Pretty Batik Pillows

I have recently been making more pillows and pillow covers to put on my Etsy Shop.  Since I mainly make accent pillows, I really like to use fabric that will stand out and add color to a room.  I really love the wonderful colors and designs of batik fabrics.  I also like that these fabrics are hand-dyed and a lot of time goes into making them unique.

The following fabrics caught my eye:

Both of these 2-piece pillow cover sets are for 16"x16" throw pillows and are for sale on my Etsy Shop.

Finished Duvet!

After I finally found a place to stretch out the duvet in order to pin it (my parents' dining room), the process started moving along quickly. 

When I finished sewing the duvet, I realized that one of the issues I was concerned about had to be dealt with.  I needed to attach the back flap to the front in some way.  Some options were buttons, a zipper, or ties.  After some deliberation, I decided to make ties with the same black patterned fabric I used on the duvet.  (I thought this would blend in better.)  I remembered reading about a creative idea for ties in my friend Megan's blog, Textile Love.  Since Megan is such an experienced sewer, I contacted her to get the exact details on how to make them. 

I attached them to the back flap and the top about every 12 inches.  They are attached in such a way that they are not very noticeable from the front.

The pillow shams were next.  (At this point, I was just ready to be done!)  I made them out of a coordinating gray fabric and finished them with french seams for durability.  Here is a picture of all the pillows:

When I made the duvet, I had always planned on the patchwork stripes running horizontally.  But, after I put it on the bed, I decided I might like how it looks better with the stripes running vertically.  (The good thing about this queen-sized duvet is that it is square, so you can flip it either way.)  I can't decide.  What do you think?

Well, I am glad to be done!  I hope my sister likes it!

Throw Pillows for the Duvet

I ran into a road block while finishing off the duvet cover.  The queen-sized duvet cover was so large, I didn't have a good place to spread it out and pin on the back cover.  While I attempted to lay it out on the floor in my hall, I didn't have enough room to stretch out the wrinkles.  So, I decided to work on another part of the project before finding a place to pin the duvet. 

I started on the matching pillowcases.  While my sister already decided on a gray fabric for the standard pillow shams, it took me awhile to come up with a layout I liked for the throw pillows.  I wanted to include elements that were in the duvet itself.  I put the floral fabric in a centered rectangle with thin pink and green borders.  However, I couldn't decide what fabric to use for the majority of the throw pillow.  I was trying to decide between the blue fabric and the black polka-dot fabric.



I finally decided to use a combination.  The main fabric was the black polka-dot fabric, with small side borders of blue fabric.  (Another factor in my decision, was that I had more polka-dot fabric.)   I used a white fabric for the envelope back cover.

Throughout this project, I have learned a lot about ways to conserve fabric.  For example, I only had thin strips of the floral fabric.  I had to sew two small strips together to form the center rectangle.  Although I couldn't match the patterns together exactly, I tried to make it as "seamless" as I could.  My supply of pink and green fabric was also fairly low, so I could only do thin borders with them.

Working on the Duvet...

Well, I am finally making progress on the duvet cover for my sister.  After some delay, I am starting to wrap up the front side.  I wanted a modern look with a mix of colors.  There are so many bright colors and patterns, I decided to tone it down a bit by alternating the patterned rows with large rows of black fabric with gray accents.  The back of the duvet will be made of the same black fabric in order to tie everything together.

I have a few things I am still considering.  First of all, I am trying to decide if I will use ties, buttons, or nothing at all for the duvet envelope closure on the back.  I guess I will wait and see how well it holds together without ties or buttons.  Also, I am trying to decide what type of matching pillowcases I will make.  Should I make simple black/gray pillow shams, black/gray tube pillowcases with a pattern accent, or some type of patchwork pillowcase incorporating different fabric patterns?  I don't want the pillowcases to clash too much with the duvet cover (since the duvet is "pattern-heavy").  Still trying to decide...

Duvet Cover Preparation

My sister recently requested a duvet cover for her spare bedroom.  So, we went to the fabric store to find some options.  She fell in love with a bright floral fabric, but the fabric was an old line that was no longer in production.  They only had 3 fat quarters of the fabric left, but we thought we could make it work.  After looking around awhile, we found some coordinating fabrics that she really liked.  We decided to do a patchwork pattern due to the limited amount of floral fabric.

As I was trying to design the layout of the duvet cover, I was very intimidated by my small supply of the floral fabric.  I was afraid that if I just started cutting, I would mess up.  So, I decided to do a lot of measuring and math (all in a day's work) in order to get the layout just right.  I made a diagram to go by that was scaled down enough to fit on paper.  (By the way, I am not usually this prepared when sewing, I just didn't want one incorrect cut to cause me to run out of the most important fabric my sister picked.)