Thursday, September 11, 2014

My Pottery Barn Mummy Decorative Pillow Knock Off

 
 I'm so excited! I knocked another knock off ~ OFF!
 
And I like mine better with the addition of gauze!
 
 
I pulled it off without a pattern not even for the pillow!
All I had was a visual memory of an insert pillow
and a picture from Pottery Barn's website!

 
This is their Mummy Pillow and .....
 
 
This is mine! Meet Mumford! Isn't he adorable!?
With the gauze I think it looks more mummified
don't you! And I had a brainy idea that I used to
keep the gauze from drooping and easily snagged
too! I'll tell ya my secret later. (Winky Wink!)

 
This is the back of my first ever made insert
pillow with no pattern. I had a brain light go
on when I was cutting my fabric for this to cut
down on the sewing on the machine too! I was
just full of smarts today! Wonder what I ate
that made my brain work so well lol.
I'll share that brain light later too!

 
 
Look at his ghoolish eyes!

 
I had a ball creating this guy!

 
The other day when I was looking on line
for some new ideas for Halloween, mostly
to do with the grandchildren, I happened on this
pillow in google. I went to the site which ended
up being Pottery Barn. My little Blaze loved this,
as he was sitting with me sorta watching a movie.
He asked if he could have it, so I said, "Why don't
Grandma try to make you one. So on the list it
went. Last night I did it and I can't wait till
Blaze sees it this weekend.



 
I love it the more I look at it...and I'm still
amazed I pulled it off! Love being able to do that!
 
 
Here he sits with my "wife beater t-shirt pumpkins
I made a couple of year ago. I know, don't even wear
me out on the phrase "wife beater", I hate that too.
But, that's what my son calls them and he wears
them all the time. I think mostly so he can show off
his tatoo's! So for the sake of me not liking that
phrase too...lets just call them "men's tank tees",
better right!? Will be posting about these pumpkins
with a tutorial on how I made them plus, how I got
three things out of one t-shirt for Halloween too!
That's if I don't forget!


Right click on the photo to open in a
new window to enlarge the photo.
 
Here's a quickie tutorial on how I made my
Mummy Pillow if you would like to try. Your list
of supplies I used is up on the picture above this.
One thing not showing that I forgot to photo is
a square pillow to insert in your pillow cover
when it's done. Duh! Read all the way to the end
before you start this project!

 
 
My pillow I'm using is an old decorative pillow
that I tore the cover off of and had thrown in my
stash closet for a make over one day. This was today!
 
My pillow I'm using is 19" x 19".
 
I made my pillow using painters drop cloth for
the pillow cover itself. I cut three pieces with one
being 20"x 20" to allow for the seam. This piece will
be the front of the mummy pillow. Then I measured
down from the top of this piece 5", and in from the
side of the fabric 4", and marked with a pencil. This
is where the top of the left eye on the pillow will be.
Then I measured over 2" for the distance between the
eyes to mark the right eye. Then I took my paper clip
holder as it was the right size for my eyes and made
two circles, with both of them on the line I had marked
when measuring. The width of my eyes were 2 1/4"
in diameter, but later when I painted them I made
them bigger. It's all in your taste for size. Now paint
them in with your black fabric paint. They don't have
to be perfect circles either when painting. I even did
the outside of the black circle a bit bigger too.
 
Next I cut two more pieces of the drop cloth
measuring, 11 1/2" long by 20" wide. Now here
is one of my brain revelations I thought of to save
on the sewing time! When you cut these two pieces,
cut them so the 20" side is on the hem of the drop cloth!
Then you don't have to hem them. This will be where
you insert the pillow into the pillow cover on the back
side of the pillow! Good idea wasn't it! Look at the
photo above that shows the back of the pillow to see
what I mean if you don't get this.
 
The next thing we do is take our white cotton fabric
and measure on the edged of the fabric 3" wide and
snip with your scissors about 18 times so you have 18
strips when your done. You may not use all of them
but then again you may. I used 16. It just depends on
how many you use with the angles you lay them on the
pillow front. Now where you snipped the fabric just
start ripping your stripes!
 
Snip and rip...I love doing that!
 
Now you have all your strips slightly frayed already.
Pull all the loose threads off and I frayed even more
threads off of mine. Took a bit of time, but it was worth
it to me. I wanted a heavier fray, I wished I would have
done even more, but it was good enough.
 
