Mark Wants a Big Pillow

Mark wants a big pillow out of these fabrics, one of which is a vintage kilim rug, and the other (the striped fabric) matches an ottoman he recently upholstered.

The pillow insert is 27" square and my seam allowances will be 1/2".  That means I need two 28" squares, one from each fabric.

The kilim rug wants to stretch and open up, so it's best to put some kind of over-locking or zig-zag stitch on the edges.  This will help keep the piece square and even.

 
Once cut, lay right sides together matching the edges.  I have a 24" zipper to use.  On one edge which will become the bottom center the zipper and mark where it will go.

Also mark the seam allowances, then sew between the seam allowances and the mark for the zipper.

Open the zipper and position it in the opening.  With right sides together pin one side of the zipper to one side of the pillow.

Using a zipper foot, attach the zipper to the pillow.

Once one side is attached close the zipper and pin the other side of the zipper to the other side of the pillow, right sides together.

Then attach the zipper using the zipper foot.

And...you should end up with something like this

Now, join the remaining three sides.  Be sure to open up the zipper before you finish or you won't be able to turn the pillow.  Turn the pillow to the right side insert the pillow.

Here's the pillow with the ottoman

Looks pretty good, eh.  Now that that's done I'll go back to to working on my messenger style bag.

Let's Make a Man Bag - Part 4

The man bag had to wait for work, bowling, meditation course, and a trip to Vermont.  But, I got back to work.  To finish the lining, lay both pieces right sides together, and stitch along the left and right sides and the bottom.

Now, open the bottom, align the corners of the notched out areas and sew closed, like this:

Do that on both sides and you'll end up with basically an open-top bag

I put it all together, outside and lining, and started topstitching.  I tried, fussed, and tried again.  However, I now realize that I have neither the skills nor the proper tools for working in leather.  I'll admit it, the leather has beaten me - and broken four needles in the process.  Just look at this bad stitching and holes:

So, I've decided that I'll remove and reuse the lining and the strap, but I'm changing out the body to use these two fabrics

In the meantime, though, Mark wants a big pillow to go with this ottoman he upholstered:

Using these

Also, I just got a new, heavy duty sewing machine and this will be the first project with it.

So, a break with the bag, I'll post about the pillow, then back to the bag.