Liz Johnson.Editor.Sew4Home 
Learn to make these simple pillow coverings, and you can change the look of any décor in a few fast and easy steps. This construction has no pesky buttons, zippers or Velcro to deal with – just a basic ‘envelope’ closure on the back, which also means you can pull out your pillow and wash the cover when Uncle Mort spills BBQ sauce on it.
You’ve heard the joke: ‘what is an occasional table the rest of the time?’ Well, while you’re laughing, that poor table is sitting there naked. It’s time to make those small occasional tables attractive and important members of your patio party. It’s one of the simplest sewing projects you can do.
We always like to have at least one project that makes use of leftover fabric scraps. For our Patio Party, we created this fun party banner. Just print out the provided pennant shapes and cut out as many as you’d like from your available scraps. All you’ll need to buy is a length of cording, and, if you want, colorful beads to string in between the pennants. It’s a great green alternative to traditional crepe paper.
Your Patio Party guests will stay longer if they have somewhere soft and pretty to sit. Give your chairs comfort and style with a set of custom seat cushions. Outdoor furniture often comes with a set of basic cushions, but the standard colors are pretty bland and boring. It’s much more fun to mix and match colorful fabrics to create a unique seating experience.
Ask ten different experts the difference between piping and cording and you might get ten different answers. however, you can be sure it does NOT have anything to do with bagpipes or comfortable pants.
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A generously proportioned “quarter yard” of fabric that measures 18″ x 22″. To understand this you need to do a little math. Fabric is measured in yards. A yard is 36″. When you ask your fabric store to cut a yard of fabric, you get 36″ by the width of the fabric. Quilting cottons are usually 44″ wide. So, if you buy a yard of quilting cotton, you’ll have a cut piece that measures 36″ x 44″. Now, if you’d stepped up to the counter and ordered a quarter yard of fabric, you’d get a piece that is 9″ (36″ divided by 4) by 44″. But a Fat Quarter is actually a full quarter of that original piece we got when we ordered our single yard of fabric (36″ x 44″). If I divide that original piece (36″ x 44″) into four equal pieces, each one will be 18″ x 22″. A Fat Quarter.
The very first pillows were likely just heaps of moss or grass in our ancestors’ cozy caves. However, even the more recognizable fabric-stuffed pillow reaches far back into history. Wealthy Greeks slept with their heads and feet resting on ornately embroidered cushions. Ancient Egyptians, who believed the head to be the seat of life, not only spent heavily on lavish pillows for themselves, they also placed them in the tombs of their honored dead. The Chinese thought soft pillows robbed the body of its vitality and therefore made their pillows from wood, leather or even ceramic.
Today, our cushy lifestyles demand comfortable and beautiful pillows of all shapes and sizes. If you want to impress your friends and family, throw out a few of these definitions at your next holiday gathering. Everyone will be impressed… or, they’ll all just ignore you like they always do.
A sewing machine needle designed to work with most types of woven fabrics. The needle tip has a slight ballpoint.
A decorative treatment that covers the top of a window. A valance can be made from draped fabric, a wooden or styrofoam box covered in fabric, or other materials.
A special sewing foot used to move multiple layers of fabric under the needle. This foot adds pressure from above and “walks” the fabric along in unison with the feed dogs below.
A machine needle that has “blades” on either side of the shaft to make a wider hole for a decorative look.
A popular fusible product made by Pellon ®. It allows you to affix a fabric design on another piece of fabric using a hot iron.
The side of the fabric with no design. If you can see no difference between the sides of your fabric, you can pick which is the wrong side.
A wide stitch that crosses back and forth over the seam in a zigzagging pattern. Can be used as a decorative stitch.
A fold or pleat that is sewn into the fabric.
Contrasting colors that look good next to each other. Usually from opposite ends of the color wheel.
A design cut out of fabric that is sewn onto or otherwise attached to another piece of fabric. This is often done with a satin stitch around the edge.
A shade made with inverted pleats, which gathers into a series of puffy festoons when raised.
This sewing machine needle has a slightly rounded point that allows it to go through tightly woven fabric without cutting the threads.
A series of close stitches designed to reinforce a point on a seam. Most often used on garments.
A series of long, loose stitches used to temporarily hold together two pieces of fabric during construction.
Filling used for quilts or bedcovers. It’s made of cotton, wool or synthetic fibers and comes in sheets or bats.
A diagonal line in comparison to the up-and-down and side-to-side weave of a fabric.
A narrow strip of fabric that has been cut out diagonally from the material. The strip’s fibers are at a 45 degree angle to the weave of the fabric, making it stretchier.
A strip of fabric sewn along the edge of an item like a blanket or tablecloth. It finishes and decorates the edge.
A wide stitch used to bind the raw edge of the material. Often used on blankets, it can be decorative as well as utilitarian.
A specially designed spool which feeds thread from underneath the needle plate, completing each stitch. Usually, bobbin thread shows only on the back side of your fabric.
The large rolls of cloth you see at the fabric store. Widths are vary from 44″ for dress fabric up to 60″ for upholstery fabric.
The hole a button goes into. Can be a hole, slit or even a loop.
Curtains that cover the lower part of a window to give privacy. Often used in the kitchen.
A strip of fabric folded over and sewn to provide a covering for a cord, drawstring or elastic.
Making a series of small cuts after you’ve sewn a curved seam so that when turned right side out the fabric will lay flat without puckering. You don’t need to clip if you use a serger to finish your seam.
A piece of cotton cord wrapped in fabric that is sewn into a seam to create an accent. Often used in slipcovers.
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