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You are here: Home / The Cozy Hole / Porch Pillows with Recycling Grocery Bag Filling

Porch Pillows with Recycling Grocery Bag Filling

March 1, 2016 By Brandy 16 Comments

 

Porch pillows with recycling grocery bag filler

I love to decorate my house for the holidays!  And that includes the front porch!  I have a wrought iron bench that I have placed pillows on for years.  Well that throw pillow obsession caught up with me…well my closet space anyway.  I decided I needed to find a better way to store my outside decorative pillows.  I also wanted to find a way not to use a fiber filling.  Even though my porch is covered the pillows can still get soiled and wet.  I worried about getting pillows dried out completely before storing them so they wouldn’t mildew.  Here’s how I got crafty….

porch pillow steps 1

First, you have to make your pillow casing.  I started with a 15 inch square of patterned fabric for the front and a solid color for the back.  I cut out a rectangular shape of white felt (I used a 6 ½ by 7 inch piece.)    For the bunny shape I traced a pancake mold.  I’ve traced cookie cutters, cups, toys…all sorts of things to get the shape I needed.  For the carrots I drew freehanded.  When drawing on felt use a color coordinated sharpie marker, then turn over the image onto the pillow to hide any markings.

porch pillow steps 2

Lay out your pattern.  Sometimes I will use a small piece of Aleene’s Fabric Fusion tape to keep my felt in place.  FYI only put this tape in place where you will not be putting a needle through it.  It will make your needle very sticky and hard to push through the fabric.

pillow steps 3

Using embroidery thread and basic stitches, stitch your pattern down to the front side of pillow.  For the bunny’s tail I made felt flowers and stacked a smaller size on top of a larger one and stitched in place.

pillow steps 4

Put right sides of pillow together.  On machine, sew a ¼ inch seam, leaving a 4 inch opening on the bottom side.  I always do a reverse stitch for an inch to strengthen each side opening seam.  Since you will be filling and removing and filling again these pillows over the years I suggest you sew each opening side of the hole separately down to prevent fraying and wear of your material.  Turn pillow right side out.

Recycling grocery bag pillow filling

Now for the filling…use all those grocery bags that you have stowed away!  Close opening with safety pins.

porch pillows complete

Pillows are complete!  Tip…I pin a piece of black ribbon to the back of my porch pillows…I tie them to the bench to keep them in place.

Easter porch pillows

I’m really excited how these Spring Easter pillows turned out!  I don’t have to worry about a fiber filling getting soggy, damp, or smelly!  When I’m ready for the next set of pillows I’ll just take out the bags and put them in the new pillows.  Then, I can stack as many sets of pillows easily away in storage.  Perfecto!

Enjoy!Brandy

Filed Under: The Cozy Hole Tagged With: crafts, embroidery thread, felt, grocery bags, pillows, recycling, sewing, the cozy hole

Next Post: Egg Free Waffles! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie says

    March 5, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    I want to make these for every holiday!

    Reply
  2. Rachel says

    March 3, 2016 at 12:59 am

    You are a genius! Great idea!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 3, 2016 at 12:44 pm

      Thanks so much Rachel!

      Reply
  3. Loretta says

    March 1, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    These are so cute, and what a great idea to use plastic bags!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 2, 2016 at 10:07 pm

      Thank you Loretta!

      Reply
  4. Laura says

    March 1, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    What a great idea for outdoor pillows! Congrats on your new blog. I know it’s going to be fabulous!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 2, 2016 at 10:08 pm

      Thank you Laura

      Reply
  5. Michelle Weber says

    March 1, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    Beautifully photographed, inspiring, clever, and darn cute! I’d say this blog is destined for greatness! Now, where are my scissor? I’ve got some pillows to make!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 2, 2016 at 10:08 pm

      Thanks so much Michelle!

      Reply
  6. Tina says

    March 1, 2016 at 3:50 am

    I love them!!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 2, 2016 at 10:13 pm

      Thank you Tina!

      Reply
  7. Bee says

    March 1, 2016 at 3:44 am

    Great idea. I’ve thought about making pillows for my porch at the coast and this would be perfect.

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 2, 2016 at 10:14 pm

      Thanks so much Bee!

      Reply
  8. Karen says

    March 1, 2016 at 3:32 am

    Lovely! I did not think about using bags as stuffing cool idea!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 1, 2016 at 3:42 am

      Thank you Karen!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. No Sew Pillows says:
    June 7, 2017 at 7:31 am

    […] out this post for more information on porch pillows: http://brandyshappyhome.com/porch-pillows-with-recycling-grocery-bag-filling/ and here: […]

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I'm Brandy. Join me in my passion of crafting. In the "Doll Room" I'll show you doll crafts and reviews. We will craft up some fun in "Kids Corner" with kid and family crafts and activities. "From the Kitchen," I'll share tasty recipes. "The Cozy Hole" is where I will share crafts that have to do everything else HOME. And "Just Because"...is a place for me to share things that I like or find interesting. Craft on!

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