How to Sew Professional Pillows

Piping is one of the easiest techniques to learn that can make your garments and home decor really pop! Piping makes everything look professional. Today, I share how easy it is and how I made these beautiful pillows.

Supplies:
Cording
Zippers
Thread
Pillow inserts
Fabric

The Pattern

I made a muslin first because it bothers me if the pillow cases are too tight or even the slightest bit too loose. The muslin only took about ten minutes and had the potential to save me hours. I also knew that if I squared the corners of my pillows they would have empty spots and look funny with the piping. It was easy to cut a slight curve in my muslin for testing. You can also use a plate or bowl as a template.

Now the muslin is my new pattern. I ripped out the baste stitching and labeled all of my pieces. Since the pillows would be piped around the edges I put the zipper in the back center. It only made sense to do this due to the thickness of all the layers on the piped edge.

The Piping.

: Place your fabric on the cutting board with the corner lined up on lines perfectly. We will be cutting on the diagonal lines as seen on my mat. These are 40 edge angles.

: With a rotary blade and roller cut out strips on those diagonal lines. The size of your piping dictates the width of your strips. I cut mine 1.5″ so that I had extra. If in doubt test a little first. You should have 1/2″ hanging over on each side.

: I needed 150″ and I cut way more than that to be safe.

: Place your strips together with the diagonal cuts to make a V shape. Here is the little dog, you do not need to draw yours but you can see it clearly now.

: I sewed 1/8″ from the edge back stitching at the beginning and the end until I had one long strip with all seams on one side.

: Clip your dogs ears on all seams and give them a good press open if you can. This reduces bulk.

: Here is the fun part! Place your cording inside of your newly made bias tape.

: Make sure your seams are on the inside of the piping. I messed this up by not paying attention to this detail.

: Put your zipper foot on.

: Put your machine setting on the longest stitch, the basting stitch.

: The zipper foot will run right along the side of the piping.

: Doesn’t that look nice and I didn’t pin a thing.

The Pillows!

: When I cut the pillows I made sure a good motif was in the center of each one. I did this by finding the center of the motif and marking it with a straight pin. I folded my muslin pattern piece in fourths to make sure the center corner matched my marked pin. Then I unfolded the pattern and cut. I did this prep for each pillow front.

: The back of the pillow cases needed extra seam allowance for the zipper. I added 1/2″ for that.

: I took all of my supplies and had them within arms reach so I would not be wasting any time.

The Piping on the Pillows!

: Keep your zipper foot on and start with one end over the edge.

: Baste stitch the piping to the outside of your pillows.

: It is necessary to make clips in the curves to get them to lay nice and flat. Clip right up, but not through, your basting stitches before sewing it to the outer shell of your pillow.

: To finish, go off the other edge so the ends are not visible.

The Zipper

: I made tabs for my sipper ends to make the pillow look even more professional. I cut four squares for this.

: Where the end of the zipper meets the end of the center of the case I sewed down the center of each square on the outside of the zipper. Then I folded the squares to the outside so the seams were locked in.

: I pinned my zipper in place.

: When you sew your zipper on you have to keep the zipper head out of the way or you will have an unsightly lump where you went around it. I simply stop before getting to the zipper and lift the presser foot to maneuver it out the way.

: Last, repeat sewing the zip down to the other side of the back of your pillow.

The final Steps

: Pin the pillow back to the front with right sides together. IMPORTANT, make sure your zipper is half way open so you can flip it right side out.

: Stitch with a regular stitch length and a zipper foot for the last time on the top inside of the pillow. This is so you can see your stitches and stitch right on top of the old stitches making your piping look professional.

: Last, I serged around each pillow to give it even more reinforcement.

It was a lot of work and it was well worth it! My client left me a lovely review on my facebook page and shared this picture with all of her friends.

Thank you for reading,

Tracy McElfresh

Dream it! Sew it!

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Tracy McElfresh

Owner at Tracy's Sewing Studio

Tracy McElfresh is an alterations and fit specialist, Kettering Arts Council member, and Kettering resident. Tracy has a skillset built from multigenerational roots in the sewing and garment industries. Operating out of a studio located inside Rosewood Art Centre she provides alterations, garment design (including a strong passion for swimwear), formal and casual dressmaking, and sewing classes. Tracy founded a meetup group in 2014 called the Dayton Garment Designers Meet Up that is open to all newcomers at any skill level. In her free time, she is an avid writer and blogger and was a recognized award winner in 2018 as having one of the Best Dressmaker Blogs on the Planet from Blogspot. You can follow her work on Facebook and Instagram at TracySews.

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