Guest {{Blogger}} Tutorial - Amy Butler Pillows

Hello all you Love Stitched followers!

I'm Karissa and I blog over at Love Like Flowers.

Life has been crazy and full of changes for me lately. In April I graduated from college, in June I married my very best friend and in July my husband and I moved to Kentucky - we knew not a soul in basically the whole state before we moved here! Crazy, right?! 

Lately I've been enjoying married life, experimenting in the kitchen, and trying my hand at sewing, well again at sewing. I sewed as a child and loved it, but somehow sewing and I grew apart...but then last year I decided to pick up the hobby again and got my first sewing machine for Christmas from my mom. My first project was sewing sixty napkins for my wedding and I haven't stopped stitching since. In September, with a little encouragement from my husband, I started my very own blog where I could document my experiences in the kitchen and attempts at sewing, along with my day to day thoughts and such. Thanks for having me guest Brittany!

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Karissa is sharing with us today these DARLING Amy Butler pillows she made and is even providing the PDF for the tutorial!!!
 

Click HERE to download the full PDF tutorial

I used Amy Butlers pattern for pillow shams with ties up to step 2. The only thing I did differently in step 2 was instead of machine basting the ties to the panel, I went ahead and zig zag stitched them into place. I improvised the pattern because I didn't know all the technical terms and figured out a way I could do it and make equally as beautiful pillow shams (i think at least).

A side note: Something I find very useful is a Techniques and Terms sheet put together by Amy Butler. If you are interested, check it out here.

After I completed step 2 I made four more of the straps but this time I made them with fabric that was 8 inches wide and 22 inches long. Follow the same instructions as the smaller ties. The picture below are my thicker straps in the making.

Once completed, pin your thick straps on the right side of your fabric over the thinner ties (remember these are already stitched on) making sure to have covered the raw edge of the panel. 

After completing my pillowcases I wish I had finished that raw edge of the panel by simply making a quarter of an inch seam and stitching it up real quick before I stitched the small ties on so you may want to consider that.

After pinning and sewing the thick strap on (I sewed a half inch from the top and then a half inch from the bottom of the strap too so I had two lines of stitches) simply pin the right sides together and sew the panels together. There is an allowance for a half inch seam (also be sure to sew the correct three sides - not the side with the ties). Once all three sides are sewn, go back and serge (or zig zag stitch) in the seam allowances to make the pillowcase very durable. 

Simply, turn your case right side out and you have your beautiful pillowcase ready to be used!

(sorry for the quality of pictures. i was working late at night so i had no natural lighting)

This is my first attempt at writing a sewing tutorial so I should get clearer and more technical.

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Thanks for sharing Karissa!!
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