DIY: Throw pillow with pom pom trim.

In my desire to update our living room and our reality that we have a very small budget for it, I found 30 minutes and some scrap fabric and made a throw pillow that I really love. 

The velvet and canvas fabric was leftover from a custom order of clutches, and I can't seem to find the name of it. (If anyone finds it, let me know!) Here is a similar fabric. You'd only need to order 1/2 yard. For the back of the pillow, I used painter's drop cloth canvas, which was leftover from the slipcover I made for the chair you see above. 

I had an extra 14" x 14" pillow form, so I cut the front piece of fabric to 15.5" by 15.5" and used a 1/2" seam. I like the pillow form to fit snuggly inside the pillow case, and I knew this pillow was very overstuffed. If yours is a more flat pillow form, I'd suggest making your pillow case even smaller (maybe cutting your fabric 14.5" x 14.5").

If you've never made an envelope-style pillow case, it couldn't be easier! Here's a great tutorial I recommend. 


For the ball trim, I added it to the front piece of fabric by stitching it near the edge before I sewed the back and front pieces together. That way, when I pinned the front and back pieces together, the trim is inside the pieces and I could see my stitch line. I sewed inside the stitch line so that only the balls would show - not the trim piece holding them together.


And that's about it! Once you sew the front and back pieces together, turn the pillow case right side out and stuff your pillow inside.

If you're a beginner seamstress and can thread your machine and sew a straight line, I think an envelope style pillow is the perfect starting project. It only involves sewing straight lines, nothing tricky. Once you master that, you can move on to adding piping and trim and dress up your whole living room.