Tutorial: Wedge Pillow - Charmed Madness

Good morning everyone!  It's my day to share for Charmed Madness!

I've put together a tutorial to make this cute wedge pillow from your charm squares.

Materials Needed:

• 24 Charm Squares
• 1/4 Yard Coordinating Solid
• 1/2 Yard or 2 FQs of Backing Fabric
• Dresden Ruler
• 18" Pillow Form
• Usual sewing accoutrements - pins, rotary blade & mat, iron, etc 

 Step 1:  From your background fabric, cut 4 strips that are 2.25" x 18.25".  Set aside.

Step 2: Now you are going to cut your charms into wedges.  You will get two wedges from each charm for a total of 48 wedges.

•  First, trim 1/4 off of each side of the charm - not off of the top and bottom.  Your square will now be 4.5"x5" and have two smooth edges.

• Now you'll need your dresden ruler.  Lay your square  in front of you so that it is running 5" left to right.  Then set the ruler on your square lining the 4.5" marking with the top of the square.  Cut along both the left and right side of the ruler - see green lines on the picture below. (*A rotating cutting mat will make this a bit easier if you have one*) This will give you wedge 1 of 2.

• To cut your second wedge you'll need to flip your ruler so that the 4.5" line is along the bottom of the square and the left side is lined up with your new diagonal edge.  Then cut along the ruler on the right side - see the green line on the picture below. 

• Repeat for each charm (I cut mine in stacks of three) until you have 48 wedges.

Step 3: The next step is to piece all of the wedges into three rows.  There will be 16 wedges per row.  I pulled randomly as I put them together but you can also lay them out in the order you'd like.

• To piece the wedges together you are going to choose two wedges, line up the long sides with the skinny end of one blade towards the wide end of the other.  Leave a small tip of the large wedge showing (see layout below) and then sew along the long matched -up side using a scant 1/4" seam.  Press seams open.

• Continue adding wedges in the same manner (skinny towards wide).  Once pressed, you would lay  the skinny end of wedge #3  towards the wide edge of wedge #2 (Blue tails above) continuing on until you have 16 wedges in your row. Repeat to make 3 rows.

Step 4: Trim each of your rows to 18.25" x 4.25"

Step 5: Piece your pillow top together alternating background strips and wedge strips.

Step 6: Trim the pillow top to 18" square and set aside. 

*I made my pillow with an envelope back and I'm including the directions for you make yours like that as well.  If you'd rather make a different type, feel free!*

Step 7: From your backing fabric/s cut two squares that are 18" x 14".  Along one of the 18" sides of each backing piece press the fabric over 1/2" (towards the back) and then 1/2" again.  You can eyeball this.

Step 8:  Stitch along the pressed edge of each piece.  This stitching will show in your final product so be sure to use a coordinating thread.

 

Step 9: Time to make this into a pillow cover!  Lay your pillow top right side up on your table/mat.   Next lay one of your backing pieces, with the visible fold (i.e. wrong side) facing up towards you, matching the  18" unfolded side to the 18" right hand side of the pillow.  Then lay the other backing piece with the visible fold (i.e. wrong side) facing up towards you matching the unfolded 18" side along the left hand side of the pillow.  The second backing piece will cover the folded portion of the first piece you put down.  The backing pieces will, and you want them to, overlap.  Pin around the edges to secure.

Step 10: Sew all the way around the pillow using a 1/2" seam, backstitching at the end of each side for secure corners.  Once sewn, trim the corner flaps off but be careful not to cut where the stitches meet.

Step 11:  Turn your cover right side out, give it a press and insert your pillow form!  Voila!  A nice cheery pillow!

 If you decide to make a pillow for yourself please share your pictures!  Don't forget to stop by the Sew Lux Charmed Madness page to find links to the other tutorials as well as information about the giveaways and link-ups!