Stars and Stripes Pillow Wrap

Do you like to decorate your house for all or most holidays? Do you like to make your own decorations? Independence Day is coming up soon and I have an easy way to add holiday touches to your home decor. Hi, I’m Susan from Sewfeet.com and this post is about changing your decorator pillows to celebrate the current holiday season. Start with a neutral color throw pillow and make a simple wrap that reflects the colors and motifs of the holiday.

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Supplies

Note: The pillow I am wrapping is a 16” square and the following measurements are calculated for that size.

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• Base fabric: 11” x 42” – I used a navy print with star motifs.

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• Backing fabric – 11” x 42” – I used a red fabric with white dots.

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• Center Panel Fabric – 5” x 42” – I used a white fabric.

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• Medium weight fusible Interfacing – 5” x 42” – this is for the center panel to give it body for the applique designs and also to keep the navy fabric from showing through.

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• Four appliqué fabric squares for the stars, 5” each – I used the base fabric and red and white prints.

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• Quilters Select Appli-Stick – Four 5” squares to be fused to the back of the appliqué fabrics.

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• Two pieces red ribbon – ½” x 42” each

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• RNK Stitch Perfection Tape

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• 10” of hook and loop tape

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Preparing the Center Panel

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1. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric.

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2. Fuse the Appli-Stick to the wrong side of the appliqué fabrics.

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3. Using the pattern below, cut out four stars. Peel the paper from the back and arrange them in the center of the panel, placing the lowest star 3” up from the bottom edge and the highest star 19” from the bottom edge. I arranged them until I liked the look of the arrangement. The Appli-Stick has an adhesive that is revealed when you remove the paper. It lets you position and re-position you’re the stars until you have the look you want. Appli-Stick also comes I printable pages for printing appliqué shapes, and as a tape that is great for securing binding, ribbons, and trims, ready for stitching.

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Tip for removing the paper backing: Score the paper using The Floriani Pro Stiletto. It is part of the Floriani Educator Favorites Tool Kit. It is a great stiletto, but I love using it to remove paper backings from various sticky stabilizers and applique adhesives.

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Raw Edge Appliqué

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1. Attach and Open Embroidery Foot to your machine.

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2. Using a straight stitch, sew the stars to the center panel. Place the edge of the star next to the inside toe of the presser foot. Adjust your needle position to sew about 1/8” inside the raw edge. Stitch the edges of all four stars.

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Completing the Center Panel

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1. Position the center panel down the center of the base fabric, which should extend 3” beyond the center panel on each side.

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2. Baste the center panel to the base fabric along each side.

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3. Place one piece of ribbon over each basted edge of the center panel. I used the Appli-Stick Tape to hold the ribbon in place for stitching.

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4. Stitch along both sides of each piece of ribbon.

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Finishing the Pillow Wrap

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1. Place the front and back of the wrap right sides together. Stitch along both long sides, using a ½” seam allowance. Tip: Serging the sides using a 3-or 4-thread overlock stitch is quick and sew straight seams.

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2. Turn the wrap to the right side and press. Edgestitch along the side edges.

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3. Finish the short ends by serging across them or folding the edges ½” to the wrong side and hemming them.

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4. Place the wrap around the pillow, overlapping the ends at the bottom of the pillow toward the back, pulling it to fit snugly. Determine where the hook and loop tapes need to be sewn.

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5. Stitch the hook and loop tape to the ends of the pillow wrap.

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Bonus Project

This project can also be made into a table runner. Simply add more stars to fill the center panel. Then, when stitching the back to the front, sew all four edges, leaving an opening for turning. Close the opening as you sew the final edgestitching.