Quick and Easy (and cheap!) "Self Fringe" Pillow

Step One: Cut burlap to size you prefer. Add one inch per side for "fringe".

Step Two: Pin two pieces of burlap together. Remember, there is no right side or wrong side to burlap, so just pin together.

Step Three: Because burlap tends to fray very easily, you will want to use a small stitch (I set my machine on "1" for stitch length) to sew your pieces together. You do not want the burlap to fray beyond the line that you are sewing. Sew your line one inch from the raw edge. Remember to leave an opening at the bottom of the pillow so that you can add poly-fil.

Step Four: Do NOT turn your pillow inside out. That is why this pillow is so quick and easy! Simply stuff your pillow as is.

Step Five: Pin your opening then sew it closed.

Step Six: The fun part! Simply pull one piece of string at a time from the raw edge to create your fringe. Do this all the way around the pillow. This is quick, easy, and fun. You can even enlist your children's help!

Step Seven: Voila!

Come back tomorrow! I can't wait to show you what else you can do with this pillow!

Pumpkin Pillow Tutorial

Happy Halloween!! Step One: Fold your piece of orange burlap fabric in half and draw half of a pumpkin on the fold.

Step Two: Cut through both layers of fabric.

Step Three: Unfold your fabric and you will have a cute little pumpkin. Don't try to be precise when you are drawing and cutting your pumpkins. Pumpkins come in different shapes and sizes -there is no perfect pumpkin. Just have fun with it!

Steps Four and Five: Pin your two pumpkin pieces together. Burlap doesn't have a "right side", so just pin them together as is. Sew your two pieces together using a very short stitch. Burlap has a tendency to fray easily so keep your stitch small to prevent fraying. Leave a 3 - 4 inch opening at the bottom of the pumpkin so that you can stuff it with polyfil later.

Steps Six and Seven:(Sorry about the lighting! I guess I shouldn't have used my flash!) Cut out the face of your jack-o-lantern on freezer paper (found by the aluminum foil in your grocery store). Using an Exacto knife, cut out the image. Again, have fun and be creative!

Step Eight: Iron your pumpkin face to your fabric. Freezer paper has a thin layer of wax on one side of the paper. You want the shiny side to lay against your fabric. Place your iron on the non-shiny side.

Step Nine: Using regular acrylic paint, paint the inside of your image.

Step Ten: Peel the freezer paper away from the fabric. You c ould do this while the paint is still wet,or you can wait til it dries if you prefer. Thanks to the freezer paper, your pumpkin face will have such clean, crisp edges.

Steps Eleven and Twelve: Paint your stem brown and/or green. When paint dries, fill pillow with fluff and sew the opening closed.

Step Twelve: Smile!