It’s Friday, it’s Friday!!  Doing my Happy Friday Dance!

And I wanted to share a little secret with you that has worked for me with securing tassels onto the corners of a pillow.  So very Aladdin Chic!  I don’t know about you, but I’m drawn to tassels… bad mental image, but in all seriousness, I just think they’re really fun and playful.

You could make these…

AND, as I’ve had my 3 little testers trying to take off the tassels for the last 2 weeks, you can have tassels that won’t come out.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this, but I’m not a pro at sewing – no classes or anything like that.  I just really enjoy doing it and I (usually) enjoy the learning process.  I’ve made a bunch of pretty bad stuff (can’t even give it away!) but I have picked up some tricks along the way and I’m actually really loving the results.

The hardest part – the zipper.  But please don’t panic, it’s totally doable.  You will need an invisible zipper foot and invisible zipper.  De foot looks like this…

Cut your fabric into two squares (or rectangles or whatever) leaving 1/2 inch inseam around the edges.  You must iron the zipper first so it lays right.  I know, I know.  I hate ironing too, but if you like to sew then alas, you must get used to the iron.

Iron so the zippy part lies flat.  And then pin the back of the zipper to the right side of the fabric.  (I’m using a white zipper so you can see, but try to match the color to your fabric, it’s so much nicer.)

Sew it in with the special zipper foot.  You’ll want to leave a little room between the stitches and the edge of the zipper teeth so it closes easily.  See?  Not too hard, right?!

Then pin the other half of the zipper, still the upside down side to the other square, on the right side of the fabric.  Read that 3 more times and it will make sense.  Sew that the same way, going super close to the zipper head.  (I just made that up, so please don’t use that lingo at your grandma’s book club.)

Be proud!  You did it!!  Now, test the zipper.  Trust me here.  Make sure the plumbing works before you buy the cow… or something like that.  And do like the pros and stitch up the sides of the zipper seam so it’s totally secure.  (Where the pins are.)

Okay, now it’s (finally!) time to get those tassels out and some fabric adhesive.  I always have some from Ikea on hand since it’s cheap and it comes in handy for craft stuff.

Cut out 4 small squares from scrap fabric and 4 pieces of adhesive (which I rolled up a few times like tape).

You didn’t put that iron away, did you??  Iron the square and pillow fabric like a sandwich with the tassel and glue in the middle.  (Me hungry.)  Make sure to leave a bit of give so that you can tuck the tassel under and sew around it later.  Am I losing you?!?  Almost done, promise!!

So, now just put the two sides together, wrong side out, and push the tassels so you can’t see them while you sew.  Sew all around the sides and when you get to the corners, go over it 3-4 times, just so it’s really in there.  I used a regular zipper foot to do the sides so I could get close to the tassel top.

Turn it inside out and shove in the pillow form.  Finished!  GREAT SUCCESS!

After you do this once, the second one will take you no time!!  I think it only took me about 1/2 an hr, which ain’t too shabby for a designer looking pillow!

And now you have a little sneak peak into two pillows that will be making my sofa much more cozy… Covers are still holding up.  Have you been inspired to recover yours yet??

See ya soon!