DIY Line Drawing Embroidered Pillow Tutorial

I used to be obsessed with home decor. OK, I still am obsessed with home decor, I’ve just been trying to Marie Kondo my life a bit more. Enter pillow covers. Pillow covers are amazing because they fold up, pack away, and can be changed endlessly. In a snap you can switch up the whole look of a room just by swapping out your pillow covers. Or, if you’re like me these last few years and prone to moving around a bit, you can pack your pillow covers to bring some style from home wherever you go. Whatever your inspiration, pillow covers are quick and easy to sew for anyone.

My goal for this pillow was to cover an armchair in my living room that’s seen better days. The chair was desperate for some lumbar support and needed a pop of color distract from the ashy and worn out charcoal. My other goal was to not spend any money on this project because stashing materials has to be good for something! I found some red linen and an unused bed pillow and I was in business.

And then I realized that a solid red pillow was simply too plain! With a little inspo from my Pillows Pinterest board, I decided I would liven things up with a little applique or embroidery. Here are some great styles I found:

The geometric lines of these pillows have cute boho vibes but my style is far more eclectic chic. I decided to take the stitching look and design a easy line drawing that I could finish in a couple of hours. Choose any design that you like for your pillow. A Google image search of something you like + line drawing can help you find a design to copy. You could also take a cue from Lingua Franca and embroider a sassy phrase. Straight lines are easiest to stitch, especially along the grain or cross-grain, but if you do a good job of drawing your design onto your fabric, you can really accomplish any look. Even a bad artist can trace!

The holiday season is here and these cute pillow covers would make a thoughtful Christmas present or hostess gift. Once I chose my design and materials, this whole project took me 3 hours to finish, including 2 hours of embroidery while watching a Christmas movie in bed. You can have gifts for all of your aunties in a day with this one! Yes, that even means you, absolute beginners. Pillows are a great gateway project to get you sewing apparel. Gift + confidence boost = winning!

I hope these pillow covers spark joy for you!

DIY Line Drawing Embroidered Pillow

Project Difficulty – 1/5 Absolute beginner
Time required – 3 hours > 1 hour sewing plus 2 hours of embroidery

Materials

• Less than 1 yard of linen or cotton canvas fabric
  • For ease of embroidery, look for a fabric with a relatively loose/open weave that has space for a tapestry needle between the warp and weft threads
• Wool knitting or tapestry yarn, not too thick
• Matching invisible zipper
• Matching thread
• Pillow insert

Tools

• Ruler
• Fabric Scissors
• Tailor’s chalk or Disappearing marker
• Tapestry needle
• Pins or clips
• Sewing Machine
• Iron
• Seam ripper
• Zipper foot for sewing machine

Steps

Choose Pillow Size

1. Determine size of pillow. You can measure a chair to place the pillow or use a standard pillow size as a guide. For a plump pillow, sew pillow cover an inch or 2 smaller than pillow insert.
2. Measure the desired size of the pillow plus 1″ of seam allowance in each dimension onto your fabric. Be sure that your lines are on the grainline and cut.

Embroider Design

1. Measure out your desired design on right side of the fabric and mark key lines and points so straight lines are on grain. With tailor’s chalk or disappearing marker, trace remaining design. Hint: use a dinner plate or a french curve as a guide for drawing 
2. Thread embroidery needle with a length of yarn about the length of your arm. 
3. Tie a small knot at the opposite end of the yarn. Starting at one end of your design, pull yarn through fabric to leave knot on wrong side of fabric. Stitch along your design lines so stitch length on right side of fabric is about 1/4″ and stitch length on wrong side of the fabric is about 1/16″. 
4. When your design is done or yarn runs out, tie a knot in yarn on wrong side of fabric to secure.

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Insert Invisible Zipper

1. Iron back zipper teeth on wrong side of zipper to remove the fold.
2. Pin right sides of fabric together along one short end of fabric. Baste together at seam line with long stitches. Iron seam open. 
3. Place zipper right side down, centering along seam line and aligning top of zipper to one end. Pin/clip zipper to one side of the seam allowance, keeping remaining fabric free. Baste zipper to seam allowance. 
4. Repeat to baste other side of zipper to the other side of the seam allowance.
5. Open out fabric with right sides up. Use a seam ripper to remove the basting stitches along the seam. Open the zipper.
6. Using zipper foot and working on one side of the zipper and seam allowance, stitch zipper as close as possible to zipper teeth along the fold you previously ironed. Repeat on other side.
7. Close zipper to confirm it pulls nicely and your zipper is invisible. 

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Sew

1. Open zipper wide enough to fit your hand in. (IMPORTANT!)
2. With right sides facing, pin fabric together along 3 remaining sides. Stitch from one end of zipper end, around fabric to other side
3. Trim corners of fabric close to, but not through, seam lines.
4. Turn fabric right side out and poke out corners.
5. Press seam lines and corners flat.

Tips

• Start embroidery along a straight line so you can get comfortable with the stitch length by counting the number of warp and weft threads in each stitch.
• If your fabric weave is too loose, you may want to use a thin strip of interfacing or seam binding along the seam line to add strength at the zipper. I sewed the zipper along the selvage of my fabric.