Pillow talk

I was going through some of my portfolio photography files recently and came across a stash of photos of various pillows I've made over the years for clients and for myself. I've previously published these images in different blog posts, or in my portfolio, but thought it would be fun to compile them in a single post. I made nearly all of these pillows, with the exception of the larger, more utilitarian back pillows which I sub out. But for the most part, I do the design and sewing of all the decorative pillows used in my projects. I like have some of my own handiwork in the spaces I've designed. My favorite thing to do is take left-overs from fabrics used in a space and create something different and unique. I usually don't do a drawing or scheme of any kind, I just take all the materials and see what I come up with. I usually do button placket closures in the back since I've never figured out how to do a zipper and while I could hand sew them closed, most clients want to be able to remove the cover from the pillow. So, cute covered buttons it is.

The photo above shows a project I did several years ago and this mass of pillows was on the newly re-upholstered sofa in the living room.  Pillow styles come and go - sometimes they are chopped, sometimes not; sometimes they are all trimmed out, and other times not. It's really a personal preference thing and there are no rights or wrongs, regardless of what the design police seem to think.

Always loved this fabric! It's Kravet and include several different breeds done up like "ancestor" portraits. This client was a huge animal lover and this room featured a large portrait of her two labs. Note the striped welting, which was used on the sides of these box pillows and on the back. So cute. (oh, I had my seamstress make these, I'm not so good at box pillows).

Pillow overload? Hmm, is there such a thing? My seamstress made the back three rows of larger pillows, I made the three front decorative pillows.

A bad photo of a pretty project. Loved that floral fabric! There was also a beautiful bed skirt in the same floral as well.

These are the pillows I made for the room I did for the WHDH Boston show "Room for Improvement". Homeowners on a limited budget were paired with a designer for a room makeover. The episode was called "Bedroom Oasis". Unfortunately, the video is no longer available and they stopped doing the series.

This was a little settee that I bought at a second hand shop and recovered myself.  One of my favorite DIY projects.

My Tiffany & Co. pillow and window seat cushion that I made for my Goddaughter.

These are the pillows I made for the "Princess Bedroom" project for my long time client's 5 year old. Some day I'll actually get the whole room photographed. Maybe when she goes off to college...

The living room in the town house of the Princess project above. Very limited view, but I made the pillows on the chairs, which had a stripped silk fabric on the back.

This was my bedroom, in one of my many decorative iterations. I made the duvet cover and long back pillow our of the green toile I purchased in Paris. The silk peach pillows in front were an experiment in "oragami" style fabric folding. They really did look like a rose blossom one upon a time!  The dark red shams were store bought, and I made the oblong pillows with the toile inset.

And then another set of bedding. Note the same peach silk pillow. I made the roll pillow and the oblong silk pillows. The ruffled bedspread was from Brocade Home, before they went out.

These pillows were for the formal master in an ocean front bedroom project I did several years ago. I made all the pillows, including the cute "starfish" pillow, which was meant as a kind of joke, but was still charming, I think.

These are some of the most recent pillows I've made. This for the master bedroom in the Duxbury project I recently completed. Notice things have gotten much simpler with much less embellishment.

And this is the living room in the same project. I never got very good photos of these pillows, so some of the fine details are missing. For instance, I used the striped fabric to make the welting on the blue and tan medallion pillows as well as the small paisley in the corner. I love putting in those small details that many people won't notice, but some will, such as this client who has quite a discerning eye.

These cute crewel pillows were done for a guest room and paired with matelasse coverlet and shams.

So, of course, I have quite a stash of leftover fabrics. One of my favorite "projects" was for a fundraiser at the local library. I forget the details, but we were asked to dress or decorate a toy "dragon" to raise money for something. Dragon is the Duxbury, Massachusetts mascot (oddly). Anyway, I went a little overboard and made a complete bedding ensemble, plus a nightgown (possibly that was purchased and altered to fit)  and "dolly" for the dragon. Note the bunny slippers. I used a small unfinished serving tray that I picked up at Joanne Fabrics and painted it white, then made a mattress with sheet and coverlet, and the pillows. These fabrics, and the green cotton ball fringe,  should all look familiar. I think I bought a whole roll of the green ball trim on sale and used it everywhere for a while. I have no idea what happened to this or where it went. But I had so much fun making it!

And, here is my latest pillow "creation". I seriously just took a memo sample that I had lying around, took off the tag, sewed a seam and slipped in a pillow. I didn't even sew up the sides. Sad, but true! When I get bored with it, I'll rip out the seam, press the sample and return it. shh - don't tell coughkravetfabricscoughcough.

I hope you enjoyed my little pillow parade.

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