Adding accents makes a plain pillow pop. Here we started with a beautiful and rather elegant fabric. Then, we chose a fun polka dot print fabric in a coordinating chocolate brown to make our own ribbon trim and piping. Mixing fancy and fun is a great way to create a unique result.

Making your own trims from fabric is a slightly more advanced home decor technique that offers you a wide-open range of choices for the perfect color and pattern combinations. If you're not ready for this step, don't despair. There are lots of pre-made ribbons and piping options you can purchase and achieve just as fabulous a pillow.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome Memory Craft 4400 )
• Zipper Foot (included with the MC4400)

Fabric and Other Supplies

• 18"x18" Pillow form
• 1/2 yd main fabric
• 1/2 yd coordinating fabrics
• 2 yards of cable cord
• All-purpose thread in colors to match fabrics
• Hand sewing needle
• Scissors
• Pinking shears
• Iron

Getting Started

1. Cut two 18" x 18" squares from your main fabric, this includes a ½" seam allowance. I like to make the pillow covering slightly smaller than the pillow form because then the form fills out the pillow better. Everyone loves a plump pillow.
2. Using pinking shears, cut twelve ½" strips from your coordinating fabric.
3. To make piping from your coordinating fabric, cut strips, on the bias, 2" wide and sew them together on a diagonal until they reach 2 yards in length.

At Your Machine

1. Stitch three of your coordinating fabric strips, 1" apart, across each corner of one square on the diagonal.
2. Using a zipper foot, wrap the bias strip (the 2 yard long strip you made above) around the cable cord and stitch the raw edges together. Keep your seam line as close to the cable cord as you can. The zipper foot makes this easier.
3. Using your zipper foot and starting in the center of one side, stitch this piping around one 18" x 18" square, keeping edges flush, clipping at corners to smooth your edge. As with fringes, it is important to remember to keep the raw edges of the piping and fabric flush, and to make sure the piping is facing the middle of the middle. Piping can be tricky to stitch. You want to keep your seam as close to the piping as possible without actually stitching into the cording. Use the edge of your sewing foot as a guide and go slowly.
4. Stitch both 18" x 18" squares, right sides together, leaving a 10" opening on one side.
5. Insert pillow.
6. Slip-stitch opening closed by hand.

Hints and Tips

What the heck does "cut on the bias" mean?!

The bias is the direction of a piece of woven fabric at 45 degrees to its warp and weft threads. Oh great... now what is warp and weft?!! Every piece of woven fabric has two biases perpendicular to each other. Think of it as threads going north-and-south perpendicular to threads going east-and-west. Woven fabric is more elastic when cut on the bias direction or diagonal to the regular grain. So, you can use bias-cut fabric when you want something that has great stretch, a better drape, or the ability to wrap around a dimensional object, like the cording described above. It also works well around the rounded dimensions of your bottom. That's why many skirts that drape beautifully are cut on the bias.

Other machines suitable for this project include the Viking Emerald 183 and the White Style-Maker 3100.

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