Sewing: Week Twenty Six Outdoor Pillows

Outdoor pillows, yes, that’s right, it’s time to get a bit of our summer grove on and get the deck or patio ready for the heat. I love outdoor fabric and as a result I’ll be sharing a few projects with you over the next few weeks. The best part about outdoor fabric is that it’s fade resistant up to at least 500 hours. Now, here in Alberta where the sun shines from about 5am until 11pm that’s not many days, so I don’t leave them out all the time because I do want them to last.

Build a little box or have a spot in the garage for them when they’re not in use. That’s just smart planning.

Okay, let’s get started on these outdoor pillows!

What You Need

1 yard of outdoor fabric
2 zippers 14-20 inches
2 pillows 16×26
machine
zipper foot
serger
matching thread
pins

First up, pick out your fabric. I selected this bright bold print. Now, the tricky part is to ensure the print looks good on your pillow. I cut out 4 pieces that measure 17×27 allowing for a bit of room and the seam allowance.

You can see below that I was careful to take the pattern into consideration.

The first thing you’ll want to do once your fabric pieces are cut is to serge each edge. The outdoor fabric has a great tendency to fray and you don’t want that. By serging each edge you’ll save your fabric from falling a part. It’s time consuming, but smart.

Now that the edges are serged, it’s time to get the zipper ready for install.

With right sides together (and words or pattern facing the correct way) match up the bottom edges. Top stitch 1 inch from the edge. The length of each stitch will depend on your zipper length. I’m using a 14 inch zipper. The bottom edge measure 27 inches. I’m going to top stitch 1 inch from the bottom edge and 7.5 inches from edge side edge. Then, I’ll be leaving a hole in the middle of the 2 pieces that measures 12 inches. You want this hole smaller than your zipper.

Time to line up the zipper.

Ensure you’ve got the correct side of the zipper, line it up with the right side of the fabric. Now, when you get past the hole be sure to tuck the zipper into the inside of the pillow case and match it up with the inside edge.

Use your zipper foot and attach the zipper. Do this again on the other side, too.