How to Make Fringe for a Pillow
How to transform raw edges of tightly woven fabric to make a trendy fringed edge pillow cover. When placed on your sofa, the pillow will resemble something you bought at Target or HomeGoods.
You may not be interested in making a pillow cover, but let this post inspire you to try something you are thinking about making or doing, but are not quite sure will work. If you can think it… you can find a way to make it happen. I did and so can you.
The beautiful weather here in South Carolina has given me the energy to switch gears doing something I can control right now… freshening up my house for spring.
You know the children’s book… The Little Engine that Could? One of my favorite story lines is from this book when the little blue engine says… “I think I can… I think I can…” as she puts her mind and energy towards her goal. With her positive thinking… she has success.
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This positive mindset got me to thinking about how I could add vibrant green touches to my sofa in the way of 24″ x 24″ square pillows with fringed trim to match existing blue pillows already on the sofa.
I know that we are still probably weeks away from getting back to where I can get “out and about” to shop for the right weight of fabric to make these pillows. I didn’t want to let that fact keep me from my goal.
I like large throw pillows and made two new green pillow covers using cotton quilt fabric I had on hand. I wanted to make the new covers so that they would resemble this blue chambray pillow with fringed fabric edges in the photo above. I bought two of these pillows at Target two summers ago.
I wanted to introduce a leafy green color into the living room as another way to make the inside and outside of my house flow into one another. Green trees, grass, the lake and blue skies. :-)
I bought the green fabric to make a quilt one day. It really isn’t ideal for making a fringed edge pillow cover since the fabric is thin and has a very tight weave. But it was something I had on hand and I was determined to make it work …
…“I think I can…. I think I can…”
… and I did. I was able to fringe the raw edges of the green quilt fabric with some experimenting, a few pointy tools and an afternoon of my time. If I didn’t think I could or at least try, then how would I ever have success in anything I do?
I am not a seamstress, but I don’t let this stop me from using my sewing machine when I want to make something to decorate my house. The basic skill of being able to sew two pieces of fabric together in a straight line has allowed me to make quite a bit of home decor from drapes, tablecloths, pillows and more.
What is the Best Fabric To Use To Make Fringed Edges?
The best fabric to use when you want to fringe the raw edges is loose or medium woven fabric where you can see each strand of thread when you look closely at the fabric.
- Loosely woven fabric like burlap is very easy to create a fringed border along the edges.
- Medium woven fabric may require you to use a needle or toothpick to separate each strand to pull out, but it fairly easy to do.
- Tightly woven fabric is a more challenging material from which to make fringe. This is the fabric I used. It took time and effort and the results are not as nice as they would have been if the fabric had a looser weave, but it can be fringed.
I thought I could… I thought I could make fringe for my pillow covers even with tightly woven fabric… see how I did it.
What would you like to make? Think of a way to make it happen.
How To Make a Pillow Cover with a Fringed Border
When making a throw pillow cover, here is a good guide for how much fabric you will need. My pillows are 24″ square. I used an existing pillow cover to make a pattern.
Fabric Yardage Calculator for Throw Pillow Covers
| Dimensions (Length by Width) | Amount of Fabric Needed for 1 Pillow Cover (Using 54-inch Wide Fabric with No Pattern Matching) |
|---|---|
| 16 x 16 inches | 1/2 yard |
| 18 x 18 inches | 5/8 yard |
| 20 x 20 inches | 3/4 yard |
| 30 x 30 inches | 1 yard |
supplies needed:
- Fabric
- Thread
- Sewing machine
- Scissors
- Straight pins
- Pillow form
- Existing pillow cover or pillow pattern
- Sharp needle
- If using tightly woven fabric: a stitch ripper, paint brush cleaner brush and a cutting board
Time needed: 3 hours
How to Make a Pillow Cover with a Fringed Border
- Use Existing Pillow Cover as a Pattern
I used an existing 24″ x 24″ pillow cover as my cutting pattern to make my pillows.
I folded my fabric in half and then placed my existing pillow cover on top. I cut around the pillow cover leaving 1-inch extra fabric all around the cover. This extra inch will become the fringe.
- Place Cut Fabric WRONG Sides Together
Once the two same sized pieces of fabric are cut, pin WRONG sides together so that the right side of the fabric is face out for both the front and back of the cover. Make sure if the fabric has a pattern that you pin it so the pattern is running in the same direction on each side.
- Sew 3 Sides
Take the pinned together fabric to your machine and sew along 3 sides leaving a 1-inch border. Don’t sew the last side closed until you place the pillow form inside.
- Place Pillow Form Into Pillow Cover
With 3 sides sewn together on the pillow cover, place the pillow form in and shake to make it fit while leaving one side opened.
Pin the the opening closed making sure to keep the front and back edges of the fabric even as you pin the cover closed.
- Sew Last Side of Cover Closed
Shake the pillow in the cover to allow room along the pinned edge so you can sew it closed on a machine. You may have to sew slowly as you keep the pinned seam free of the pillow as you sew.
- Begin Fringing Fabric Edges
Starting on one side of your pillow, begin pulling the threads from the cut fabric edges. Continue removing threads until you reach the sewn seam. Repeat the process on all sides.
If using tightly woven fabric like I did, you will need to use the point of a seam ripper and then a metal paint brush comb to remove the threads.
See short video below to see more about the tools I used to fringe the raw edges on the tightly woven fabric.
- Optional Assembly
In the pillow cover making process, you can fringe the raw edges on the 3 sewn sides right after you sew them. Doing this will make fringing the 3 sewn sides of the cover, easier since it can be done without the pillow form in place. Once the pillow form is in place and you close up the last side of the cover with pillow form in place, it makes it a little harder to fringe the edges.
How to Fringe the Edges on Tightly Woven Fabric
I thought I could… I thought I could… make fringe for my pillow covers even with tightly woven fabric… and did it successfully
What would you like to make or create? Think and think of a way to make it happen, then do it.
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