Decorator Pillows - Different methods & Looks

[baileyuph]

Decorator pillows are still in vogue.....made them along the way and after several over the week got to thinking that don't hear as much about them as the past.

That thought drives my question and associated comments:

1.  Does your business still make them?

2.  What style is usually used?  a.  square   b. oval sides to give a different fullness and
      look or do you like the thinner look?  

3.  Usually how is the enclosure handled  a.  zipper (which style and look - several ways
     this can be handled.  b.  sew the enclosure

4.  corded?  Any special affects like contrasting and such?

5.  Filler   a.  loose filler (type?  b.  foam    c.  Other?

6.  Size    a.  larger since furnitue is getting or is bigger?  b.  Shape  (mostly square/rectangle?

Just curious, in the past they might have played a bigger role in decorating than today - not sure but thought it might be worth to find out what the rest of the world does and thinks?

Doyle

[gene]

I make a lot of pillow covers. A lot!

It started with noticing that Interior Designers would either have me cut off a yard of fabric from the bolt that I was to use to upholster a piece of furniture, or they would come back to my studio when I was finished with the upholstery work and get the unused fabric. They would take this fabric to their window treatment workshop and have them make a pillow cover.

I thought if I could make pillow covers, that it would save them time and money, and it would be a nice add-on for me. It does and it is.

It also have become a nice ad-on for homeowners that I do upholstery for directly.

Also, I spent A LOT of time learning how to use my industrial sewing machine to make pillows out of thin fabrics and fabrics that are very stretchy. I have learned techniques like using fusible tape around the edges when needed to keep the fabric from stretching too much. I often get the upholstery fabric for the furniture and a second fabric to make the pillow covers. In hind site it may have been easier to have bought a sewing machine designed for lighter fabrics.

1. yes. Only the pillow covers. I do not provide inserts, although I can if asked.

2. Usually knife edge, self welt cord. More square than rectangle. More rectangle than oval. I also do a lot of bolster pillow covers.
All of my knife edge pillow covers have tapered corners unless the customer specifically asks for 'dog ears'. And sometimes they want that 'dog ear' effect on the pillow.

3. Zippers only. On rare occasion I am asked by a new person to do a hand stitch. I show them my zippered cover and they almost always are OK with that. My zippers are very well done and on thick fabric you need to turn the pillow around to find the zipper. If they insist on hand stitch that is OK with me. If they insist on Velcro, they must sign a paper and post a bond that ensures that they will never tell anyone I made it. (Just kidding. I won't do Velcro closures on pillows unless it means I will lose the business, then I do Velcro and blame myself for not being able to talk them out of it.

4. Mostly self welt cord. Contrast welt cord a lot. Compliment welt cord also. A lot of decorative fringe and pre-made decorative cording that already has a lip on it. I don't have a machine that can sew a lip on rope cording.
I do an occasional multi-fabric with borders.

5. New poly, new down, never loose fill (if there is loose fill I always make a cover for it.) Maybe 1/10 of the time I use existing pillow cover inserts.

6. 18" x 18" and 22" x 22" are still the most popular. Then 22" x 14" or 16" x 12". Then maybe 36" x 36".

I think it could be a great add-on for any upholsterer. If you have easy access to inserts then providing inserts would be an aditional add-on. I would not want to stock inserts, though.

gene

PS: Can you tell I am home sick today?

PPS: Thanks for the post, Doyle. I don't know why, but I really enjoy making pillow covers.

[sofadoc]

I wouldn't say that I do a LOT of throw pillows. But I do my fair share. It seems to come in spurts. Some weeks I'll have dozens. Then a long dry spell.

Most of the decorators that I deal with send the throw pillow work to their drapery work room. Fine with me, since they expect me to do them for practically nothing.

I do the corded pillows, or with braided rope, bullion fringe, tassels, etc. I don't do any of the more technical pillows, such as the ones with a "picture frame" insert on one of the face plates, or any kind of lacy trim top-seamed.

[baileyuph]

From this sample size - decorator pillows are still around.

Gene - What is your favorite trick for putting in the zipper?  Usually this is the first in the game, right? 

