projects, projects!

I'm happy to say that I've been busy: Not the same type of busy when I was in school, thank goodness. But busy like, "hey I'm busy with stuff that I actually want to do instead of stuff that I'm being forced to do while being silently judged by everyone!".

FJÄDRAR: A soft pillow that sounds like slang for vagina.

A couple weeks ago, a co-worker of mine mentioned that she had a friend, who in turn, had a bag of ties. They were her late husband's ties, and she was looking for someone to make pillows with them for herself, her mother-in-law, and her three children. I haven't made pillows in YEARS, nor have I ever made tie pillows. But of course I'd do it. Soon after, I received the bag of 32 ties and began thinking about what I would want to do. The easiest way for me to make pillows is, of course, buying a pre-made pillow. So off to IKEA I went, and I purchased 5 FJÄDRAR, 20x20" feather pillows.
 
So to make 5 pillows, I'd need to use ALL of the ties twice. And there was no way to make them double sided: I'd need WAY more ties to do that. So I found a nice black velour fabric (on sale, naturally!) to be the back of the pillows. Since the pillows were 20x20" I cut the ties into two, 22" pieces. With the ties cut down, it was time to assemble them into "sheets" of ties. Using a zigzag stitch, I alternated big pieces of tie with little pieces of tie until I had a sheet that was again, about 22" long. For the veloooour, I cut 10, 14x22" pieces. Why? So I could make the pillow covers into envelopes. That way if they ever get soiled, you can throw them into the washing machine without the inner pillow part. I know... you can high-five me, it was a great idea that I celebrated by eating copious amounts of Campbell's Chunky Soups. (not pictured.)

Here's the trick with pillows: You want the covers to be snug as hell. If the pillow is 20", you want to cut your fabric down to 20". (I always allow for an extra inch or two when cutting down fabric, you never know if you'll need more, so it gives you a bit of a safety zone.) When you sew your pillow case together, it will be about 19": This will give the pillow a more plump look. Also, it's time to admit that I was lazy as hell with the camera for this project. I kept thinking "this is the moment I should take pictures! Look at the stitches and the glorious colors!" but then was all like "the camera is downstairs, f*** that." Even now, the camera is downstairs. I will go get it, but I will also get a piece of Halloween candy, thank you very much. Take that, motivation!

 Without further ado, here are the five pillows. In no particular order.