French Country Style – Old Things New

On Saturday morning Mr. OTN and I sat on the back porch drinking coffee and planning our day. It wasn’t long before our talk turned to more serious life matters and, as the discussion became hard Mr. OTN said,

“Let’s get in the car and go exploring. Let’s go somewhere we’ve never been.”

My first reaction was to remind him of all of the things we needed to take care of at home, unfinished projects, finances, yard work, etc., . . . and the more I talked about all that we needed to do the more I too, wanted to escape.

So we did. With a promise that Monday would be an all day work fest here at home!

We drove up to Talulah Falls in the Georgia mountains where we hiked a little and enjoyed some spectacular scenery.

Then we drove down into Lakemont, Georgia and came across a small artist’s village where we had lunch on the front porch of Annie’s at Attic Annie’s.

As much as I love being at home, sometimes getting out of my own environment is what I need to hit my refresh button.

My senses were filled right here, sitting on the front porch of the diner. And the overwhelming sense of contentment I caught in this place stayed with me the rest of the weekend.

Summer breezes blowing round me, watching people come and go, a Reuban’s delicious aroma, the sweet-tart tingle of lime Perrier on my tongue, the sound of mountain birds behind the chatter of other diners. Being together here, was a beautiful place to be.

Now it’s Monday and I’m ready to seize the day, beginning by sharing this tutorial and some photos of our very own favorite place to share a cup of coffee.

Earlier this summer I wrote a post on how I gave a French Courtyard Feeling to my backyard deck. We have thoroughly enjoyed this space this summer and when I look at these earlier pictures I can really see how much our plants have grown!

I do believe our flowers like it here in South Carolina.

From that post I received requests for tutorials on the French Pillows and Ruffled Slipcovers I made for my patio chairs. So before the summer is over, here is Part 1 where I’ll share with you how to sew an envelope pillow. These are just the EASIEST pillows ever as there is no hand hemming or adding of zippers or other closures.

I HEART envelope pillows!

For both the pillows and the slipcovers I used one of my very favorite fabrics for projects, painter’s drop cloth fabric of course! I washed it first in hot water and dried it on the highest heat setting to be sure there would be no shrinkage after sewing. Let’s get started:

Envelope Pillow Instructions:

Step one: Measure your pillow form and add 1″ for seam allowance.

Step two: Cut your first piece of fabric to that measurement. (my 14″ x 14″ pillow insert needed a 15″ x 15″ piece of fabric). This will be your pillow front.

Step three: Cut a second piece of fabric the same width but add 6″ to the height (for a 14″ x 14″ pillow insert mine was 15″ x 20″).

Step four: Cut your second piece of fabric in half horizontally (this gave me two pieces 15″ wide x 10″ high). These pieces will be the back of your pillow.

Step five: On each of the two back pieces make a 1/4″ fold on the edges that you just cut in half. Press with an iron. Fold this same edge over a second time making a 1″ fold and press again. Stitch hem in place on sewing machine.

Step six: Lay your front piece of fabric face up. Lay your two back pieces of fabric over the front piece face down, matching the raw edges of the fabric. Your hemmed edges will be overlapping. Use straight pins to pin front and backs together.

Step seven: Sew the pinned pieces together in a 1/2″ seam all around the four sides.

Step eight: Make a diagonal cut across each of the four corners of the pillow cover,

. . . turn right side out, and use a pencil eraser or other non-sharp object to push out the corners of the pillow cover.

Insert your pillow form into the back opening and you’re done!

For my French Courtyard look I used French lettering stencils and acrylic craft paint from Michael’s. I also embellished them with rosettes made from strips of drop cloth fabric. You can find a tutorial for making Rosettes right HERE.

That’s the end of Part 1. I’ll be back with Part 2, Ruffled Slipcovers next time.

Sew Easy French Envelope Pillow from OldThingsNewBlog

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Now, tell me. Do you have a favorite way to hit the “refresh” button in your life? What does that look like for you? Is it always something “spiritual” that you find renewal in or can it be something like my Saturday getaway? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Blessings friends,