Contents
How to sew a decorative pillow with your own hands
“Just think, a pillow! – skeptics will say. “What is so remarkable about a rectangular cloth bag stuffed with feathers?” But, taking on the design of their own home, any of them will very soon understand how wrong they were. Decorative textiles almost single-handedly “make” the interior. And pillows, bedspreads, and rugs play an important role in this process. Judge for yourself: your expensive white sofa is like a blank sheet of paper. Paints will appear on it only after you select the right accessories.
Cool classics
Of course, you cannot transform a modern interior into a classic one with the help of pillows. But it is quite possible to update the boring classics. The first thing decorators advise to do when choosing fabrics is to figure out the color palette of the style you are interested in. It is not that simple. Traditional English style is a combination of elements from different eras, which we today perceive as classics. If you decide to act in accordance with the strict canons of the classic style, get ready for difficulties. The fact is that textiles in a classic interior are distinguished by a variegated pattern. Sofas are usually upholstered in fabrics with intricate patterns. It is very difficult to find pillows for such a sofa for a layman. Therefore, it is better to sew covers to order, and choose materials for them together with a decorator, providing him with a sample of the upholstery of your favorite piece of furniture or his photograph. It is much easier to choose cushions for your leather sofa. Its somewhat office austerity will be well diluted with accessories made using the needle point technique. This traditional English handicraft is almost forgotten. So, having bought such a thing, you can safely consider yourself a collector of rarities.
How to sew a pillow with your own hands
- Traditional English style can be emphasized with rich fabric texture and combinations of, for example, velvet, tapestry and lace
- Pillows with spectacular “cucumbers” and parrots have transformed the leather sofa, creating an atmosphere of colonial style
- The classic style is characterized by fabrics with complex colors and intricate patterns.
Hit of the season – portraits of four-legged pets in uniforms with orders and tailcoats with butterflies. But there are also more familiar subjects: botany, shelves with books, horses, as if redrawn from old engravings. Pillows made from pieces of tapestry are likely to create a French or Belgian home feel. They will make a worthy company for sofas upholstered in velvet or leather. Classics are not boring at all! The main thing is that there are more pillows – of various shapes and with different patterns.
- Tapestry cushions
- Needle point pillows from Chelsea Textiles (UK)
South to East
The Far Eastern melody will be poured into a modern interior by pillows made of Chinese or Japanese silk with embroidery. The main embroidery motif is dragons, lotus flowers, reeds, water plants with fish. Usually fabrics of natural shades are chosen: muted pink, green, beige. It is good to update a bedroom or living room with similar pillows in an oriental spirit, but in a modern interpretation. Asian “ethnicity” is a mixture of a huge number of very different styles that came from the Middle and Far East. Many of them show strong Indian influence. Bright, luxuriously crafted Indian fabrics are perfect for those who are not afraid to experiment with color. Textiles from this country are represented by colorful patchwork works, embroidered with beads, gold and silver threads, as well as appliqués from pieces of mirrors (to heighten the shine). The beauty of this decor is that you can use “eerie” color contrasts. For example, a combination of bright orange with deep blue.
- An original combination of Indian products made using patchwork technique with plain silk covers from Finlayson (Finland)
- Every year, designer Martin Waller brings new ideas and new fabrics from his travels. Sofa and cushions by Andrew Martin (UK)
- An example of a bedroom designed in ethnic style. The calm whiteness of the walls and bedspreads is a wonderful background for silk pillows and a colorful path
A special story is the pillows made from oriental carpets or khurjins. They look very impressive, although there is nothing new in this decor.
- Chelsea Textiles’ needle point embroidery pillow will be a worthy decoration for an interior decorated in ethnic style
- This Indian pillow is made in patchwork style. The bedspread is decorated with embroidery and embroidered with small mirrors
- Pillows in cases from Pierre Frey (France)
- Cover made of classic Central Asian suzane
Soft country
Europe and Scandinavia gave the world a very humane and cozy style for a country house – country. While there are many local differences, the different variants of this style have something in common: a calm palette, consisting of pastel or “faded” shades; natural materials; floral theme in ornaments; cute details in the “grandmother’s” spirit.
Tired of a career and urban rhythm, Russians will like country music. You can recommend textiles in delicate colors, warm or cold: soft green, blue, pale pink, muted yellow. This range is the ultimate guide to pillow selection. Drawing – a strip, a cage and plant motifs.
- Country style. Pillows from the new IKEA collection (Sweden)
- Exquisite lace and cutwork embroidery (Lisse)
- Textiles in cold colors will fit well with the Scandinavian style
The range of colors of the Scandinavian palette is strictly limited: blue, blue, gray, ivory, cool green. The result is a sense of simplicity. It is good to dilute such an interior with pillows with laconic embroidery, in white-blue and white-blue checks, large and small. Textile with stylized two-tone floral motifs has a slight retro touch. In terms of materials, cotton ranks first. Although for Scandinavia, satin, damask, and linen pillows are also very suitable. The only thing to be wary of is pretentious and pompous fabrics. In general, light fabrics, lace, “grandmother’s” patchwork and delicate embroidery are suitable for country.
- Pillow in the best traditions of country with floral ornaments (Lisse, Russia)
- “Babushkin” patchwork is always in fashion (IKEA)
- Pillow with embroidery from the new IKEA collection
- Thin strip, large check, floral ornament – a direct hit in the Scandinavian style (IKEA)
Pop Art: Smile, You’ve Been Spotted!
With the light hand of Andy Warhol, art stepped into the masses, and painting – into everyday life. It turned out that not only a great artist, but also the most humble textile design master can print and color a finished photograph. In the 50st century, shops are replete with bedspreads and pillows as if created by the famous founder of Pop Art. The drawings are the most extravagant, the color palette is the most unusual, as the founding father bequeathed. Now the main theme of the artists of pillow pop-art has become embroidered with satin stitch photographs of the XNUMXs. The main artistic technique of pop art is photo print, which also perfectly took root in the interior. Photo print pillows are an inexpensive but very effective solution for a modern home. You can do such a thing on your own by printing your favorite digital photo or funny postcards with an address and a wish to friends or a loved one on the fabric.
- Textiles from Marimekko. The design of fabrics is so versatile that models developed in the 60s and 70s of the XX century are still very popular.
- Solid color cushions in bright silk from Finlayson counterbalance the colorful fabric panel from Marimekko. This combination is perfect for a teenager’s bedroom. There are a minimum of details, and the space will play in a completely new way.
- Bright pillow embroidered with sequins from the latest IKEA collection
A good decoration for “cheerful” interiors will be pillows made of cotton fabrics with a funny pattern. For example, worthy subjects can be found in the collection of the Marimekko company (Finland). If the space is already colorful, it can be “pacified” with bright, but solid color pillows from Finlayson. Quite original pillows and fabrics appeared in the new IKEA collection.
- Funny embroidered pillow from Chelsea Textiles
- Designer Marina Ingrid decorates her models with a photo print: illustrations from the “Book of Delicious and Healthy Food” came in handy for this pillow
- Target floor cushions. There is always a place to play on the territory of pop art
The editors would like to thank the salons English Interiors, La Maison Coloniale, Vellamo, Gallery O, De LUXЕ, French Touch, Decorating Studio of Mark Patlis, and the Ministry of Gifts for their help in shooting and the accessories provided.
Text by Ekaterina Matveeva. Photo by Viktor Chernyshov