Hairy Leather Accent Pillow DIY & Giveaway

Hey friends!

So... what do you think??  Do you like my new haircut blog design?

What do you mean you didn't notice!?!?

The lovely and talented Kerrie @ Life on a Mission made this magic happen, and I am crushing on it so hard!  It makes me happy, and I hope it does the same for you!

But that's not why I brought you here today.  Today, we're going to make something together.  Yes, beautiful music, as always, but also a pillow.  Because (1) Who doesn't love a snazzy accent pillow, and (2) Its made of leather, and YOU can still do it!  Now, this project does require a sewing machine.  I recommend calling your grandma, see if she has one you can borrow.  I do not recommend trying to do this by hand, as leather is very, well, leathery, and sewing it by hand is cumbersome.

This post is sponsored by The Leather Hide Store.
They sent me this mind bottling FISH SCALE hair-on-hide leather.
I love them long time.
They're also where I buy all of my premium grade leather for my handbags.

Here's what you need:

• Pillow form (I used 12x16)
• Rectangle of leather the same size as your pillow form + 1/2 inch (12.5x16.5 for me)
• Complimentary home-decor weight fabric approx. 2 times the size of your pillow form
• Complimentary thread
• Leather sewing machine needle (Schmetz* is the shmetz. But any will do for this project.)
• Sharpie
• Rotary cutter & mat (scissors, serious scissors, will also work.)
• Recommended if using rotary cutter: acrylic ruler

Materials

Now, before you start, here's some basic leather-working knowhow that I've picked up since Christmas.  First, use a new, sharp needle.  It makes all the difference.  Second, one of my favorite things about working with leather is that you don't really need a pattern.  There's no shifty fabric, nothing is going to slide.  And, grab that sharpie, because you can draw your lines directly onto the backside of the leather, and it will never-ever-ever-ever show through the front.  I love leather.

This right here?
Rough patch.
Not what you want for a pillow.

Of note: leather, particularly high-grade, premium leather from The Leather Hide Store (I love those guys), is made from real cow hide.  Which means that there may be some imperfections, because maybe Bessy didn't watch where she was walking one day and got a scratch.  So before you start working with any piece of leather, check it over and make sure that the area you are planning to use is free of imperfections.  If its not, try a different layout so that you can avoid the problem area.

Okay, so now you're ready to get to work.  Grab that big, beautiful piece of leather, and lay it out flat, good side down.  Draw a rectangle the dimensions of your pillow form, adding a 1/2 inch to the top and one side.  Great.  now cut it out.

Next up, grab your complimentary home-decor weight fabric.  We are not doing leather on both sides of this pillow because when you make a pillow with leather on both sides, you get some air flow problems, and the pillow either doesn't whoosh out when you lean on it, or it doesn't re-inflate when you stop leaning on it.  Just trust me, its for the best.  Anyhow, grab your fabric, and cut out two rectangles that are the exact same width as what you just cut your leather, and are three inches taller than half the height of your pillow.  I'm sorry.  I know that sounds crazy.  Here's what I mean:

If your pillow is, hypothetically, 12 inches tall, half the height of your pillow is 6 inches.  Three inches more than half the height of your pillow is then 9 inches.  If your pillow is, hypothetically 16 inches wide, and you've added a half inch, you should have (2) rectangles, each 16.5 inches wide by 9 inches tall.

Fold each rectangle of fabric over 1 inch along the hotdog side (16-inch side) and iron it.  Seriously, you're doing awesome.  Next, sew about 3/4 inch in along that folded edge.  It should look like the picture below when you're done.

There, now don't those look nice?  They do. I'll bet yours look awesome too.  Use that momentum, keep going, we're going to actually sew the leather next.  Don't look back, you've got this!

Now is the actual working-with-leather part.  You've got your leather needle in your machine (you didn't need it for the fabric), you've got all of your pieces cut out, you're ready.  Lay your leather down, good side UP.  Then layer your two pieces, rough edge up, on top of your leather.  If you are using brown fabric, and you have the poor choice to lay them on top of some brown paper, your setup should look like this:

A little beige on beige with beige action, my favorite.  Now, if you were using all fabric, you would pin the pieces together.  DO NOT DO THAT.  You likely won't have a lot of luck with the leather, and you will poke a bunch of holes in the leather, and you don't want that. If you have some of those black office alligator clips, those could be helpful.  But I found that, since this project isn't huge, and there aren't that many pieces, slow going was enough to keep everything lined up.

Ready? Set your stitch length to long (3-4) and stitch around the entire perimeter (outside).  Back stitch once or twice, at the end. Voila!  you're done!!  Flip that sucker right-side out, shove your pillow form inside, and place it strategically in an area to get the maximum number of compliments.

Its a symphony of leather and class.

The back:

That's it.  See!?  Sewing with leather is not so scary.  Its actually pretty accessible, I think.  It just makes you look like you've accomplished a crazy feat, and that you ought to be lauded in the square.  I hope you enjoyed this little DIY!  I also hope that you've gotten over some of your nervousness about leather, because I have a small present for you...

A $50 Giftcard to The Leather Hide Store!

Isn't that awesome!?!  Use the rafflecopter below to enter.  The only requirement is to "like" their page on facebook.  How easy is that?  And what will $50 get you?  Oh, a really good-sized remnant.  Vintage gator print, if you'd like.  TURTLE SHELL!  I've never seen that one before.  Oooh!  And they all of a sudden have some gorgeous ostrich print leather in their remnant section!  I think I might have to get some of that myself!  Anyhow, I'm going to go shop some more, but this giveaway will be going through the 30th, at which time a winner will be selected!  And if you don't know what to do with the leather if you win it, talk to me - I'd be happy to help turn your leather into a custom bag!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This pillow is certified by our resident pillow testing expert, RileyGirl.

<3 M.