Copenhagen Pillow Finish

Have you seen the crochet-along

with Lisa over at Cubby House Crafts?

Or perhaps at her sister Jane's blog,

Sweet Cinnamon Stitches?

I think I could win a prize for being the one who

started the project first,

and also finished it last!

I saw the free pattern for the Copenhagen Pillow

a long time ago.

In an earlier post, I told the story of my decision

to make this pillow, 

even though I barely know how to crochet.

{It's just too pretty to pass up, isn't it?}

My crocheted panel has been finished for quite a while,

but if you look at the pattern,

you might notice that there are no specific

instructions for making it into a pillow.

{More or less, they recommend stitching the crocheted panel

to a finished neutral pillow.}

That didn't really bother me,

because I've become a bit of an expert on making pillows.

Here's the way I finished mine...

I started out by giving the crocheted panel

a good pressing with the iron.

{Mine was very lumpy and bumpy, but it flattened out easily

with some steam. And yes, it smelled like a wet sheep, for a minute.}

I chose a creamy Bella Solid to back the panel

and create the pillow front.

To give it body, I fused Pellon ShapeFlex 101SF

to the wrong side of the fabric.

Then I stitched the panel onto the fabric,

along the scalloped edging.

{I'm so glad I added the interfacing, because it was quite heavy at that point.}

Next it was time to create the pillow back,

using my own free tutorial, found here.

Months ago, I was shopping at JoAnn,

and this piece of fabric caught my eye

making me think of my Copenhagen yarns.

I snagged it, and I really love how it coordinates.

I love me some colorful zippers, too, 

even though they are destined to be covered.

Which one do you think I chose?

It wasn't easy,

but predictably I went with the Caribbean blue,

since I had some fabric in that shade.

After constructing the pillow back,

I trimmed the front and back to the same size,

then stitched them right sides together,

rounding the corners.

{My pillow tutorial starts out a bit oversized, and is trimmed to size at the end.}

Uh-oh.

Anybody want to guess what I didn't do?

I forgot to leave that zipper partway open for turning!

Oh.My.

But I remained calm,

and I managed to get the zipper open by grabbing

the pull, through the fabric layers.

{And no bad words flew out!}

I used an 18" pillow form to fill my

finished Copenhagen Pillow...

I wish I could show you how squeezy and plump it is!

I really enjoyed making this pillow
and seeing the other lovely palettes
from the crochet-along.

I had planned to use mine as part of my autumn home decor,

but it's already bringing a lot of springtime cheer

into the house.

I think I'll leave it on the couch for a long time!