French Style "Feedsack" Fabric Pillow: A Tutorial on Cutting Perfect Pillow Corners

The Secret to Good Pillow Corners

I made this pillow out of Osnaburg which is one of my favorite fabrics.  It has a natural, hemp or jute look to it but is soft to the touch with a nice slubby texture.  Osnaburg is known as the "Mother of all Cottons" and was used as feedsacking in the 1930s through the 1950s and has really made

a fashion comeback recently.

To Make the Pillow

I cut the front and back panels for my pillow allowing 1/2" seam allowance.  My pillow is 14"x14" so I cut two 15" squares.

  

To get great corners without floppy "dog ears" I placed the front and back panels together

 

and then folded both panels from the top down once.

   

Fold left to right once

  

Mark 1/2 way down the right side.  Mark 1/2 way across the bottom.  

Now mark 1/2" in from the lower left corner.  (can you see the little dot in the bottom right corner?)Draw a line from both halfway marks to the corner 1/2" mark and cut along this line.

This is the magic move to making a good pillow.

I downloaded a pretty graphic from Graphics Fairy and printed

it on transfer paper then ironed it on. (Don't forget to print a mirror image!)

   

I didn't have enough grosgrain ribbon to sew this around in one piece 

with folded mitered edges which might have been easier but

I wanted to finish the pillow without making a trip to 

the fabric store so I mitered the ribbon and sewed it on using a fine 

buttonhole stitch at the miters.  Then I made some silk ribbon rosettes.

 I just learned how to do this .  There are many good tutorials on the web.

  This is a birthday present for a good friend.  Now I'll have to make one for myself!