DIY Warhol Pillows

I don’t attempt sewing projects very often. The thought of taking out my sewing machine, even if my sewing machine is a cute orange color, gives me heart palpitations. There’s the fear that I may have to change the spool, or thread the bobbin, and then put the bobbin in the machine, and what happens if the thread jams or comes loose from the needle. (And let me tell you, all of these things happened with this project, and I survived, so that was kind of empowering.)

Well, I bought some really cool Warhol bandanas from Uniqlo on clearance for $1.99 each that I wanted to make pillows out of. You know I have a thing for Warhol. The bandanas were around 22 inches square, so they would make nice-sized pillows. The only problem with the bandanas were that they were very thin — in fact, they were so thin they were transparent. If you held them up to the light you could see right through them. I like nice, defined corners on my pillows, and the fabric on the bandanas would just droop. No good.

So, to give the fabric some heft, I used the aptly named Structure fusible interfacing from Fairfield. I had never used interfacing to add stiffness to fabric before, so I was eager to see how it would work.

To make each pillow, I used:

2 bandanas, 22″ square

Structure medium weight fusible interfacing from Fairfield

1″ velcro

Fairfield Home Elegance pillow, 20″ x 20″

Step 1: I cut the interfacing so it was just smaller than the bandanas. Because the interfacing was 20 inches wide, it was pretty easy to cut it to the right size.

Step 2: The interfacing has one side that is slightly shiny. This is the side with the adhesive. Placing the adhesive side down on the back side of the bandana, I pressed a hot iron onto the interfacing to adhere it. When I first tried this out, with the interfacing on top, I got a few wrinkles on the fabric on the reverse side. I solved this problem by flipping it over and ironing with the fabric on top and the interface on bottom. That way, I could be more careful about wrinkles on the fabric. Then I turned it over again to iron the interfacing side as well. It came out perfectly. And boy, structure is right. The previously wimpy fabric was now really substantial.

Step 3: After both bandanas were reinforced by the Structure interfacing, it was time to break out that sewing machine. I knew there was no way I was going to sew a zipper onto the pillow cover. I’ve taken a few zipper-sewing lessons, and the most important thing I learned from those lessons is that I am never going to sew a zipper again. So instead, I used Velcro, sewing strips of Velcro to the bottom of the bandanas — on the front side, leaving about an inch on either side of the Velcro.

Step 4: I folded the bottom of the bandanas where the velcro strip was so that the velcro was now on the back side. Then I ironed it to create a crease. Notice I didn’t sew the velcro strips on the back side to begin with. If I did, you would be able to see the threads on the front side. By sewing the velcro on the front and then folding it to the back, you don’t see the threads. 

Step 5: Lining up the two bandanas with the wrong sides facing out and the right sides facing each other, I pinned the edges and sewed all around, up to where the Velcro already was. I am really bad about sewing straight lines, so my pillow shape isn’t perfectly square. Next time, I’d probably draw a square first so I could sew along the lines.

Step 6: Once the edges were sewn, I excitedly turned the pillow cover inside out so that the correct side was on the outside. 

Step 7: I had been taught to always use a pillow insert that was bigger than the pillow cover so that it would fill it out. But I don’t always follow that rule because I hate overstuffed pillows that make them rounded, so you can’t see the design of the pillow cover. So for this pillow, I used a 20″ x 20″ pillow insert — the Home Elegance pillow from Fairfield — that was just smaller than the cover. And because the cover was reinforced with Structure interfacing, the shape held up beautifully – no drooping fabric — even though the pillow insert was smaller. And the Velcro closure worked great!

I made two pillows in one night. Here’s one side of them.

And here’s the other.

I can’t believe how beautifully they turned out. Now I have pillows to match my shoes and everything else in my life that is Warhol. And I think these pillows will be famous for more than 15 minutes, at least in my house.

Disclosure: Although I received interfacing and pillow inserts free of charge to try out, my opinions are my own and absolutely honest.