Also, since there is no loose filler, any special liner material used, or something like muslin the material for the liner?

What feet do you use on the machine - a zipper foot all the way or change from that to cording foot depending on what the trim is being added? 

The comment about machine preferred, I kinda agree, the compound walkers can get heavy for the task, then again a drop feed (there are others but an older 31-15 is well up to the task and the feed, to me, are more petite.

Dennis/Gene?anyone else involved in this endeavor, what trim seems to work the best?  Some I have used, not much lip can be difficult.  But what do you do different with the trim that hangs, like balls/tassels?  Do either of you tape or secure these during sewing to avoid "seam catching" or other problems.

For filler is there something denser than but with a little more bounce than polyester?  Especially with the pillows in the area of 24" square or so? 

Ever get request to do leather decorator pillows, or a non breathing medium?  That would call for some sort of breathing facility to be added. 

Then, there is the trapunto technique, that one is different and a different challenge.      If one did a lot of this a twin needle with appropriate attachements to feed the cord and backing would enter into play.  No doubt these offer different challenges, keeping the geometry true to the objective might sound simple but I guess it is to a degree if you have all the answers and experience.

Decorator pillows are shaping like anything, the degree of creativity, detail, and non routine sewing can make them more technical or let's say just technical as upholstering some of the furniture.

I always did say cushions in general are the most, at least one of the most, complex parts of furniture upholstery.

Hey!  An idea, if either/anyone has some pictures, that would be inspiring!

Just as a side point, had a couple of new furniture pieces (sofa/love, etc.) the past few days and the high light of the upholstery was - let's call the accent pillows, there was some smaller decorator but the larger came off more as functional accent pillows.

These fabrics today (my experience), many might work best if serged.

Thanks, Pillows is a refresher, this week I worked on auto interiors from the 50's and 60's.  Interesting and did find one young mouse.  Never know due to where and how these older cars were stored over the years.

Doyle

[baileyuph]

I just looked over a suppliers catalog and based on the prices of cushion fillers, Gene I can understand why it is smarter to either obtain the filler from a supplier or let the decorator/designer/or customer work that issue.

They are much cheaper to buy than make in the shop, especially in a reasonable volume.

Doyle

[gene]

I had looked into making both poly loose fill inserts and down/feather inserts and didn't feel it would be profitable for me. There are too many cheap inserts out there. I had an interior designer buy a bunch of pillows from Walmart that were on sale and she had me use the inserts from those pillows for the new pillow covers I was making.  :)

For the fabric on pillow inserts I use fabric lining for poly and down proof ticking for feathers.

I had a seamstress teach me how to make pillow covers. Welt cord is sewn to the front panel. Then the back panel is sewn to the front panel, sewing only a few inches in from the bottom corners. (Right side to right side.) The zipper is then sewn onto both bottoms. Then the other three sides are sewn. I'll look for a link I used to have that showed this process. It's easier to see than imagine.

I use my straight stitch machine (no walking foot). I start with the welt cord foot. Then the zipper foot. Then back to the welt cord foot.

With difficult trim, such as tassels or fringe, I will sew slow, and sometimes I use tape. Blue painters tape or any tape with a low tack works well.

Pre made rope cording with a lip was the hardest thing for me to learn how to sew. The key is to have a cording foot that is a bit smaller than the rope.

I do leather and vinyl pillow covers. I don't worry about the air inside if they are decorative pillows. If they are going to be used, I tell the customer about the possibility of the air inside blowing out the zipper. I can remember one time on 4 of 36" x 36" pillow covers that I put a plastic vent in the back panel at the bottom.

FYI: If using poly batting insert I use the next size up for the pillow cover. If pillow cover is 18" x 18", use a pillow insert that is 20" x 20". For down inserts they seem to be not so skimpy so I use the same size as the pillow cover.

gene

[Dede]

My zippers are very well done and on thick fabric you need to turn the pillow around to find the zipper.

Someday I will learn how to hide my zippers.  I even took a hands-on class with "The Pillow Lady" (Chris Watt) and still can't do it.