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The easiest & cheapest vintage grain sack pillow covers ever!

July 29, 2013Other

As part of my living room refresh project, I decided to update my throw pillows with something more in line with the vintage style I’ve been loving lately.

Source
Source    

They’re just so cozy and homey and lovely. I can’t get enough.

I went to Pinterest first and saw a lot of DIY grain sack pillow covers, but I didn’t want to deal with finding the perfect linen fabric, then painting/printing/stamping anything on and I don’t own a sewing machine.

After looking everywhere online, I wasn’t loving the prices of the real deal. I was finding a lot of knock-offs but they just didn’t look and feel like the real thing. I knew there had to be a way to make my own without a sewing machine.

Then I started searching for just the grain sacks and found several styles in many different conditions. They started at around $10 on the lower end, all the way up to $50+, depending on the type and condition. I noticed that the width on many of them were the same width of my pillows, and the length was just over double. I figured I’d have the perfect amount of material to make two covers.

I didn’t mind a little wear and tear (it just adds to the character!) so I scored a nice vintage 19×42″ Bemis sack on Etsy for $22 shipped.

It was perfect.

See where I’m going with this?

The design was right in the center which means it would be split, but I didn’t mind the mostly plain pillows at all. If you wanted to center the design you could always pick up two grain sacks or find one with a design at the bottom.

To split it evenly I measured the center and drew a line…

Then I made my cut.

I didn’t want the rough cuts showing, so I turned to the one and only Stitch Witchery:

For the first cover that was open on both ends, I had to stitch the bottom shut. I flipped the cover inside out, made sure it was lined up, and ran my stitch witchery across the bottom:

The result:

The top of this cover already had a nice hem from the factory, so I put it aside and addressed the rough cut on the second cover.

For this one I just had to fold the edges onto the inside all the way around the opening.

And that was that! I ended up with two perfect pillows with one open end…

I didn’t want to close the seam permanently because then I could never wash the covers or swap them out down the road. I couldn’t sew a zipper on either, so I thought about sewing buttons on it and almost went for it, but then I remembered these pillows I purchased from Ikea because I loved the little bows:

So I went through my leftover fabric stash and found some linen:

I cut it into six strips, then made little notches about 1″ down with my Xacto knife:

Then I threaded each tie through and made knots:

And in less than one hour, I had my very own vintage grain sack pillows:

 

Ahhh… I love them. They’re the perfect addition to our home, and specifically our updated couch… more on that next week!

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Previous Post: « The 7 Hour Pond
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heidi says

    July 29, 2013 at 12:52 pm

    They're perfect!

    https://jax-and-jewels.blogspot.com

  2. Paulette @ Once Upon a Cedar House says

    July 29, 2013 at 3:10 pm

    Those are so cute! And such a simple way to do that. I love them!

  3. The Hartland says

    July 29, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    LOVE IT! Might do this on the weekend with my girl friend for our craft weekend!

    thehartland27.blogspot.com

  4. Sara n Ryan Sheehy says

    September 1, 2013 at 6:28 am

    Love all your ideas and choice of colours!!! I'm currently renovating my home on a budget and i lack any sort of creativity – but your website is BRILLIANT and has given me so many ideas!!!! Thank you!

  5. Sharri Morley says

    October 30, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    LOVE the fabric on your chair (ivory with grey pin stripes). I've searched the world over for that kind of fabric. Where on earth did you find it??

  6. Jenna Sue says

    October 30, 2013 at 4:33 pm

    JoAnn's! It was with all the other pinstriped/seersucker fabrics and came in a few different colors. It actually wasn't my first choice at the time (the fabric is pretty thin and somewhat see through) but I love it now and am glad I found it.

  7. Christi says

    December 3, 2015 at 10:52 am

    Lovely!!!!!

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