I'm excited to have the talented Sedef Imer guest posting this beautiful Scandi Pillow tutorial today!
Hi, it's Sedef Imer here, from Down Grapevine Lane. I'm a fabric designer for Riley Blake and am also the author of two books: Quilt Petite and Zakka Home, both published by Tuva. Last year Amy asked me to write a guest post for her blog, and I enjoyed it so much I'm back again with a fun new tutorial!
It's no secret that I love throw pillows - they are scattered all over my house and my 6 year old daughter is especially fond of them. She has a huge collection in her bedroom! For this tutorial I came up with a super simple Scandinavian inspired geometric design. I used my Summer Blush fabric collection (some pieces still available here) for my pillow but this design would look really good in solid cottons too!
Without further ado, let's go into the materials you will need and the 10 easy steps to make this simple and fast pillow.
MATERIALS
11" x 11 ½" pieces in four different fabrics
19 ½" x 15" backing fabric
15" x 15" square lining fabric (use a neutral shade such as white cotton)
70" of 2 ¼" bias binding (optional)
14" pillow insert
STEPS
1. Plan the placement of your fabrics on the pillow - you will notice that fabric 1 and fabric 2 are paired up in opposing quadrants of the pillow, and likewise with fabrics 3 and 4.
2. Cut each of the four fabric pieces into two rectangles measuring 7 ¾" x 11" and 3 ¾" x 11" respectively.
3. Take the large rectangle of fabric 1 and place right sides together with the small rectangle of fabric 2. Sew together along one long edge with a ¼" seam. Press seam open. Repeat with the small rectangle of fabric 1 and large rectangle of fabric 2.
4. Repeat step 3 with fabrics 3 and 4.
5. Cut each piece from the previous two steps diagonally, ¼" to the right of the diagonal axis which is shown with the dashed line (use an erasable fabric pen or hera marker to mark the diagonal if required). Discard the off cuts or save as scraps for another project.
6. Sew the four pieces from the previous step together in two pairs as shown, pressing seams open. Finally sew the two halves together to finish your pillow front, press the central seam open. Check measurements and trim the pillow front down to 15" square if required.
7. Cut the backing fabric into two pieces measuring 8 ½" x 15" and 11" x 15". Fold one long edge of a backing piece in by ½" and press. Fold in by another ½" and press. Top stitch along the folded edge to secure it. Repeat for the other backing piece.
8. To make the pillow place the lining fabric on the table. Place the pillow front on top, right side facing up. Next place the smaller backing piece on top, right side facing down and raw edges aligned along the top edge (the folded edge towards the pillow centre). Finally place the larger backing piece on top, right side facing down and raw edges aligned at the bottom. Pin all four layers together and sew all the way around with a ¼" seam.
9. Trim the excess fabric on the corners with pinking shears and turn inside out through the opening. Press.
10. (Optional finishing step) Bind the pillow using your preferred method. Amy has a binding tutorial here.
And that concludes my tutorial - thank you for joining me today! Please come visit me over on my blog Down Grapevine Lane and you can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram where I share lots more ideas and inspiration. Happy sewing!
So cute and simple!
Thank you, Sedef! I love Sedef's beautiful style.
Sedef used her Summer Blush' fabric collection when she wrote this tutorial in 2019. Some prints are still available in a variety of Etsy shops.
In case you missed it, be sure to check out Sedef's darling pincushion tutorial - it's such a slick method and perfect for using your favorite scraps and makes the perfect handmade gift for a friend who also loves to sew.
Monica Kostak says
Beautiful pillow and fabrics. I do subscribe to Down Grapevine Lane. I enjoy your blog and your time and talents you put into it even though I don't always comment. Most of my reading is during my lunch in the office here. Thank you for sharing. I have a gingham girls bundle I've been saving but am getting ready to bust my stash with "A Quilting Life's" BOM this year. 🙂 Happy New Year!
Pam says
So pretty. I love the simple yet elegant design and the fabric is precious. I’d like to make it bigger...now to see if I can figure out that math!,,
Rassika Risko says
What a beautiful pillow and a great tutorial! Thank you for sharing - is there a relatively easy way to increase the size of this pillow cover to make it 16" or 18"? Thank you.
joy says
did you figure this out for a 18 inch pillow?
debbierhodes says
Thank you. Hope I can find this after our remodel
Rosemaryflower says
Adorable pillow. Sedef has the most adorable fabrics and incredible ideas.
I love her blog too.
I want to make a few cushion covers for my girls (grown with hubbs and kiddos) so they can perk things up at their house too!
Thank you and Sedef for so much inspiration
Linda Spears says
Lovely pillow! Have you made a lap blanket using this pattern? I'm a novice (made 3 crib quilts) but I may just give it a try. Love the fabrics. Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Linda says
As soon as I saw this in Amy's newsletter, I decided to make it on the spot. It isn't often that I do that, but I now have the top finished and hope to have a new pillow for the guest bedroom by tomorrow!
Wilma Evans says
Love this pillow! Can I print out the pattern? I didn’t see a link to print!
Estelle Miller says
Would love measurements for 18 inch pillow. Love this pillow pattern.
Patty Anderson says
This was my first ever quilt project, I learned a lot from it! Excellent instructions and simple, but elegant design! And I also sew on a BabyLock! Thank you so much 😊
buddhajames777 says
Two years ago, I made this pillow for a friend in red, white and blue. If I remember correctly, the tute is for a 14" pillow, but I wanted 20 inches. Rather than sit and go through all that math stuff trying to figure out how to increase the size (it was like June 30, and my friend wanted it for July 4th), I literally just cut everything bigger! It didn't turn out as perfectly as the original, but we were happy with it. And, it looks spectacular in red, white & blue!!
Diane says
I would really LOVE instructions on how to turn this into a 20” pillow! Amy, can you help? It’s really striking but my couch pillows are a bit larger. Thanks for the tutorial!
Dorothy Rainbow says
I would really love your help to make this into a size 20” pillow! Please Amy my maths is bad. Thanks for the tutorial. Cheers👍❤️
Amy says
Hi Dorothy! As this tutorial is not mine - and I've never made one myself - I'm afraid I'm not a lot of help. I'm so sorry! But try reaching out to Sedef!
Connie Gertsen says
I love this pattern! I wanted to make one for a 20” square pillow . I practiced on four different colors of wrapping paper. After some head scratching and a couple of trials I came up with 15.5” X 15”, cut the 15.5” into two pieces of 10.75 and 4.75. Gives you plenty of room to add cording. I can’t wait to try this with 4 very beautiful cream colored fabrics with texture variations!