Saturday, May 14, 2011

Quick Placemat Pillows

Once upon a summer, I lived in a new-to-me house.  I had a lovely, sunny, extra bedroom that we call the Den.  Truly though, I think of it as my own little room that I share with my family.  The walls are green.  My favorite.  But the room was alittle bland.  So I wanted some cute throw pillows for the futon that didn't cost much and had a neat design on them.  Thus when I found these beautiful woven placemats at Kohls on sale and found with delight that they were lined, I knew I'd found my solution!
So here's how these almost-no-sew pillows came to be.  I slit the back side lining at the bottom.  Careful to just cut through the back, not the front.  This only works with placemats that have 2 separate pieces joined together.
Next I cut an old bed pillow in half.  It's weird inside there!  Kind of like layers of polyester that have been wrapped around each other.  I took out enough of the filling so that the two separate pillows would fit in my 2 placemats.

Since it was a new-to-me house and I'd just lived there a month, I didn't have a sewing spot in the house yet.  So yes, that's me, sewing on the floor.  Don't try this at home.  Ha! I sewed the open end of each pillow half.

There she be...my new (old) pillow form.  I loved upcycling this pillow and keeping the cost down.

I stuffed the pillow form into the placemat, and since I was feeling lazy, I used an iron and some stitch witchery to close up the slit in the back.  Honestly?  It worked GREAT!  These pillows get laid on and tossed around daily and that stitch witchery has held firmly!

Here they are on the futon!  I l-o-v-e them!  The botanical print, shades of green, nubby texture, and the price...about $2.50 each.

By that fall, I had also found grass green pillow cases to further embellish the futon with more color.  I also purchased this little 1950s sewing table, refinished it, recovered the bench, and my sweet green Den is now a very peaceful place to hang out.  Ahhh.  Thanks for visiting!  I l-o-v-e comments and new followers!  Making it to 50 followers would be a dream come true!  
    Blessings!   

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful cozy place Donna. You always make it look so easy! Love the lighthouse picture in the corner. I actually have one of my own. Unfortunately, I don't have a cozy room like this. Our family room is chaotic with the tv, computer and my four year old's toys everywhere. I'll get there someday.. and when I do, I'll hopefully be able to take before and after pics so you can see...thanks for the inspiration!

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  2. Your recycled pillows and placemats are a great idea! I love the look of these on your futon....perfect! I'm going to start looking at placemats in the clearance sections a little closer now! And I'm so glad I can't seem to toss away an old pillow....cuz I have plenty in a closet to use for this! Yippee!

    I got you to 31....that's all I can do! lol

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  3. Placemat pillows are so wonderful and good for your pocketbook! I love your placemats!!! I'm visiting from The DIY Showoff - so glad I stopped by!

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  4. Those placemats are great! I love placemat pillows too because they are so inexpensive that I don't mind having a few different ones to change with the seasons!

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  5. Great job and great idea ;)
    Tomorrow (party is open now!) I am hosting my weekly linky party called “20 minute Tuesdays”. It’s for projects that cost less than $10 and take 20-30 minutes (ISH). This project would be perfect! Would you consider linking up on Tuesday? http://sweetfloweret.blogspot.com
    PS: I have 30 spots left to receive a free button pony tailer! Check out the details here: http://sweetfloweret.blogspot.com/p/may-winners.html

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  6. Very cute ... and I'm laughing at the photo of you sewing on the floor. I've knelt at the sewing machine before but I think sitting on the floor takes dexterity I don't have!

    Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment!

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