LAZY MARTHA project Vintage Feedsack Pillows

I promised to show how I made the daybed cover and pillows in Dreamy Daybed Redo click here, and here is the “how to” for the pillows.  I made four different types of pillows (all from vintage feedsacks) and the daybed cover.

This post is about the large pillows with the single blue stripe, shown below.

Feedsack pillow on my French chair

I am calling this a LAZY MARTHA, since I normally put a lot more work into making pillows.  I usually make piping or a ruffle that I add.  In this case, I did not make piping or a ruffle, and the method used to enclose the pillows were two sets of simple ribbons.  They technically aren’t even ribbon; they are actually carpet edge binding tape.  I used this tape instead of the ribbon, because I liked the texture and thought it added to the rustic feel of the grain sack fabric.

Supplies:
ribbon or carpet edge binding tape
thread
fabric
feedsack
glue or Fray No More click here

Supplies to make Feedsack Pillows

Most of the feedsacks I have purchased have a seam on either side but none at the bottom.  First, I used a seam ripper to rip out the side seams.

Feedsack with the seams ripped

Once the seams were removed, I had one long piece of fabric.  Next I measured the pillows again.  I had measured them before I purchased the fabric, but I like to MEASURE TWICE AND CUT ONCE.  Going back to buy more fabric because I have mis-measured is not fun.  That of course reminds me of my brother’s philosophy on making things – BEAT TO FIT, PAINT TO MATCH.  He says this all of the time, and I find it amusing, so long as he isn’t making something for me.

I had originally made the black and white pillow cover that you see below a few years ago. You can see that I used piping when making the pillow cover.  Not using the piping, really made this project much quicker.  Did I mention that I had 10 pillows to make?  Oh, I guess I did.  And why was I making new pillows?  Well, I think you should ask Mr. Mouse that question.  You can see his cute picture here.

Measuring the pillow

The feedsack was 22 inches wide, while my pillow was 27 inches wide.

Measuring the feedsack

So, I had to add fabric to the either side of the feedsack to make it the proper size for the pillow.  I only had so much grain sack material, and since I didn’t want to waste any, I did not use grainsack material on the back of the pillow.  I used a coordinating fabric on the back of the pillows and I used it to add two strips of fabric on either side of the grain sack for the front of the pillow case.  That is actually much more complicated to explain than to do.  I used 3 grain sacks to make 10 pillows.  Since these are the real deal, they weren’t cheap, and I wanted to stretch them out as much as possible.

I cut the fabric 3 inches longer than the height of the pillow for the front and back.  Since the pillows will be closed with ribbon, I did not want the opening to gape open and for the pillow under the fabric to show.

For the back of the pillow, I cut one piece of fabric the size of the pillow (+3 inches for the height), and for the front I cut two strips of fabric, sized so that when sewn to the feedsacks, the entire front piece would be the same size as the back piece.  Below, you can see the three pieces of fabric I cut.

Cutting the fabric for the pillows

Here, I pinned the two strips of fabric to my feedsack to form the front of the pillow case.

Pinning the fabric stips to the feedsack for the front of the pillow

I sewed these two pieces onto the large piece of grain sack and then pressed the seams.

The side strip of fabric sewn and pressed on the feedsack

Then I pinned the front and back together, then sewed the seams.

To ensure that the binding tape would not fray, I applied glue to the edges.  The Fray No More above, would be a better choice, but I was out,  so I used glue.  (The real Martha, would have gone to the store and gotten the Fray No More, but well, that’s why I call this a LAZY MARTHA.)

I then put the pillows in the pillowcases to determine where the tape should be attached to the pillow so that the pillow will be completely covered.   I pinned the tape into place.  Note that I attached the tape on the back of the pillow about 4 inches down from the top of the pillow case.

When I sewed the tape on, I reinforced it by sewing a square with an “X” in the middle.  Here is a picture of the pillow in the new grain sack pillowcase, shown below.

Close up of feedsack pillow

Anothter view of pillow and ribbon

Feedsack pillow one more view

Below are a few more pictures of the daybed, and to see more pictures, click here.

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