Now take your gauzy fabric and do the same thing.
No fraying though. Cut the same amount of strips to
be able to cover each of your cotton strips with. Cut
these strips 2" wide. It's a bit tedious cutting this.
 
Next, take your cotton strips, and lay your gauze
strips over the top more in the center. This way you
aren't covering up all your frayed edges on the cotton
strips.
 
Now we are ready to lay our strips on the pillow top.
Look at the pillow pictures to see how they, and I laid
them across with some, and angles with others. Make
sure to leave the eye area open. Now if your happy
with your layout, pin them in place and trim off the
over lap of your main pillow top fabric so you have
a nice clean edge all the way around.
 
Next take your other two pieces of drop cloth that you
cut for the back and lay them over with the right side
down on top of the pillow front. Everything should be
inside out. Make sure that the hemmed edges are
up and down in the center of your pillow, and with
one piece overlapping the other. Now pin all the
the way around with the pins you had pinned all
your strips with. Now, go sew a hem about a half
inch all the way around. I snipped up to the seam the
corners and then gently turn it right side out. Push
out those corners too. I used the end of a wooden
spoon. Lastly, I cut two pieces of the hemmed side
of my dropcloth trimming them off close to the hem
to use for ties on the back of my pillow to keep the
two sections closed and sewed them on by hand.
 
Now Insert pillow! Yea you did it!!
 
But wait!
 
Now this is where my next brain storm came into
play. When I flipped the pillow right side out, some
of the gauze kinda hung. And because I was so afraid
with the kids snagging it, or it getting caught on
something it would tear,  so to the rescue was the
Mod Podge! I poured a little Mod Podge in a bowl
and added a little water to water it down making it
a bit soupy. I took my sponge brush and lightly
brushed the Mod Podge over all the gauze that was
showing. When it dried, it made it firmer, adhered it
to the cotton strips and was perfect! Now no worries
of it getting stretch out of shape and place, drooping,
or torn off! Gosh I'm getting good at problem solving!
 
Now enjoy your pillow! Hope I didn't forget anything!
If you have any questions, just leave me a comment
and I'll help all I can!
 
Sorry I didn't take more pictures of the process,
I started to and then hubby wanted to eat.
That just threw me all off and all I could think
of was getting back to creating my pillow!
 
BTW....Pottery Barns mummy pillow was a
12"x12" pillow for $29.50. Mine pillow is 20"x20"
and it didn't cost me a thing! I love that!
 
Once again stash is cash savings!
 
Oh P.S. Tip: When I had my pillow all finished,
I didn't like seeing the drop cloth around the eyes.
So I took another strip of the white cotton and
tucked it in over the eyes, and then repainted the eyes
in place. I recommend either using white cotton
fabric for the whole pillow cover instead of the
drop cloth. It just looks better all white! :) But I do love
how sturdy the drop cloth is so I didn't mind the back
being in that off white color, or natural I think it is called.
 
Thanks for spending your time with me!
I always truly appreciate it!
 
Have a Blessed Day and Happy Creating!
 
 
With Sincere Appreciation I Would Like To
Thank The Following Websites Below!
 
My PB Mummy Pillow Was Featured At...
 
 
Such a wonderful surprise! Thank You!
 
 
Sharing at:
 

14 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you Heidi! :) Thanks for the visit and for taking the time to leave a comment! :) Have a great day!

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  2. I have an obsession with throw pillows and that is one of the cutest ones I have ever seen. I am quite sure Blaze will be very happy.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Debbie! I had so much fun doing this project! I'm so happy it has been such a big hit. That feels so nice! Oh and Blaze loved it! :) Thank you again for your visits and your comments! Have a lovely evening!

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  3. Hi Sherry! Thank you so much! Thank you for the visit and comment! :) Loved your dessert and congrats on your feature with it!

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  4. Replies
    1. Thank you so much for featuring Mumford Sherry! That made my day!

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  5. So so so adorable! I amy need to try making one myself! Thanks for linking up at The Handmade Hangout:)
    xxx
    Kim @ Too Much Time on My Hands

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Kim....Mumford was quite a fun adventure in creating. Thanks for putting on such a great link party and for the opportunity to share with you and so many other talented folks! Have a great weekend!

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  6. Replies
    1. Thank you Bella! Thank you for the visit and the comment...have a lovely weekend!

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  7. Made one a month ago with a lot less effort and made three of them for under the Pottery Barn price, but think yours turned out fine.

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Thank you so much for the visit and your kind and lovely comments! Please come back and visit again! Have a blessed day!