In progress: pillows for the couch

A while back, I showed you this before:



I'm working on the after. It's taking a bit longer than I'd like (please excuse the long absence, by the way; it's been crazy around here.) So rather than an "after," here's some "in progress":




I found this great fabric, which went so well with the placemats I'd used to recover the other pillow. There's another fabric to go with it all, too, coming soon.

But the best part of this little project is one you can't see. I had a child in my program one time who hated our couch. He wouldn't sit on it. Even when we were all snuggled up together reading a book, he'd stand by my knees, or maybe, if he let down his guard, perch on the edge. Why? It's those pillows. They're cheap down pillows from Target, and they were cozy for about five minutes. And then the feathers started coming out. They'd poke you, work their way into your clothes to torture you, and pile up in corners making everything a mess all the time. Ugh.

I had this white fabric I'd bought at a tag sale for the children to use for their embroidery. But it had a crazy tight weave; the kids could barely poke even the sharpest needles through. That gave me an idea. Before making the outer covers for the pillows, I sewed an inner cover right over the old (thin, muslin) pillow case. And so far, there are no escapees! Ahh.

Now on to the (embarrassingly stained in the photo) slipcover, the other pillows, and the rug...