A Daughter's Birthday with Burlap and Ticking Pillow Tutorial

Hello, Dear Friends, I have missed you! 

I enjoyed my break and have been keeping busy. 

Thank you for your sweet well wishes! 

I thought I would catch up where I left off

and start with my daughter Jennie's birthday. 

All of my children are in their 30's now, 

but we have a tradition of celebrating with old-fashioned

cake and ice-cream birthday parties. 

Most of the time......

Here she is at age 4. She's my 'middle child' - diplomatic, 

generous, agreeable, but able and willing to stand her ground

when pushed :) 

When you are in between two brothers and an older sister, 

you develop those skills....

Ramblin' Man and I are both eldest children. 

I, the eldest of four sisters. 

Ramblin' Man the eldest of two sisters and a brother. 

Certainly birth order does have an effect on 

your view of the world and your childhood experience. 

Being the eldest means always being 'responsible'.

What birth order are you, Dear Friends, and

how has this affected your life experience?

You can find more information on birth order Here.

Ramblin' Man set up the deck canopy for the occasion. 

He didn't set it up last year and we so missed having it! 

During heat and rain, it creates a cozy

sitting area for the two of us, 

and is also great for parties! 

All set up for our first outdoor celebration of the season. 

My 'helpers', Whitey Bear and Ling-Ling
 (under the chair), sleeping on the job! 

Kai helps by picking up his stuffed animals. 

He carries them everywhere he goes. <3

He's also great for crumb control! 

I sewed this pillow as a gift for Jennie.

She showed me a photo of a similar one
some time ago and I wanted to surprise her. 

I sewed it from blue striped mattress ticking

with a burlap ruffle. 

Here is how I made it.....

I found this wide roll of burlap for the ruffle Here.

It is finished on both edges. 

You will need approximately 2-3 times 

 the perimeter of your pillow, for gathering. 

I folded the burlap almost in half,
leaving one side about an inch wider,

and pressed it with a hot steam iron to form a double ruffle. 

I used a 1 yard length of 47 inch fabric, 

cut in half along the fold. 

Genuine mattress ticking fabric has a heavier weight - 

perfect for supporting the heavy burlap ruffle. 

You can find mattress ticking fabric Here.

Rather than attempt to gather a ruffle, I simply 

made pleats of about 1 inch wide and pinned them in place

along the edge of the right side of fabric. 

Be sure to put the shorter side of the double ruffle face down

and the fold along the edge of the fabric. 

Lots of pinning.....

Sew ruffle in place about 1/4 inch from edge. 

Remove pins as you sew. 

Pin down corners tightly to keep them
 out of the way before placing backing

over all, right sides facing. 

Pin and sew in place, leaving an opening for stuffing. 

Turn pillow right sides out and you will end up with

the ruffle looking like this.....

Stuff and sew up opening by hand. 

Voila'! 

Spot or dry clean this pillow.

I liked this pillow so much, I might make
one for myself! It does seem to fit perfectly
on my French settee'!

(For some reason the photo has distorted the stripes
of the pillow - an optical illusion!)

Time to party! 

On the menu....

 Grilled chicken kabobs with peppers and pineapple

glazed with brown sugar bbq sauce, 

 Garden Macaroni Salad, (Click for recipe)
 fruit salad, corn on the cob, 

and cupcakes with ice cream. 

The family <3

The birthday gal, Jennie, sitting below baby Ethan. 

It was a beautiful day
and we felt blessed to be all together. 

Thank you for coming along, Dear Friends!

Make a wish!  

xoxo

"Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough."
- Sir James M. Barrie -