DIY NO-SEW FUR TRIMMED PILLOW

Last month while cruising the aisles of Homegoods, I saw some beautiful plaid fur trimmed pillows, but since I really didn't NEED them, I saved my money for something else.  Of course, later I second guessed myself and decided I might need them after all, but thought I might be able to come up with my own version (for a lot less $$, too!).  And, I'm sure that the faux fur accessory trim isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so I thought I'd get several seasons of use out of them.

On my last trip to Ikea, I picked up several red Gurli pillow covers thinking I might use them for Christmas.  I'm glad I had them on hand.  At $4 each, these covers can't be beat.  The fabric is thick and sturdy, the zipper makes it easy to insert a filler, and the 20x20 size is nice.  Although my inspiration pillows were plaid, I thought this solid color would be better for the mix I wanted right now.  

So, here's all you need for this project.  A pillow cover (or existing pillow if you have one you want to spruce up), faux fur, and a hot glue gun.

I bought 1 1/4 yards of faux fur for around $15 with my coupon applied from Hobby Lobby.  This fur worked well because the hair is longer and it covers any imperfections or seams easily.  

I cut my fur lengthwise into 4" wide strips.  They were 45" long, and two of those were enough to go around one pillow cover.  I barely overlapped the ends of two strips and glued them together to make one long strip before beginning the project.

TIP:  Cut fur from the wrong side, slipping the blade tip of your scissors just underneath the backing to cut.  It's much easier to cut this way and makes the mess a bit more manageable.  (This project IS messy!  Anytime you're working with faux fur it pretty much gets everywhere.)

Beginning just over the end of the zipper, use hot glue to affix the edge of the fur to the edge of the cover.  These covers have a seam along the edge that I followed, but if your's doesn't, it's pretty easy to eyeball it.  The fur is very forgiving and edging doesn't have to be perfect.

Continue gluing all the way around, until you get to the other end of the zipper.  When you get to a corner, you'll want to give yourself a little extra length as you're turning to make the corner nice and full (don't make the fur too tight around the corners).  It will gap, but just put a little hot glue on the corner and pinch the excess together while gluing to the pillow.  Hard to explain, just play with it a little. 

After you've finished that, flip the pillow over, fold the fur strip closed around the edge of the pillow, and glue that side down all the way around.

Here's what you'll have left after you've glued all the way around, except for the zipper.  

  
Cut a piece of the strip you have left over that is the length of the part that's still unfinished.  Fold it wrong side together and glue it closed.

Now, we're going to glue that strip down to the front of the pillow, following the same seam that you did around the rest of the pillow.  Try to hold the hair back the best you can as you're gluing it down to the cover, so you're gluing as close to the edge of the fur as possible.  You're covering up the zipper, but leaving the back uncovered so the zipper will still be functional.

Here's what the back will look like when you're finished.  From the front, it looks like one continuous piece but you can still open the back to put in the pillow insert.

When you're finished gluing, take the cover outside and shake it out really well to remove all of the loose fur that will be covering everything.  ;)  Stuff with your pillow insert, fluff it up a little, and you're finished!

The fur that I bought is enough to make at least 4 pillows, so I have plenty left for more.  I think these would be pretty after Christmas, too, on a more neutral colored cover for winter.  So, for less than what one pillow would have cost me at Homegoods, I can make 4!

And because I really like you guys, here's a sneak peek at my Christmas tour that is up on Friday as part of the 2015 Christmas Home Tours.  I'm so excited to finally have a pretty bedroom to decorate for Christmas!  

And, one more friendly reminder... did you enter my giveaway for a beautiful cowhide rug?  If not, hurry!  It ends tonight!