By Nicole Cohen

Is your home desperately in need of some high fashion glamour? Throw pillows are an easy way to punch up a room, and they can be changed at your whim. However, decorative throw pillows can be very expensive, especially if you buy more than one of them.

Now you can add that little extra something to your home at a minimal cost.

I began to notice many high end designer home stores carrying pillows adorned with many of the things sold at M&J Trimming. I improvised on the designs I saw in high end department stores and created this fun pillow for my home. This design works on any shape pillow and any color.

I made a 18 sq” silk pillow, using about 5 yards of brown 3/8” grosgrain ribbon.

The easiest pillow to sew is a simple square pillow.

Steps:

1. To make your pillow, cut two squares of fabric that are one half inch bigger than your finished pillow measurement on each side.
2. Take your grosgrain ribbon and lay it diagonally across the brighter side of one of the squares of fabric.  If you like this arrangement cut the ribbon and sew it on diagonally. Sew to the edge of the fabric, so that when you close the pillow, the ribbons will disappear into the seam. 
3. This is where the fun begins, begin to sew the strips of ribbon in as many random directions as you can. Alternate horizontal, vertical and different diagonal strips to achieve a random look.
4. When you are satisfied that the face of your pillow is striped to perfection, place the two squares so that they are on top of each other and so that the brighter side of one square faces the side with the ribbons. 
5. Sew around three sides of the fabric squares, using a half inch seam allowance. (A seam allowance is the measurement from the edge of the fabric to where you want the sewing machine to stitch the fabric.) On the fourth side of the squares, sew a third of the way in from each side. This leaves you with an open space in the middle of that side. Use that space to turn your pillow right side out.
6. At last, you are ready to finish your pillow. Stuff it firmly and then hand stitch the opening closed. Now, you can repeat the process to make a matching pillow.

You can also achieve the same look with less work by taking an existing pillow and using SoBo fabric glue to glue the strips of ribbon onto your pillow case. If you do choose to glue the ribbons on, be aware that the edges will not be as clean as the sewed in version.

Enjoy!