Can’t find pillows in colors that you need or want in your price range? In the words of Tim Gunn – “Make It Work!”  You don’t have to make the pillows from scratch, simply upgrade solid pillows and make them fabulous.

I was in the need of accent pillows for a brown and red room, to be used in an upcoming home staging project. But I was having zero luck finding pillows at local stores.  So when I stumbled upon a window panel at a local retailer, the wheels started turning.

I filled my favorite shopping bag with a pair of red pillows and this great window panel (in the discount section of course) with my project in my head . My idea was to sew a panel of fabric onto each pillow. Fortunately, I inherited a metal Singer machine from my aunt some years ago, and I was not afraid to use it! Away we go!

My vintage sewing machine – still works great!

The fabric is bright and colorful but needed to be ironed.   After I ironed out the folds, I decided to cut the pieces in 4” by 7” strips to lay on the red pillows. Since I couldn’t sew fabric directly on the pillow covers with the machine, I used the machine to neatly hem the sides of the patterned fabric. The last picture is of the two patterned pieces, after the edges were sewn.

My chosen fabric, prepping it for sewing, then the finished panels.

After the fabric was sewn, I took a needle and thread and hand tacked the fabric to each pillow cover.  I didn’t realize it at the time of purchase, but having pillows with a zipper closure made things much easier.  It would have been harder to affix the patterned fabric to the pillows without removing the inserts.  Not impossible, but harder.

Voila,  a pair of brightly colored pillows, perfect for the staging project.  I think my grandmother and late Aunt Gloria would be proud.

The final pair!

And here are the pillows as we used them in the space!