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Tutorial: Zig Zag Pillow

I love zig zags! Whenever there is a pattern that I really like I want to put it all over my house. A few years ago it was damask. Then it was zebra. And for the last year or so it has been zig zags!

There are some really awesome zig zag fabric out there but I had yet to find it in the color and price that fit my needs. The other day I happened to be at Walmart (our Wally world has a fabric department) and I found a remnant of fabric for $.79 in the perfect wide stripe and perfect color for my bedroom. I originally was just going to make a pillow with it as is but then I got to thinking that just maybe I could turn it into zig zags. And amazingly enough, my little plan worked. Here are the steps I took to make my own chevron stripe:

1. Fold your fabric to create a 45 degree angle. Iron along the fold and then cut the fold. This will be your new edge.

2. Measure from your new edge how large you want each zig zag section to be. For example, I chose to make each section 3 inches so I cut several 3 inch sections. To do this, I just folded the fabric over 3 inches and then cut on the fold.

3. Now go to the opposite end of your fabric and repeat steps 1 and 2 but fold it the opposite way. If you fold it the same way, you will just be making stripes. To insure that I fold it the right way, I took the first corner that I cut off and put it on top of the new side. If the stripes lined up and made a zig zag then I knew they were right. It’s very important to make sure your angles are right or they won’t line up properly so make sure you are cutting on the same degree.

4. After you have cut all of your strips, line them up in sections of two, right sides together and sew along on edge making a seam. Be sure the stripes line up before you pin and sew them.

5. After sewing them together, iron the seams open. When you flip it over, it should look like this:

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with all of your pieces and then start sewing them together. Once they are all sewn together, your finished piece should look like this:

7. Cut off the points from the top and bottom of the fabric and you will have a nice rectangular piece. Then, you can sew a pillow or whatever else you want with your new zig zag stripes!! Take note that you lose some material when you line it up and cut off the excess so be sure to make it bigger than you think you will need. Each of my strips were 3 inches wide by 15 inches long to make a 12 inch pillow.

Happy sewing! If you have any questions, let me know!

Also note, if you have previously left me a comment and I didn’t respond to it it’s because when I was replying it was not sending the reply to the person who commented and I didn’t realize it. This issue has been fixed and I am trying to go back and answer questions so I’m sorry if you haven’t gotten an answer yet :)