness. These pillows are gorgeous! Great job – and you say sewing is a challenge…I don’t think so! 🙂
I would NEVER let you see them up close!
You are too much! Taking an idea and making it your own yielded great results. You are right about there being lots of great looking pillows around.
Such a cute post! I love your pillows AND the table runner is lovely! I have been crushing over the PB fur placemats. I bought a fur throw and sewed my own today! I paid $20.00 for the throw – so, it was more affordable. I made a wine cover with the leftovers – too cute!
thanks so much Shelia! What a great idea to buy a throw! Very clever!!
I love these soooo much! Thanks for sharing, I’m featuring them at the next Twirl and Take a Bow and pinning 🙂 ox
Wow Robin, thanks so much!!