Pillow
by Lisa Galvin

Materials: Two 15" x 15" black velvet fabric squares Tandy Leather Factory®: velvet pig suede pieces: 4 1/2" x 12" piece Gold 3 1/2" x 10" piece Red 2" x 11" piece Purple 1/4 yard black satinette lining fabric Tsukineko VersaCraft™ stamping ink pads, colors: Real Black, Autumn Leaf, and Sand Tsukinekos Two 3/4" and one 1" Ancient Dynasty Coins (coins shown here from "Enlightened" set) Three 10mm and six 6mm metal roundel spacer beads, antique gold finish Three glass "E" beads, (red shown here) Fairfield Processing - 10 oz Soft Touch® Polyfil® Supreme fiberfill stuffing Three 10mm black buttons with 2 stitching holes Black sewing machine thread Heavy duty black upholstery thread Rubberstamps of choice (leaf and vine-like patterns shown here) Scissors Ruler Ink pen Straight pins *Binder clips (or spring-style clothespins) Sewing machine equipped with size 14 needle Hand sewing needle Pressing cloth Iron and ironing board Scrap paper *Found in the stationary section of most department or office supply stores.

Tips for working with suede and leather: Machine stitching -Adjust stitch length to 8 - 10 stitches per inch. Unlike fabric, holes made in leather and suede are there to stay; for this reason, always use binder clips instead of straight pins to hold pieces together. Do not back stitch as this can result in perforations that are close together; causing tearing. To secure stitch at ends, use needle to bring both thread ends together on one side of stitching and tie a square knot. Instructions: Suede banners. Rubberstamp velvety front side of each suede piece using VersaCraft™ inks. For best results, place suede on a smooth, flat surface that has been covered with a scrap piece of paper. Re-ink stamp(s) each time before returning to stamp again. To recreate as shown here, use Sand ink pad for gold suede, Autumn Leaf for red suede piece, with Real Black used to stamp the purple. Cover suede with pressing cloth and lightly press with iron to heat set. Place suede face down on a flat surface. Create a stitch line for sewing banners. On one end only, use ruler and ink pen to mark a 45 degree angle directly onto back (smooth) side of suede. Repeat for each piece. To duplicate as shown here, make sure that all angles are going same direction. Do not cut suede yet. Cut a piece of black satinette lining fabric the same size as each rectangular suede piece. With right sides facing one another and matching edges, use binder clips in lieu of straight pins to hold suede together with corresponding lining piece during stitching. Stitching banners. Banners are stitched on three sides; leaving top (straight) end open for easy turning once stitched. With suede's back (smooth) side up so that drawn (45 degree angle) ink line is visible; begin stitching the pieces together using a 3/8" seam allowance. Stitch directly on ink line once you reach bottom of banner. Continue to stitch opposite side as you work your way to top. Remove from sewing machine and secure stitch ends referring to TIPS section above. Trim 3/8" below the stitched ink line to remove triangular corner section from bottom; revealing banner shape. Clip corners and trim suede portion of seam allowance slightly to stagger thickness. Turn right side out and lightly press flat using pressing cloth and iron. Repeat for remaining banners. Place one 15" velvet fabric square face up on a flat surface. Referring to photo as a guide for approximate spacing; place stamped suede banners onto velvet. Once happy with placement; place remaining 15" velvet fabric square face down on top; sandwiching banners between velvet layers. Use binder clips to hold suede banners in place at top of pillow; with straight pins used to hold remaining (velvet) fabric edges together in preparation for stitching. Beginning near center-bottom edge of pillow, machine stitch the layers together using a 1/2" seam allowance. End leaving a 4" opening at bottom of pillow. Backstitch to secure stitching at beginning and end. Clip corners. Use 4" opening to turn pillow right side out and stuff with fiberfil. Hand stitch opening closed with black sewing machine thread. Thread hand sewing needle with a 24" length of black upholstery thread; knot one end. Whipstitch gold banner tip to velvet a couple of times to hold flat on pillow top. Beginning 3/8" below banner tip whipstitch a couple of times going through velvet pillow top only. Bring needle through to back side of pillow, slip through button holes and then take back through to front side of pillow. Return needle through to back side of pillow once again; bringing through one of the button holes. Pull thread; bringing front and back sections of pillow together as much as possible. Holding thread taunt, bring needle through second button hole and back to pillow front. Whip stitch to secure. Repeat 2 - 3 more times. Do not cut thread yet. With needle on top side of pillow, bring through hole at center of 3/4" Ancient Dynasty Coin, slide on one 10mm, two 6mm metal roundel spacer beads, then an "E" bead. Return needle through metal spacer beads, coin, then through pillow and one hole in button; pulling thread to secure "E" bead at tip of the spacer and coin accent features shown at bottom of banner. Continue 3 - 4 more times through button, pillow, coin and bead arrangement to secure; ending by whip stitching beneath button on back side of pillow. Repeat steps 7 and 8 on remaining red and purple banners to finish.