Y’all, I’m going to start out this post by saying this DIY is for those who are really looking for a project. Like a project that you can work on in front of the TV for a week or two. It’s hard to justify making something sometimes when I go to Target [4 times in one week… help please] and they have gorgeous throw pillows for $20! The issue is that I already had pillows, and all I really needed were pillow cases.

I convinced myself out of buying this tassel pillow, and decided I could make my own pillow case for cheaper and be able to reuse the pillow inserts I already had. With a $4 white pillow case from IKEA for the base, I utilized a LOT of embroidery thread to add simple tassels to the corners and hand embroider a beautiful turquoise pattern on the front. I think my one of a kind pillow is pretty special, though it took quite a while to complete!

Here is a breakdown of the cost of my pillow versus a similar Target pillow:

• Cost of my pillow case: $10 (pillow insert at IKEA is an additional $4)
• Cost of a similar Target pillow: $20

Case in point, if you need an entire pillow and you don’t feel like working too hard, it might just be worth buying one. But if an interchangeable, handmade, washable pillow case is what you are looking for, let’s get to DIYing!

Not to worry, though, my four Target trips did result in the purchase of this really amazing pink, macrame pillow. Because ain’t nobody got time for that kind of crafting – and $25 is a STEAL! Also these really cute lamps – a herringbone lamp for my bedroom desk and a gold, arching lamp to go over the sofa. I have been looking for an arching lamp for a while now and this one was under $100!

See below for the full tutorial on how to make my DIY embroidered tassel pillow.

DIY Embroidered Tassel Pillowcase

Supplies:

IKEA Gurli Pillow Case
4 Strands of White Embroidery Thread
4 Wooden Beads
6 Strands of Turquoise Embroidery Thread
Large Eyed Needle
Business Card
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler (optional)

Time:

10 hours (casually in front of the TV)

Difficulty:

Medium (Labor intensive)

1. Start off by making your tassels:

Take one strand of white embroidery floss and cut about 20″ of length off. Then, cut your 20″ strand into one 6″ piece and one 14″ piece.

Take the long strand and wrap it around your business card. Take a 6″ piece of embroidery floss and string it through the loops of floss on the business card and tie it in a tight knot. Cut the bottom of the floss on the business card to create the bottom of the tassel and detach it.

Take the 14″ piece of embroidery floss and tie it around the top area of the tassel as shown. Wrap the remaining floss around that section. Tie the end of that floss to one of the tassel pieces in a double knot and trim any excess floss. String a wooden bead through the two 3″ strands of floss at the top of the tassel and tie off with a knot.

Repeat steps 2-3 three more times to make all 4 tassels.

5. To embroider your pillow, lightly trace the pattern shown below using a ruler and a pencil. The border is 1.5″ from the edge of the pillow case, and the diagonals are 1.5″ apart from one another.

6. String your turquoise embroidery thread through a large eyed needle, tie a knot at the end of the thread, and begin sewing over your pencil marks going back and forth through the fabric, starting on the back of the fabric. I made sure to keep my stitches very close to one another with a small amount of thread showing on the back side of the fabric and larger stitches showing on the front side. Go over all of the pencil lines you have drawn, finishing your stitching on the back side of the fabric with a large knot.

7. Once I had completed the outline of the design, I added more color to it by filling in some of the sections with more embroidery floss. You can achieve this by sewing long seams back and forth throughout a section with the seams very close to one another. Try to keep each seam parallel with the previous one so you have embroidery all going in the same direction. This is where most of the embroidery floss was utilized.

8. To complete your pillow case, use your large eyed needle again with the ends of the tassels and sew them on to the corners. I used one thread to sew through the fabric and tied it off with the other end of string to secure it. Cut the excess thread.